SELINSGROVE, Pa. — After spending 11 months in a Pennsylvania prison with no immediate release in sight, Stephen Gundrum’s spirits were immediately lifted by the arrival of a 2-year-old yellow Labrador named Brickle.

“She made a world of difference,” said Gundrum while gleefully and nuzzling the facility dog. “This puts me in a whole much better state of mind. I forget all about that I’m here in jail.”

Brickle is part of a pilot program started at the Snyder County Prison, in central Pennsylvania, in June. The program began with Tiffany Gum, a mental health clinician employed by Primecare Medical Services, which oversees all the medical needs of the county’s inmates. The aim of the program is to reduce the amount of medications prescribed to inmates and reduce anxiety and depression in the 137-bed prison, where on a six-month average, 210 inmates receive mental health care.

Gum learned about animal-assisted therapy courses while in graduate school and thought a similar program could work to lessen the anxiety and depression of the inmates struggling daily with mental health issues.

Brickle accompanies Gum to work every day, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., treating inmates in the office. Due to liability concerns, the dog is not allowed in inmate housing or the recreation yard.

“Studies show that just having a dog in a room reduces blood pressure and heart rates,” said Gum. “It’s a little more work for me (working with an animal), but it’s a lot easier to build a rapport with her around.”

Snyder County Prison is the first Pennsylvania county correctional facility to adopt the facility dog program but similar programs exist in many other states, including Missouri, Washington and Utah.

In Maryland, select inmates are even charged with training therapy dogs for veterans, providing 24-hour care and teaching the animals commands.

Tiffany Gum demonstrates commands with Brickle, an emotional support dog, at the Snyder County Prison on Monday morning.

Officials in the Snyder County Prison and supporters of the program say they’re seeing an impact.

“The prison system is in a mental health crisis. We’re facing a lot of problems being a primary mental health provider,” Pennsylvania District Attorney Michael Piecuch said. “I’m encouraged to see we’re being innovative and will be curious to see how it affects outcomes.”

The program is provided at no cost to the county. Gum is paying all the costs associated with Brickle, who was trained by Susquehanna Service Dogs for specific therapeutic issues such as depression and anxiety.

Though it’s impossible to pinpoint the cause for the drop in psychotropic drugs prescribed to 49.5 percent of the inmate population in January compared to 35.5 percent of inmates in June, Primecare regional manager Denise Jemiola said both inmates and staff have indicated their stress and depression has decreased significantly since Brickle joined the staff.

“The jury’s out on how effective it will be here, but research shows facility dogs are effective in reducing medication use among federal inmates,” said County Commissioner Malcolm Derk, who noted that the county budgets about $450,000 a year for inmate health care. “I support trying this new approach.”

“Brickle’s the new favorite employee,” Gum said, explaining how staff will take the dog outside to play ball on lunch breaks.

Gundrum worries about his own two dogs while he awaits his legal fate and said the program has helped him alleviate the stress of being an inmate.

“She’s doing a fine service,” he said, referring to Brickle.

Details for this story were provided by the Sunbury, (Pa.) Daily Item. 

“This puts me in a whole much better state of mind. I forget all about that I’m here in jail.” — Stephen Gundrum, inmate