Allegheny County Jail Gets Therapy Dog

PITTSBURGH, PA — He committed no crime but is about to be in and out of jail. Link, a seven-year-old Australian shepherd, is the Allegheny County Jail's new therapy dog. Link and his handler, Allegheny Health Network Megan Chapman, initially will make monthly visits to the facility and work the juvenile population.

Warden Orlando Harper announced Tuesday that Link and Chapman would be joining the jail team.

“Therapy dogs have been shown to be helpful in supporting both academic and psychological growth, promoting self-esteem and increasing social skills," he said. "We are pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to our incarcerated juvenile population.”

Link will join the complex trauma therapy groups conducted by the Academic Institute, the jail’s high school that is run through its partnership with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.

Goals for the therapy program include increasing empathy and compassion in students, decreasing student anxiety and oppositional behaviors tha interfere with academic growth, increasing positive attitudes about learning and school, improving self-esteem, proving a sense of
connection, and lessening emotional trauma.

“Therapy dogs bring comfort and non-judgment to group sessions, which is crucial for our students," said Mariah Hartman, the institute's Academic Institute counselor. "It is our hope that for however long our students are with us, the therapy dog program supports their rehabilitation during their time here.”

Link has been a certified therapy dog for nearly a year through Alliance of Therapy Dogs. Link and Chapman regularly visit behavioral health patient groups and make staff and patient rounds at Allegheny Health Network’s Jefferson Hospital. They also attend other events and fulfill clinic requests throughout the health network.