Raising the bar behind bars

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- Newport Beach resident Lori DiCarlo didn’t start out

with the goal of becoming a prison warden, but things couldn’t have

turned out better if she had planned them.

DiCarlo, 48, has been appointed by Gov. Gray Davis as warden of the

California Institution for Men in Chino -- a job she said is every bit as

suitable for a woman as for a man.

“Women are very well represented in all ranks in corrections,” DiCarlo

said. “Your ability to be a manager is not gender specific. It’s more

about experience, knowledge, understanding of the correctional field that

makes that determination -- not your gender.”

DiCarlo is a 25-year veteran of the state’s Department of Corrections,

where she started out as a correctional officer -- the real title of the

people most commonly described as prison guards. She came into the job

with the goal of becoming a counselor, but in the end has found a way to

apply her interests in counseling and education to the role of warden.

“Public safety and security is Job 1, definitely,” said DiCarlo, who

was associate warden at the prison from 1992 to 1996 before being

promoted to chief deputy warden and then acting warden.

“I think if we give folks the opportunity to gain tools during the

time period they’re here, because many of these folks will parole, they

can have the benefit of increased literacy, meaningful vocational

training and a hope of gaining employment,” she added.

DiCarlo is now holding talks with University of California officials

to work out a way for education students to gain experience teaching in

prison classrooms.

“I guess when you look at careers, you never know when you get into

something where it’s going to take you, but it’s been an awesome

experience,” she said.

Though she finds her workdays rewarding, and the 36-mile commute “not

bad at all,” it’s always a pleasant change of scenery to come home to

Newport Beach.

“I love the community,” she said. “It’s one of my great stress

reducers to just take a walk by the beach.”