About Us

Curnyn Consulting is comprised of corrections professionals who have worked extensively in jails and prisons, from line officers to administrators.   They each bring a unique set of skills and body of knowledge that is both complimentary and comprehensive. Two members of the team achieved the rank of Bureau Chief within the New York City Department of Corrections ("NYCDOC") - just one rank below the highest uniformed rank in the NYCDOC. Another member of our team is an attorney who worked for the Department of Justice on the longest running class action lawsuit involving prison conditions in the United States, and subsequently served as Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as well as the Deputy Administrator for the Administration of Corrections in Puerto Rico ("DCR and AOC", respectively) - the second highest position in both organizations.

Sheila M. Vaughan

Prior to becoming the President of Curnyn Consulting, Ms. Vaughan worked in the NYCDOC for over 20 years, beginning as a corrections officer and subsequently serving thirteen years in various managerial positions.   Her career has allowed her to oversee the entirety of corrections administrations including areas such as security, human resources and employee management, work release programs and specialized populations including female, adolescent and maximum security inmates. Ms. Vaughan has particular expertise in administrative matters such as roster management, overtime management and the employee disciplinary process, and extensive experience in statistical analysis and issues relating to judicial and regulatory compliance.

Ms. Vaughan has extensive knowledge of inmate discipline, use of force and suicide prevention programs. While with the NYCDOC, she served as Department liaison for negotiations concerning Federal Court Orders on conditions of confinement and consulted on New York City's Rikers Island Master Plan detailing future construction facility design. She has also served as a consultant in jurisdictions such as Illinois, Puerto Rico, Newfoundland and the Mid-east on matters such as use of force, medical staffing, and facility design. Ms. Vaughan's clients have included a wide range of professionals: corrections administrators, attorneys, architects and contractors, correctional officer unions and court personnel.

James T. Garvey, Jr.

Mr. Garvey worked in the NYCDOC for over 30 years, most of which consisted of managerial and supervisory responsibility, including Division Chief for NYCDOC.   During his extensive tenure at NYDOC, Mr. Garvey developed use of force policy and procedures, including an incident tracking system and compliance reporting mechanism required by the Federal Court and other oversight agencies. Mr. Garvey was also the commanding officer for the Department's 150 member Emergency Response Unit as well as the commanding officer of the NYCDOC's Academy, which trained officers, supervisors, managers and civilian support staff.   As part of his body of experience, Mr. Garvey has also consulted on numerous security and use of force matters, as well as offender management including work with gang-related populations.

Mr. Garvey also has extensive experience in environmental and physical plant matters as he chaired the NYCDOC's task force for the promulgation and implementation of environmental health standards, was the chief internal technical expert for the design and construction of a 500 bed addition to the maximum security institution and a stand-alone 800 bed floating jail facility at Rikers Island, served as the lead consultant in renovation and new construction projects in Puerto Rico's correctional system as well as lead security and environmental safety expert on Puerto Rico's current design of its first correctional medical facility. Mr. Garvey has also consulted in a multitude of jurisdictions, both nationally as well as internationally.

Nuria P. Rivera-Vandermyde

Having previously practiced corporate litigation, Ms. Rivera began working in the correctional field in 1997 as an attorney with the Department of Justice where she was the designated attorney-liaison for the Puerto Rico Administration of Corrections in a class action suit involving alleged civil rights violations. Her responsibilities included extensive participation in all facets of litigation including document production, witness preparation and trial preparation. Her work here led to the jointly held positions of Deputy Commissioner and Deputy Administrator of the Puerto Rican correctional system, which includes adult and juvenile offenders as well as pre-trial detainees. In such positions, Ms. Rivera was responsible for the oversight of daily operational matters, such as personnel management, regulatory and judicial compliance, facility design and planning, and offender/special population management.

Ms. Rivera subsequently became CEO of a not-for-profit entity created under judicial oversight meant to privatize the health care services for adult inmates throughout the Puerto Rican correctional system. She successfully negotiated the privatization of health services throughout the island, and began the implementation of a system-wide automation of both administrative and medical records project that included inmate tracking, pharmaceutical and inventory tracking, inmate charting and physician notations. Ms. Rivera also oversaw the design of the island's first correctional medical facility.