Corrections Community

Currently working in a Community Corrections residential center and there "seems" to be some animosity between our operations staff v case managers. I was wondering if anyone else on the forum had any ideas at resolving these perceptions. Mainly stems from the difference in dress code (op staff are in uniform gear, cm in bus casual), work hours (op are 24-7, cm 8-5 M-F or 10hr shifts), and experience (op not eligible for promotion due to "no case management experience"). Really working on a way to bridge some differences and enable our operations staff to gain case management experience while working in a correctional setting. Thanks.

Much of your challenge is related to the vision of the leader. The leader sets the vision, and then staffs to carry out the functions necessary to achieve the vision. If people only feel that they are coming in every day and putting in their eight hours without a definitiveness of purpose to achieve a team centric goal, then those people are probably not going to have a great deal of enthusiasm about team interaction. Every correctional facility and program has an opportunity to become a model, which others can follow. Achieving such recognition requires a team effort, and such an effort can generate a great deal of enthusiasm and synergy. An effective rehabilitation agenda necessitates a close coordination between caseworkers and operational staff, if rehabilitation is among your objectives. Generally, operational staff has a great deal more day-to-day interaction with the population, whereby case managers are limited to snap-shots of individual’s and their behaviors. I might suggest that you begin with weekly round-table meetings. Make them mandatory for a month, and voluntary after that. Those who genuinely want to see positive change and results will attend these round-table meetings when they are voluntary. Those individuals who want to strive toward excellence and become an integral component to achieving a team goal will identify themselves. You can’t push people to achieve, but you can pull them. As a small team begins to show advancement, others will want to join. I disagree with the comment – (“op not eligible for promotion due to "no case management experience"). Everyone is eligible for advancement, a promotion and increased pay. It is their choice as to whether or not they are willing to put forth the effort to meet the requisite requirements of a given position. Hope this helps... Dave

Thank you for the response. Maybe I should clarify that last point. When the job posting comes out, it states the CM requirement but the Operations staff - line, supervisor, commander chain - do not receive any type of credit towards case management. Not so much as they don't work together, but HR has differentiated what the requirements are and who has them. Hence the angst (for lack of a better word) created when there is the feeling of no promotional opportunity and people are brought in from outside the agency. The rest I believe to be spot on. I like the table discussion idea and will pass this along.