Corrections_Today_November_December_2019

NIJ Update

workshop, RAND-DU staff con- ducted highly structured exercises with the group to help identify and to elicit information about the most pressing problems and to assess how these problems could be addressed. Discussions focused on several major areas relevant to a corrections staff member’s life cycle within an agency: recruitment, selection, onboarding, retention and leader- ship development. Issues related to staff misconduct were addressed last as it is not a distinct stage of the workforce process; rather it is a be- havioral factor that can be influenced

expected benefit (relative importance of meeting that need) and probability of success of actually meeting that need. These ratings were multiplied to produce an expected value score, and that score was used to group the needs into top, medium and low tiers. In the final analysis, 13 of the 64 identified needs were ranked in the top tier and are listed in Figure 1. The following key themes emerged: Clarify the mission of the corrections sector Participants reported that the cor- rections sector operates in a rapidly changing environment and would benefit from a clear, cohesive and common vision for the future. This vision can help provide a road map for agencies with respect to work- force requirements tied to mission accomplishment. Overall, institutional corrections generally prioritize their custodial or surveillance objectives over their behavioral change objec- tives. Participants theorized that a shift in orientation might be key to reversing the long-standing difficul- ties the sector has faced in recruiting talent for corrections officer positions. They called for research to determine whether a shift toward an increased human-services role, along with a corresponding change in the compe- tencies sought would help the sector attract a broader base of new talent. Improve staff competencies in corrections environments The corrections sector currently suffers from low levels of profes- sionalism. This condition is most evident in corrections officers. The participants called for the reevalu- ation of existing, or the creation

by deficiencies elsewhere in the process. From these discussions, the research team identified a set of discrete “needs” — a term used to describe a specific area to be ad- dressed, tied to either solving a problem or taking advantage of an opportunity for better system perfor- mance. This process yielded a total of 64 needs. (See Figure 2) Needs and themes To provide structure to the large set of identified needs, partici- pants ranked each need in terms of

Figure 2: Breakdown of Needs, by Area

More and better data

Misconduct

3

5

Recruitment

18

Leadership development

9

4

Selection

12

Retention

13

Onboarding

NOTE: “More and better data” is a theme that emerged from the panel discussion and was not originally tied to the workshop structure. Also, three needs were identified that apply to multiple stages of the workforce process.

Source: J. Russo, D. Woods, G. Drake, B. Jackson, “Building a High-Quality Correctional Workforce: Identifying Challenges and Needs,” RAND Corp. (2018). RAND RR2386-2

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