Assignment:
The final project for this course is the creation of an organizational assessment and recommendations report. The study of organizational assessment and program evaluation is a growing subfield within the field of criminal justice. As professionals in criminal justice systems are often faced with dynamic environments and high expectations of performance, citizens demand accountability, and politicians challenge the effectiveness of current policies. Many criminal justice organizations are employing assessment or policy and planning personnel to assess their organization's effectiveness in meeting their stated goals or mission.
These skills in assessment are vital to the development of leadership roles in police agencies, corrections, and the court system. Given the contemporary issues surrounding the police use of force, prison escapes and violence, and court personnel overstepping their roles, the performance of criminal justice organizations has been questioned by the general public, government, and media. It is vital that professionals continuously assess a criminal justice organization's performance and ensure the organization is meeting the goals of its established mission statement in a dynamic and changing landscape, to build effective public service organizations.
In the summative assessment, you will assess the performance of a subdivision of a criminal justice organization from the provided case scenario. You will begin by examining the structure and mission of your selected criminal justice organization to identify the specific goals and responsibilities of the subdivisions in relation to the performance of the overall organization. Next, you will select a specific subdivision in the organization on which to base your performance assessment.
You will assess the effectiveness of the subdivision in reaching the organization's established goals, utilizing measurement strategies to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the organization. Based on your assessment, you will create recommendations for the organization to improve its performance, as well as recommend communication strategies to distribute relevant information to the appropriate individuals within the organization. The project is divided into four milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two, Four, Five, and Seven. The final submission is due in Module Nine. In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
• Analyze criminal justice organizational structures and policies for informing the development of methods to improve organizational performance
• Determine appropriate organizational assessment strategies to acquire valid and reliable data for measuring the effectiveness of criminal justice organizations in meeting their established goals
• Analyze how internal and external factors impact the effectiveness of organizational performance in criminal justice organizations
• Develop evidence-based recommendations to improve the performance of criminal justice organizations in meeting their established goals
• Propose strategies to communicate evidence-based recommendations to diverse audiences within criminal justice organizations for informing continuous improvement of organizational performance Prompt For your final project, you will select one of the three listed subdivisions of the Florida Department of Corrections to use as the basis for a performance assessment. This document holds some information for the organization and each subdivision, though you will be expected to perform your own research on the organization, comparable organizations, and trends in the field to determine opportunities and external threats. Florida Department of Corrections
• For information regarding the Florida Department of Corrections' (FDC) mission statement and organizational goals, visit its website: https://www.dc.state.fl.us/vision.html
• For an organizational diagram to determine how each subdivision is influential to the organization as a whole: https://www.dc.state.fl.us/org/orgchart.html Florida Re-Entry Subdivision (aka Recovery, Treatment, and Rehabilitation) The role of the Re-entry subdivision is to provide quality programs to inmates, equipping them with the competencies necessary to become productive, crimefree members of society.
In addition to the FDC organizational mission statement, the Re-entry Subdivision has its own mission, to provide the most effective rehabilitative care for inmates of any race, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, creed, national origin, or color, and to engage in research, development, and teaching programs to reduce both recidivism and dependency. This subdivision has recently been faced with some challenges, including budget constraints leading to inadequate funding for programs, overpopulation of corrections facilities, lack of sufficient staff, and a high rate of inmate recidivism. These impacts have led to a high employee turnover rate. However, the staff that has been hired has shown great motivation to learn the job, creating a positive environment in the department. Documented flexibility has shown that the department is capable of adjusting and adapting to changes effectively.
• Former Offender Re-Entry Programs and Resources in Florida: https://www.recordgone.com/articles/former-offender-re-entry-programs-and-resourcesflorida.htm Parole/Probation Subdivision (aka Community Corrections) The roles of the Parole/Probation subdivision revolve around performing professional assessment and supervision of criminal offenders. Correctional probation officers are responsible for investigating, assessing, supervising, counseling, and/or classifying offenders. In addition to the FDC organizational mission statement, the Parole Subdivision has its own mission, The Community Corrections Department and its officers shall service all adult offenders and families, victims, law enforcement officers, agency representatives, and the public-with equal respect, dignity, and sensitivity.
The Community Corrections Department will develop an array of comprehensive services addressing the needs of both inmates and the surrounding community. This subdivision has recently been faced with some challenges, including lack of interdepartmental communication, low supervisor-to-subordinate ratio, obsolete information technology software, and an unreliable record management system. These impacts have led to a high employee turnover rate as well as gaps in accurate tracking of offenders. The department has a low rate of offenders and one of the best re-entry programs in the state. The surrounding community is satisfied with the level of service the department provides.
• Parole subdivision policies: https://www.dc.state.fl.us/cc/index.html Corrections Subdivision (aka Detention) The primary function of a corrections officer is to protect the community by supervising offenders and reporting noncompliance to the sentencing or releasing authority.
In addition to the organizational mission statement, the corrections subdivision has its own mission. The mission of the Department of Detention is to serve diligently and reliably collaborate with other entities within the criminal justice community. The Department of Detention will ensure protection of the surrounding community by establishing safe, secure, and human supervision and confinement of inmates.
This subdivision has recently been faced with some challenges, including overpopulation of inmates, budget constraints, and high attrition rates. The factors have led to outdated officer equipment, low employee retention rates, and inexperienced management. There is a high level of camaraderie between employees, and interdepartmental communication is exceptional. There is also rapid personnel growth due to many advancement opportunities and efficient employee training and education. The benefits package is one of the better offerings in the state.
• Re-entry subdivision policies: https://www.dc.state.fl.us/development/index.html Your organizational assessment and recommendations report should answer the following prompt: How effectively is the criminal justice organization meeting its mission and established goals, and how can the organization improve its performance?
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Introduction: In this section, you will describe your selected criminal justice organization to set the stage for your performance assessment.
A. Describe your selected organization, providing specifics of the general purpose of the organization, the location, and any other relevant information necessary to set the stage for the performance assessment.
B. Describe the mission statement of your selected organization and its related goals or objectives. What are the specific goals or objectives set forth to deliver on the mission of your organization? For example, the mission of the New Jersey Department of Corrections is to protect the public by operating safe, secure, and humane correctional facilities.
II. Structure: In this section, you will analyze the overall structure of the organization to set the stage for your performance assessment. For the purposes of this project, you will select a subdivision of the agency on which to focus your performance assessment.
A. What are the departments or subdivisions into which your selected organization is divided, and how do these subdivisions work together as a whole in relation to the mission of the organization? In other words, each department or subdivision has its own goals, but how do all the departments or subdivisions work together to achieve the organization's mission?
B. Describe your selected subdivision and outline the specific goals and responsibilities of the subdivision, describing how they align with the overall mission of the agency. Consider how the goals of the selected subdivision align with the mission of the agency.
C. Describe the key policies in place that run your selected subdivision of the organization, explaining how these policies align with the mission of the subdivision. For example, the subdivision might have specific rules and regulations within its operating procedures and laws that ensure the subdivision meets its established goals.
III. Assessment Plan: In this section, you will develop a plan to gather valid and reliable data in your performance assessment, and outline specific assessment strategies and sources of information.
A. Determine the organizational assessment strategy that would be most appropriate to use in your assessment of the selected subdivision of the organization. Justify your selection. For example, you might select an organization assessment plan or model, such as the systems model, to assess compliance and effectiveness of the subdivision with the mission.
B. Justify how your previously selected organizational assessment strategy will ensure you collect valid and reliable data in your performance assessment. For example, the systems model will allow you to examine the specific inputs such as resources, policies, and procedures that determine how far the organization is achieving its mission.
C. Outline the sources of data and information you will use to assess the organization's performance, justifying your selection of sources.
For example, you might use crime report statistics to identify areas of high crime rates, or you might interview specific individuals to assess the effectiveness of policies and procedures within the organization.
D. Performance Assessment: In this section, you will assess the performance of your selected subdivision in the organization in relation to the mission and goals of the overall organization by performing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.
i. Identify the major internal factors that positively and negatively affect the organizational performance. Justify your identifications. For example, a key internal factors may be the selection criteria for staff or clients.
ii. Identify the major external factors that positively and negatively affect the organizational performance. Justify your identifications. For example, key external factors may laws, legislators, and citizen inputs.
iii. Based on the previously identified internal factors, analyze whether or not the organization is maximizing its strengths and minimizing its weaknesses. Substantiate your claims. For example, consider the areas of the subdivision that have the most impact on success, such as the classification of offenders
iv. Based on the previously identified external factors, analyze whether or not the organization is maximizing its opportunities and minimizing its threats. Substantiate your claims. For example, consider the areas that are most vulnerable in assuring success and how these can be turned into strengths, such as housing inmates in a reception area to adequately assess their needs, not simply classifying on offense criteria.
IV. Performance Report: In this section, you will develop recommendations to improve the performance of the organization, basing your recommendations on evidence from your performance assessment.
A. Determine where the organization is in compliance with its organizational mission. Substantiate your findings with evidence from your performance assessment. In other words, where is the organization complying with its stated goals to move the organization toward its mission?
B. Determine where the organization is in noncompliance, or can improve its compliance with the organization's mission. Substantiate your findings with evidence from your performance assessment. In other words, where can the organization improve in complying with its stated goals to move the organization toward its mission?
C. Provide specific recommendations to improve the organization's performance in meeting its goals and mission. Justify your recommendations with evidence from your performance assessment. For example, you might provide recommendations to bring areas of noncompliance into compliance with the mission.
D. Explain how these recommendations might be implemented in the organization. Consider the short- and long-term approach to implementing the recommendations. Consider the costs involved in implementing, the staffing necessary, or whether or not policies must be created.
V. Communication Strategies: In this section, you will recommend communication strategies for the leadership to communicate the findings and associated recommendations of the report.
A. Recommend who in the organization should receive the key information related to the report, justifying how this recommended distribution could improve organizational performance. Consider why some people should receive certain information, while others should not, or why all employees should receive the same information.
B. What communication strategies would you recommend the leadership use when communicating the previously identified information to the previously identified individuals in the organization? Justify your recommendations. Consider how your strategies might change based on your target audience.
C. Provide recommendations to the leadership for how they can gather feedback from the employees on the previously identified recommendations to inform organizational performance, and explain how this feedback can inform continued improvement in the organization. What strategies can be used to elicit feedback from the employees, and how will this feedback be used to improve the organization's performance with respect to the previously outlined recommendations?