Getting to the Point

The top of a pyramid is what makes it identifiable as a pyramid. This apex is known as the capstone. On ancient pyramids, capstones were given special care and sometimes made of gold. Kings had their names etched in them. Pyramids are architectural marvels. While many mysteries and legends abound, experts agree that the building of the pyramids took hundreds of workers hundreds of years to complete.

While pyramids served many purposes (some were quite elaborate on the inside with bakeries, tombs and hallways aplenty) the outward symbol of success was to get to the point, the capstone. Once the builders completed the point of the pyramid, it was complete. Any shortcuts would certainly be noticed and mar the elegance of these ancient structures. If the work crews had rushed to get to the point, it is unlikely that these landmarks would still be standing. 

After more than 25 years in corrections leading teams through change, I can tell you – I’m sick and tired of struggling with it! And I know I’m not alone. I consult with agencies every day that are struggling through organizational change.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

There are two strategies that when used properly help us get out ahead of change and influence it in a way that makes leading through change much easier - even as much as 10 times easier!

“How?!” You say.

“Lay it on me!”

It’s summer time! 

We are less than six weeks in to the Game of Thrones waiting game and counting down the days until (or fondly remembering) our summer vacations.

To help get out of the summer office space slump, we pulled together a few easy tips on staying productive in your community corrections office.

We know it can be difficult to stay focused on your clients and their treatment (much less all of the paperwork that comes along with them) when you’d rather be at the pool.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t make the most of the time you have this summer with your clients.

1. Get active! Take your sessions outside your office. Why keep everyone cooped up inside when you can take your sessions and programs outside? Take a walk around the office or use the stairs instead of the elevator. Here are some other ideas for moving around the office from the American Heart Association. 

2. Help your clients plan something they can look forward to. 

As part of a mission to improve success rates and decrease technical violations and escapes, Time to Change Community Corrections (TTC) has turned its treatment team meetings into training and growth development meetings under the guidance of Evan Crist, Psy.D., founder of CorrectTech. Dr. Crist is leading a shift in culture and organizational change by educating his staff members using TTC’s own data to help equip them on this mission.

I attend these meetings and am happy to be included in this exciting culture change! My goal, as CorrectTech’s customer development specialist, is to reinforce TTC’s goals for using agency data to drive decision-making in my individual community corrections staff coachings and group trainings.

I am thrilled to see the data management system in CorrectTech’s case management software being put to use in this exciting journey!

A case manager supervisor was recently assigned two projects that incorporate collecting data out of CorrectTech.

Assignment 1: What are the success rates for clients with a specific drug of choice?

My 15-year-old daughter has her driver’s permit. She is attentive and cautious, but sometimes being in the car with a learning driver is a bit harrowing. She is slowly becoming more comfortable and confident but still needs guidance at times and frequent feedback for assurance. She will have her license soon, but, for now, this learners’ permit experience serves a great transition from being an unlicensed driver who still needs Dad to play taxi driver to a licensed driver who believes she needs nothing from no one.

Learning the necessary skills to earn that freedom is not without stress for driver and passenger, but imagining what the roads would be like without such a transition period is certainly far more frightening.

Transition Clients Back into the Community

Thoughtful planning, basic skills training and the freedom to make some mistakes are vital aspects of a good transition for community corrections offenders too. In fact, it can be argued that the lack of such a process is largely to blame for our unacceptably high recidivism rate.