1.3: Community Partnerships
Pursue partnerships with law enforcement, government, and community entities to increase public awareness of agency activities,
promote cooperative activities with the police in monitoring offenders, and increase the level of support services available
to offenders and defendants.
Other Information:
CSOSA dedicates approximately 5 percent of its annual resources to activities in this area, including: - Partnership with
the Metropolitan Police Department in each of the city’s 83 Police Service Areas; - Maintenance and growth of Community Justice
Advisory Networks in each of the city’s eight Police Districts; - Development of cooperative agreements and Memorandums of
Understanding with government, non-profit, and private entities to increase opportunities available to offenders in the areas
of community service, job placement, and support programs. CSOSA’s program model focuses on integrating the functions of offender
supervision into the overall community. The results we seek depend in part on cooperation from, and effective collaboration
with, our partners—in the justice system, in the community, and in government. We have made significant progress in establishing
meaningful partnerships since our founding, and we are now at the point where we can commit to goals that express the value
and effectiveness of these relationships. CSOSA does not view “cross-cutting” programs as an afterthought to our operations.
They are essential to our success. To that end, we are involved in a number of innovative partnerships and interagency initiatives
to increase both the range of services available to offenders and the network of accountability that prevents crime. CSOSA’s
goal is to involve the community in supervision—not as a substitute for the officer’s work, but as a long-term addition to
the offender’s life. If the offender comes to believe that the community is invested in his or her success, then he or she
becomes invested in the community’s welfare and understands the consequences of crime. General Goal: - CSOSA will increase
the level of collaborative supervision activities that occur in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department (from
a baseline measurement established in FY 2004). CSOSA now has functioning partnerships in all 83 Police Service Areas. Each
of these partnerships provides a venue for collaborative supervision. This collaboration takes three forms: joint orientation
of offenders entering supervision, presentation of high-risk cases to police officers in the offender’s home Police Service
Area, and joint accountability tours (home/work site visits) between police officers and Community Supervision Officers. Each
activity is important to increasing police awareness of, and participation in, community supervision. Offenders who are known
and monitored by the police are less likely to engage in criminal activity and more likely to have at-risk behavior noticed
and interrupted before criminal activity results. To ensure that our partnership with MPD continues to grow, CSOSA is committed
to increasing the level of partnership activities by 10 percent each year over the FY 2004 baseline. We are incorporating
an automated tracking capability into SMART in FY 2003 and should establish baseline measurements for each type of activity
in FY 2004. Means and Strategies. Maintaining the target caseload of approximately 50 offenders per supervision officer is
essential to achieving this goal. Joint supervision activities with MPD are a time-intensive but important aspect of case
management. Community Supervision Officers must have sufficient time to complete these activities. Moreover, these activities
must be entered into the case record and tracked within the automated case management system. General Goal: - CSOSA will increase
the number of cooperative agreements or Memorandums of Understanding with government, non-profit, faith-based, or private
entities to provide opportunities for offenders to fulfill community service requirements (from a baseline established in
FY 2003). One important result of partnerships is the community’s acceptance of offenders’ skills and labor. Agreements with
outside entities—other government agencies, non-profit groups, faith-based groups, or private businesses—allow offenders to
fulfill their requirements for community service. In addition to meeting court-imposed requirements, these opportunities provide
work experience and give the offender a chance to interact with the community in a positive way. CSOSA is committed to increasing
each year the number of organizations committed to providing these opportunities, and to maintaining an appropriate level
of community service placements so that offenders with a community service requirement can fulfill it in a timely manner.
Means and Strategies. CSOSA’s Community Justice Programs division works to develop opportunities for offenders to fulfill
their community services requirements. By demonstrating the benefit to the community and the cost-effectiveness of participating
in the program, CSOSA can increase the number of community service slots that are available. General Goal: - CSOSA will increase
the number of cooperative agreements or Memorandums of Understanding with government, non-profit, faith-based, or private
entities to provide employment, training, or support programs for offenders (from a baseline established in FY 2003). In addition
to community service opportunities, CSOSA’s partnerships result in increased employment, training, and support programming
for offenders under supervision. CSOSA is committed to continuing to grow these resources, which are an invaluable complement
to supervision. These resources create links between the offender and his or her community. Participation in a non-profit
organization’s training program or a faith institution’s substance abuse support group will assist the offender in forming
permanent, positive relationships and developing positive ways to spend time. Such connections are key to the offender’s long-term
success. Means and Strategies. CSOSA is working to expand its Faith/Community Partnership activities to enable offenders to
access job training, transitional housing, and other types of support programs offered by area faith institutions. Program
capacity and demand from non-criminal justice participants may affect our ability to achieve this goal.
Indicator(s):
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