By ANDREW TILGHMAN
PROBLEM AREAS
An analysis by Harris County officials cited longstanding problems at
the probation department. They include:
• Workload: Probation officers are overwhelmed with paperwork.
•
Technology: Computer system is outdated and ineffective.
• Communication: Probation officers are often reluctant
to share opinions with judges.
• Fairness: Probationer drug tests are not sufficiently random.
• Morale:
Probation officers feel overworked, and may resist change.
Source: Draft report on Harris County Community
Supervision and Corrections Department, conducted by the county Office of Budget Management
Harris County's probation department is struggling with systemic problems
that include an ineffective bureaucracy, outdated technology and internal politics that hinder its ability to supervise the
county's more than 40,000 probationers, according to an internal report obtained by the Houston Chronicle.
The county's roughly 320 probation officers spend excessive time on clerical
tasks, and the reports they draw up on individual criminals often are "highly subjective" and of "limited use" for assessing
public safety risks, the 31-page report states.
The report, still in draft form, offers an unvarnished assessment of
the state's largest probation department, which is charged with supervising and rehabilitating low-level criminals.
The audit was conducted by the Harris County Office of Budget Management
at the request of probation director Paul Donnelly, who began overhauling the troubled agency shortly after he arrived in
October 2003.
"I told them, 'I want this hard-hitting. Don't pull any punches,' " Donnelly
said.
Formally known as the Community Supervision and Corrections Department,
the agency has about 700 employees and an annual budget of almost $50 million. It has come under increasing scrutiny in recent
months as Texas prisons are reaching capacity and lawmakers search for ways to cut costs in the criminal justice system.
State legislators are putting enormous pressure on the probation department
to do more to keep borderline criminals out of jail through drug treatment, counseling and other rehabilitative programs and
reduce taxpayer costs.
In recent years, Harris County has been criticized by officials statewide
for taking up what they think is more than its share of costly state jail and prison space. The probation department has 8.3
percent of the state's total probation population, yet it accounts for more than 12 percent of probationers judged to be in
violation and ultimately incarcerated, according to 2004 state records.
"We're tough. What we're not is smart," said state Sen. John Whitmire,
a Houston Democrat and chairman of the criminal justice committee.
"There needs to be a cultural change," Whitmire said. "We've got to get
away from the thinking that it's the probation officers' jobs to help catch people — a kind of 'I gotcha' approach.
It ought to be the culture of 'We're going to make you successful.' "
High expectations
Harris County's probation department is undergoing a transition,
Donnelly said, by devoting less time to probationers who are employed, nonviolent, first-time offenders and concentrating
more on supervising people who pose a risk to public safety and appear in danger of going to jail.
"I want to put our focus on those people who are a little bit scary,"
Donnelly said, referring to such criminals as sex offenders and those convicted in domestic violence incidents who are not
sent to prison.
The audit report states that, though a "department shake-up was overdue"
when Donnelly was hired, he has pursued such a strategy with "a heavy hand."
Donnelly has set up a new management team and begun to enact some of
the report's recommendations, including plans for a $3 million computer system and devising new methods for evaluating the
effectiveness of individual probation officers.
Donnelly has the support of many of the county's district judges, who
hired him from a private corrections firm in Florida with expectations that he would bring a new management approach.
"The rate of change has been pretty phenomenal," said state District
Judge Belinda Hill, a co-chair of the judges' standing committee on probation. "Mr. Donnelly has hit the ground running to
try to address a number of those (issues) at one time."
Paperwork problems
Noting that the structural flaws predate Donnelly's arrival, the
auditors said the department continues to suffer from systemic and cultural problems.
As one example, it points out that probation officers have been evaluated
for years on their ability to complete paperwork.
"This results in case officers focusing their efforts on case documentation,
(significant effort is expended to dot I's and cross T's) to the detriment of performing more active, in-depth case work,"
the report says.
Probation directors now ask case officers to show proof of engaging probationers
by visiting their homes, discussing employment opportunities or helping to straighten out financial concerns, Donnelly said.
The report also says that caseworkers tend to categorize probationers
as "medium-risk" because of two factors: their reluctance to fill out additional forms required for "high-risk" probationers
and fears that lawmakers will cut funding for those deemed to be "low-risk."
The department is trying to use a new risk-assessment method that may
be more reliable for judges who make final decisions about many probationers, Donnelly said.
Another key problem at the agency is computer technology, which lags
far behind that of other large organizations, according to the report. The computer system makes it difficult to answer basic
questions such as "How many probationers successfully complete their supervision programs?"
The report recommends a massive overhaul of the computer system and mandatory
training for probation workers. Installation of a new system may take two to three years and would cost about $3 million,
Donnelly said.
'Action-oriented'
Harris County officials plan to work with the probation department
to fund the computer upgrades if no state money is available, county budget officer Dick Raycraft said.
"This guy is an action-oriented man, and he is really thinking outside
the box," Amir Rashid, director of the Office of Budget Management, said of Donnelly.
The report notes that efforts to address some of its concerns already
are under way.
But many among the department's rank and file remain disenchanted with
some of the changes, which have included raising officers' average caseloads to more than 150, compared with 125 in 2003.
The statewide average caseload for a probation officer is 152, state records show.
New state money may permit the Harris County department to hire between
100 and 200 case officers later this year, Whitmire said.
Internal grumbling
Some case officers also are unhappy about new requirements to step
up field visits at probationers' homes rather than limit supervision to scheduled probation-office meetings.
"It is very important to recognize that many case officers feel overwhelmed
with high caseloads and a perception of ever-increasing requirements," the report states. "Left unresolved, morale issues
could negatively impact the director's ability to build a unified team that will embrace the new direction that he envisions."
Donnelly, however, blamed many of the morale problems on "outside agitators"
and said they're normal for a large institution going through change.
