Text Version of Designing and Implementing Good Workplans Background: Reentry Initiative * Comprehensive approach. * Priority on reentry strategies that properly prepare ex-offenders and ensure community safety. * State-of-the-art reentry strategies. * New way of doing business for federal, state, and local agencies. * National models of best practices. * Funding priority: identify and fill gaps; sustain overall strategy. * Enhance current reentry strategies through training and technical assistance (TTA). Module 1: Why Develop a Workplan? * Federal initiative requires a workplan that reflects nine content areas (referred to as "steps" in the solicitation). * Actual workplan consists of seven of the nine steps. * Functions of effective workplans * Common set of goals and objectives. * Strategic planning. * Project monitoring. * Overall guidance for project implementation. * Blueprint for specific strategies and activities. * Resource management. * Project accountability. * Dynamic in nature. Module 2: What Are the Components of an Effective Workplan? Problems To Be Addressed, Goals/Objectives, and Target Population * Problems to be addressed - two tiered. Includes data driven evidence of the state, condition, and need. * Goals and objectives - provides the overall direction of project implementation. SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, related to the goals, and time-bound). * Target population - determined in part from population analysis. Involves detailing characteristics of eligible offenders, and a plan for selection. Sufficient Workplan Components: Problems To Be Addressed A sufficient problem statement... * Documents the problems and population through the use of relevant data sources (two-tier approach: problem and analysis of population). * Aids in identifying a specific target population, and a plan for selection. Sufficient Workplan Components: Goals and Objectives It's acceptable to * Use the federal goals and objectives. * Develop tailored goals and objectives. * Use a "mix" of federal and project-tailored goals and objectives. SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, related to the goals, and time-bound). Sufficient Workplan Components: Target Population Target population provides... * Selection criteria that meet federal guidance. * Evidence of a plan for selecting target population. ...Result * Greater likelihood of success in implementing project selection plan. Organizational Capacity Your workplan should discuss your agency's experience with the following: * Working with target population. * Leading collaborative, communitywide efforts. * Strategic planning. * Leveraging resources. * Willingness to participate in comprehensive evaluation of the Reentry Initiative. Identify Key Decisionmakers Individuals who have... * Authority. * Responsibility. * Control of resources. ...and can: * Support the program throughout the process. Sufficient Workplan Components: Organizational Capacity Lead agency experience * "Agency is the sole provider of secured correctional confinement in the state." * "Agency provides leadership, direction, and technical assistance to the state's county-run juvenile justice system." * "Agency staff provide technical assistance to counties in the areas of intensive supervision programs for delinquent youth, mentoring programs, and training on a variety of juvenile justice issues." * Agency has collaborated with state health department, county and community schools, and community-based organizations on a variety of projects. Written evaluation of one collaborative pilot project reported that "intensive cross-system training was a critical element to success." State/local readiness * Agency is engaged in strategic planning process to improve quality and efficiency of its field supervision services to move toward a seamless service delivery system. * Agency participates in evaluations of its projects whenever feasible. Routinely collects measures of key indicators of program outcomes in areas such as educational attainment, alcohol and drug abuse treatment, and cognitive-behavior change. Sufficient Workplan Components: Key Decisionmakers Examples * Secretary, Department of Corrections. * Director, Division of Juvenile Corrections. * Superintendent, Department of Public Instruction. * Chair, Council on Workforce Investment. Insufficient Workplan Components: Organizational Capacity Lead agency experience * Insufficient workplans do not address the agency's competence and experience in the areas requested in the application. * "Departmental partners will meet on a monthly basis to develop the project implementation plan for in-prison and reentry plans." * "Coordination for this initiative will include the independent school district, the council on offenders with mental impairments, the workforce commission, the rotary, and the university extension service." Insufficient Workplan Components: Key Decisionmakers Key decisionmakers * Insufficient workplans do not specify key decisionmakers with whom they have entered into agreements. * "Key decisionmakers will review and approve equipment, staffing, and resource applications." * "...the programs and services division director, chief financial officer, chairman of the board of pardons and paroles, and parole division director will assume the roles of key decisionmakers." Design of Each Phase Phase 1: Making a Plan: "Protect and Prepare." Institution-Based Programs * Identify existing programs within the institution that are designed to facilitate reentry and that can assist offenders in the areas of education, substance abuse treatment, job training, etc. * "Agency offenders with special education needs are served by a special education director who provides technical assistance to facility educational staff and by three special education coordinators who travel to different facilities to work one-on-one with inmates. State community colleges also offer courses within agency facilities." * Describe the composition and role of the transition team. * "The transition team will include the offender, the community reintegration specialist, treatment professionals (e.g., mental health professional, substance abuse professional), a support person or family member, and an agency case manager. A parole officer will join the team in phase 2 and will assume the case lead when offenders parole into the community. * The transition team will help develop, monitor, and enforce the reentry plan and will continue to manage the reentry plan until the offender leaves the program." * Additional requirements to complete phase 1 planning: * Develop offender risk and offender needs assessment systems. * Develop a system for constructing reentry plans. * Document proposed terms and conditions of offender participation. Phase 2: Coming Home: "Control and Restore" Community-Based Transition Programs * Identify existing offender transition programs that are designed to facilitate reentry and that can assist offenders in the areas of education, substance abuse treatment, job training, etc. * Describe the assessment instruments to be used during this phase of the program. * Identify a community reentry authority. * "The following entities that have statutory responsibility to enforce conditions of parole for their respective populations will act as reentry authorities in this project: * Adult offenders returning to area #1 - parole board. * Adult offenders returning to area #2 - parole board member acting as administrative law judge in reentry court. * Agency youth - the juvenile parole board." * Describe your plan ensuring continuity of supervision. * Describe your plan ensuring continuity of service. Phase 3: Staying Home: "Responsibility and Productivity." Community-Based Long-Term Support * Identify existing programs in the community that are designed to facilitate reentry and that can assist offenders in the areas of education, substance abuse treatment, job training, etc. * "The career development center provides staff at correctional facilities to help individuals to write resumes, learn interviewing skills, locate job opportunities, find transportation to job sites and access apprenticeships." * Describe your plan ensuring continuity of supervision. * Describe your plan ensuring continuity of service. * Describe and document long-term service agreements with key agencies and decisionmakers. Project management Determine staff resources * Provide details of existing current staff resources. * "Existing agency #1 case managers, a parole board member/reentry authority, a specially assigned parole officer, an agency #2 case manager, a licensed mental health counselor will work with project clients. Agency #1 also has staff to conduct assessments, work with the sex offender population, and offer employment training." Document staff needs for the following: * System development: * "Two full-time reintegration specialists working with agency #1 and agency #2 will coordinate in-prison and community-based service for their respective populations, work with partners to recruit community members to transition teams, and will develop and implement community education training." * Project management: * "One halftime agency #1 project coordinator and one three-quarters-time agency #2 project coordinator will coordinate project and supervise project staff." * Case management: * "The agency #1 project reintegration specialist will develop, plan, assess, interview, and evaluate eligible participants for phase 1 of project in adult agency #1 facilities." Develop a management plan: * Demonstrate how the program will overcome typical coordination difficulties found in designing, implementing, and operating multisystem programs * "To address problems common to large-scale joint agency projects, agency #1 and agency #2 have instituted a comprehensive cross-agency and resident training program, designed by a subcommittee of the project planning group to ensure effective collaboration and implementation of the project. * Ten trainings per year of the grant for partner and agency staff and six trainings per year for community groups will cover topics such as: overview of project, restorative justice, and understanding criminality. * Ensure sufficient management staffing is in place to: * Develop and maintain effective program partnerships. * "Reintegration specialists, the faith-based coordinator, agency's volunteer service coordinator, and the district attorney's office will work together to recruit community members through community and faith-based organizations, community accountability boards, and local business to play a role in the project." * Attend to the daily operations of a complex, multisystem initiative. Design an integrated transition management information system. * "Five systems will be used to track information associated with the project: * State department of corrections information system. * Master programming system. * JOBLINK. * Community reintegration database. * Trails system. * Information collected will be monitored and evaluated regularly by project staff who will meet regularly with parole officers to discuss client progress and interim outcomes." Project Budget Determine how existing funds will support each component of the program: * "The interagency advisory committee on adult and juvenile correctional treatment meets regularly to coordinate adult and juvenile correctional treatment and it will serve as the state level decisionmaker forum for the program." * "The John Smith Work and Family Center, which provides comprehensive services to offenders returning to the area, is part of an on-going collaboration between state and federal agencies, foundations, and community and faith-based organizations. These projects currently leverage state, local, and federal resources in the form of matching dollars, staff, facilities, equipment, and services valued at several million dollars." Identify each program component for which there is a lack of current funding: * "While many services exist, funding to pay for proper treatment modalities, anger management programs in the community, adequate medications, and appropriate length of treatment is lacking. Training for mental health providers to work effectively with the target population is also needed." Provide a budget breakdown of funds requested for each program component, including estimates for the following: * Personnel. * Fringe benefits. * Travel. * Equipment/supplies. * Construction. * Consultants/contracts. * Other. Example of itemized budget estimate: * Equipment/supplies: * 8 pagers; one for each project staff at the state rate of $7.00 per month. * 3 phone lines will be added, one for agency #1 and two for agency #2. * 4 office setups at the state rate of $1,900 is included. * Total: $10,104. Module 3: How Will I Use This Workplan? Functions Of Effective Workplans * Common set of goals and objectives. * Strategic planning. * Project monitoring. * Overall guidance for project implementation. * Blueprint for specific strategies and activities. * Resource management. * Project accountability. * Dynamic in nature. Case Scenario: Using the Workplan's Goals and Objectives * "Provide seamless services from institution through transition to the community to long-term support to help serious violent juvenile offenders re-integrate successfully into their home communities through the mechanism of a reentry court to oversee reentry services." * What's the potential impact on service delivery? * What's the potential impact on project accountability to federal partners?