An overhaul of training standards for probation, and adult and juvenile corrections officers that ultimately will help local agencies safely deal with an increasingly complex level of offender is underway at the Board of State and Community Corrections. The next step in the process will be a statewide survey of more than 6,000 corrections and probation officers in 159 agencies to measure how individual job duties have changed since the last update in 2000. Since that time advances in technology, an increase in the number of offenders with mental health needs and, more recently, adult and juvenile Realignment have combined with other issues to place new responsibilities on adult corrections officers, juvenile corrections officers, and probation officers. Results of the Local Selection and Training Standards Project survey will guide the BSCC in its 2014/2015 update of California’s training and hiring standards for corrections personnel in jails, police department holding facilities, and probation departments and juvenile halls. “It’s time to do a new analysis to get a handle on what jobs look like today, and to revise the way we select and train our ACO, JCO and POs to reflect changes to the way they do their jobs,” said Evonne Garner, the BSCC’s deputy director of the Standards and Training for Corrections Division. The BSCC developed the survey with the help of subject-matter experts who identified the tasks and skills needed to do each job. Sheriffs and Chiefs of Probation also helped by identifying 15 key areas of change, including an offender population that is serving longer sentences in jail. That information formed the basis of the on-line questionnaire that the BSCC will send July 1 to a representative sample of the state’s nearly 29,000 first-line and supervisory employees of jails and probation departments. The survey will identify the frequency and criticality of each job task, the knowledge, skills and abilities required for successful job performance, what changes have occurred in the job since 2000, and aspects of the job that are shared as well as unique to each agency. It will serve as the foundation for updating the selection and training standards for corrections staff. The new standards will be designed to identify common statewide standards across job classifications to make it easier for officers to transfer between agencies and counties and to reduce costs for the state and local agencies. For instance, if a Juvenile Corrections Officer is transferring into a Probation Officer position, neither the shared training nor the selection exam would not have to be repeated. By September the BSCC hopes to convene an Executive Steering Committee that will look at the statewide survey results and prioritize the standards revisions. By the end of the year each participating agency will receive a report that compares that agency’s individual training needs to the statewide standards. That report can be used to guide local and unique training needs and standards. To learn more go here: Additional Information or Questions? For additional information or if you have questions about this Public Notice please feel free to contact: Evonne Garner P (916) 323-2774 evonne.garner@bscc.ca.gov