The Florida Department of Public Safety - Assignment Example

The Florida Department of Public Safety Abstract This needs assessment will provide the information regarding the Florida Department of Public Safety. Despite the evaluation capturing information from many available sources, it does not represent a comprehensive study. This report is intended to provide a view of the needs of Florida Department of Public Safety. Therefore, it reflects the information currently available. Experts argue that a need assessment that is well researched will develop foundations. It will develop both individual and collective foundations. In the end, the organization, in this case the Department will make better decisions. The Department will use the assessment need to plan for other future projects. For example, the management will use the assessment to develop an evaluation strategy. Goals The goals in the need assessment were: To understands the needs of inmates serving terms. To understand the challenges deeply and needs facing the prison system and public corporations Processes The need assessment will mainly focus on the department’s needs and resources. Additionally, it will concentrate on the barriers. Therefore, the process developed here has to focus on the needs, resources, and obstacles. Additionally, the process has cover issues that is common in many corporations, systems, and the general public. This assessment has to occur as the first step of an on-going process. This assessment has been developed in order to accommodate views from multiple sources. There were varieties of interventions developed in order to determine the various needs in the Florida Department of Public Safety[And]. There were requests sent to important people in this department in order to provide their input regarding various measurable indicators in the prison system. Example of these indicators includes the prison health indicators. There is a list developed, which include statistics of the health of the inmates. The list covered areas such as physical and mental health, economic indicators, education, and population data. There was a detailed analysis of available literature reviews in order to study ‘hard data’ that relates with the above list of indicators. Some of this information came from sources such as the United States Census. There was need to collect information from immediate people. Some books call immediate people the ‘closest to the ground’. To obtain this information efficiently, there was a convention of nine focus groups. A definition of focus group is a convention that is structured and conducts moderated discussions, and comprises small groups of people. The nine groups would discuss the various issues of concern in the Florida Department of Public Safety. In these groups, a total of 66 organizations were represented. Not every individual and organization would be represented in the focus group. Therefore, there was need for development of a system that could help reach almost every person. Using the ideas obtained from the focus groups, there was the development of an assessment survey. The survey questions were distributed to the organizations not represented in the focus groups. The main reason for the development of an assessment survey is to measure if the issues raised in the focus group were occurring in the larger society. From the responses in the survey, one could formulate an idea of needs that are pressing in the society. Focus Group Participant Demographics Question 1: Sector you are representing Question 2: Position held Question 3: Number of employees Question 4: Budget Common trends from focus groups and survey There are many unexplained inmate deaths Many organizations within this department operate with a real budget Many organizations in this department are pursuing grants from other sources There are poor health and safety standards in most organizations within this department Health and safety findings analysis There is a need for improved health and safety standards in this department. To ensure a positive result from health and safety policies, there is a need for expanded education and good relationship between prisoners and prison guards. Organizations in this department have to partner with both the local and national health experts. According to studies, there are factors that are crucial to ensuring a healthier community. Some of these factors include improving both the social and economic conditions. Additionally, there is need of providing access to healthy foods. It is essential to keep the facilities within this department safe. Policy leaders in this department have to create policies and strategies designed to improve the safety conditions[And14]. According to studies, well prepared policies and strategies would reduce the chance of occurrence of man-made disasters. On the other hand, it would reduce the impact of natural disasters. Due to the location of most facilities of this department, their leaders have to be prepared to encounter some natural disasters. In case of a disaster, the department should be ready to react effectively. The time used for this reaction should be minimal, and the harm should be minimal. Ways of improving safety From the survey, there were suggestions presented on how to improve safety in facilities within this department. Partnering with prison guards to improve the relationship with the inmates Regulation and monitoring of the food and water delivered to the inmates Formation of an injury prevention coalition Gang awareness training Suicide awareness Increasing accessibility to medical centers Educating all the people in this department on healthier and safer lifestyles Encourage the leaders of this department to ensure the construction practices are sustainable. This would improve the air and water quality Ensure the department has implemented the policies associated with public safety Designing nutritional programs in prisons Encourage advertisements and mass media campaigns to raise awareness of public safety within this department. Issues cited as needs Health services for the inmates Leadership development-This ranges from the departmental leaders to the facility leaders Housing-This includes development of safe housing for inmates. Additionally, the maintenance of the existing housing in order to ensure safety Inmate supportive services-This increases the inmate engagement in productive activities Prison health issue-Access medical services to the inmates and provision of medical specialists How to improve health information in prisons Ensuring that there is the installation of the latest IT equipment Provisions of the internet inside the prison facilities The leaders integrating the health information systems with the national health systems Provision of technological training for prison healthcare staff Ensuring there is an efficient information sharing with the national health system Making it easy for healthcare officers to access the health information Some of the barriers to improving health information in prison are: Lack of technological facilities in the Florida prisons Lack of staff training The federal government raised concern about potential security breaches in prisons Lack of time for modernizing health information in prisons There is always poor attitude towards prison health Lack of finances From the survey and the group discussion, the recommendations presented on overcoming the above barriers include: Increase of funding from the departments Formulation of strategies aimed at providing education and technological training to healthcare workers Raise of awareness in order to change the attitudes towards prison health Ensure the human resource department motivates and satisfies the healthcare staff Facilities within this department to work closely in order to learn from each other Ensuring the top leadership sets realistic targets. This encourages improvement Conclusion From the above assessment, it is evident that prisoners have a greater physical and mental health needs. However, there are many barriers that cause the prisoners not to receive the same quality needs as the community. The paper has identified the issues affecting the prisoners, and it has listed down the recommendations. To improve the health condition of the prisons, the paper recommends that: The health providers and prisons have to work closely together. The department has to consider options of computerizing the information systems in prisons Leaders in this department have to educate prisoners on the issues of personal health In order to increase the safety standards of prisons, the paper recommends: Housing-This includes development of safe housing for inmates. Additionally, the maintenance of the existing housing in order to ensure safety • Partnering with prison guards to improve the relationship with the inmates • Regulation and monitoring of the food and water delivered to the inmates • Formation of an injury prevention coalition • Gang awareness training • Suicide awareness • Increasing accessibility to medical centers • Educating all the people in this department on healthier and safer lifestyles • Encourage the leaders of this department to ensure the construction practices are sustainable. This would improve the air and water quality • Ensure the department has implemented the policies associated with public safety • Designing nutritional programs in prisons • Encourage advertisements and mass media campaigns to raise awareness of public safety within this department. Next steps This assessment will be distributed to the institution within the department for consideration. It will be the decision of the institutional leaders to what extent of this evaluation will be utilized. All the participants in the focus groups will receive the summary report. Additionally, the general public will receive the findings. It is important to highlight that the assessment report represents a summary of the complete findings[Tin03]. References And: , (Bailey, 2014), And14: , (Bailey(b), 2014), Tin03: , (Barber, 2003), Read More