The Florida Department of Public Safety - Assignment Example

Executive Summary Needs assessment involves a systematic evaluation of the necessities in an organization and the subsequent enhancement of training programs that equip the stakeholders with skills and competencies that help in alleviating such needs. Findings generated from the needs assessment by the high rates of inmate escapes coupled with deaths within the facility. As a result, the institution’s training needs revolve around equipping the staff with the necessary skills and knowledge, which enables the management to handle inmates with diligence and care. In addition, both the patients and the staff need training on reporting modes that they should use in dealing with conflicts and cases of mistreatment within the institution. The application of these corrective measures will enable the organization to pursue its primary objective of ensuring adequate control and care for the inmates as a means of ensuring the overall security of the nation. Needs Assessment Report Due to the increasingly dynamic conditions requiring organizations to evaluate their operation frameworks, needs assessment remains to be an essential component of the organizational environment (Boiarsky, 2004). It is thus, important to measure the discrepancy between the status and the wanted situation in an appropriate manner in order to identify the prevalent needs within the organization. Concerning the inmate mistreatment cases, a need assessment reveals vital areas that the team should consider for its improvement. Goals Nature and operation dynamics of Florida Department of Public Safety necessitated the needs assessment process. In the process, the strengths-based approach applied led to different impacts on the process and organization. Organization Background The Florida Department of Public Safety is the United States’ third largest prison system. The institution is responsible for the custody, care, as well as the control of inmates that are serving prison terms, while supervising those that require such supervision while still in their communities. The institution is currently under heavy scrutiny due to the occurrence of unexplained inmate deaths in a row and recently the prevalence of cases of the prisoner escape. The facility houses over 101,000 inmates, while supervising over 116,000 offenders who are in their community (Florida Department of Public Safety, 2014). The prison system covered by the Florida Department Public Safety comprise of a variety of institutions including work camps, work release centers, annexes, as well as private correctional facilities. Due to its mission of delivering public safety, the Florida Department of Public Safety employs a large number of staff members that which officers, as well as correctional probation officers. The central departments consists of the institution are run by the state government while some of them are run by the private sector. The Management Services Department of Florida offers facilities and houses the lower custody inmates serving shorter prison terms. Rationale for Conducting the Needs Assessment Recently, the Florida Department of Public Safety has gained the attention of principal stakeholders due to the rising prevalence of inmate deaths. In addition, the institution has been experiencing an increase in cases of prisoners escaping from the prison service. Such instances depict the existence of gaps in the operation frameworks of the service, which necessitates the needs assessment process. In addition, it is a historical phenomenon that the Florida Department of Public Safety has direct involvement in the abuse of the inmates. Cases involving misuse of the prisoners occur in the presence of enhanced care, control, as well as custody of the inmates by staff members that purport to be proficient. The Florida Department of Public Safety has been under scrutiny due to the occurrence of unexplained cases of patient deaths. A needs assessment is, therefore, critical in evaluating and averting prevalence rates of prisoner mistreatment. Impacts of taking a Strengths-Based Approach to the Needs Assessment Process The strengths of an organization are the main aspects through which the firm takes advantage of existing opportunities. The Florida Department of Public Safety has a wide variety of opportunities to build on. Building on opportunities ensures the achievement of organizations set goals and improves on the national security of the nation. Institutional needs assessment considers the strengths and maximizes on opportunities that result in better performance in the long term. In addition, needs assessment acts as the basis on which the organization builds its competitive advantage. The contemporary organizational environment contains a broad range of competitive issues. America has a variety of security agencies competing in the provision of safety services. The Florida Department of Public Safety needs to build on its competitive advantage in order to boost the citizenry’s confidence in its departments. A strength-based approach helps in empowering the agency, as well as its staff. It is important to note that strength-based approach targets to promoting the positive for the institution under analysis. Since such a strategy fails to focus on the problem, it is mainly goal-oriented (Cekada, 2010). The situation demands the formulation of objectives so as the institution can satisfy the needs identified during the process (O’Neill, 2008). Strength-Based approach is vital in ensuring the achievement of the overall goals, as well as the strategic objectives. Training in the organization is based on issues relevant to the organization. As a result, the Florida Department of Public Safety needs to base its training programs on the issues, including staff competencies that will contribute to the training program (Florida Department of Public Safety, 2014). Training of employees should aim at issues relating to the institutional strength. Basing the needs assessment of the strengths of the firm is important as it ensures attainment of sustainability in the for the firm’s operations. Needs process comprised of an extensive range of actions covering a myriad of areas to help in filling gaps existing between current institutional condition and the target environment (Cekada, 2010). Securing Management Support The Florida Department of Public Safety covers a vital docket in the enhancement of security of the State of Florida. The department ensures the improvement of correctional attempts on the inmates. Information is necessary for conducting the needs assessment involved accessing data from confidential records, where participants were unwilling to expose such information to the public. It was important to secure the management’s support in order to acquire information from such stakeholders as the line staff, as well as the inmates. The assessment involved contacting respective heads of security in the selected prisons. Seeking of management support assists in accessing documents containing record of cases of detainee mistreatment. Addressing Ethical Concerns The primary ethical concerns for the needs assessment exercise mainly revolve around confidentiality. Information remains confidential by most of the staff members within the correctional facility. As a result, it would be essential to ensure that all that information remains secured from the accessibility of unauthorized personnel. Subjective use of such information may involve using it for malicious purpose. Personal means aimed at challenging the prisons department in this case. Information should serve the main purpose and intention of the organization. Conducting needs assessment requires the use of resources established prior to commencement of the main activities. The process of identifying the resources involved the establishment of the various activities to be carried out in the process of assessing the needs. Data collection and analysis stage required the application of the most resources in terms of the literature materials that included records of cases of mistreatment in the Florida Department of Public Safety. In addition, the conduction of an enhanced process of financial management was essential to ensuring that the process adequately allocates finances to support other activities. Collecting and Analyzing Data Data collection and analysis during the needs assessment process involved different actions. Formulation of questions that need consideration in the process formed an important area. In this case, such questions included an inquiry into the services provided by the institution to staff who has witnessed cases of inmate abuse and whether such services are accessible to the employees concerning the location and work time. In addition, such questions involved gathering information as to the stakeholders who are familiar with instances of inmate abuse that have recently occurred in the correctional facility. The questions developed during the data collection exercise also involved an inquiry into whether staff in the facility had been trained on matters of dealing with the issues that have recently been a matter of concern for the stakeholders and the institution in general. In addition, the data collection process involved activities of reviewing existing information sources on matters related to the needs of the institution. The process involved reviewing a wide range of existing data sources, as well as previous research studies documented by both federal and private institutions. The collection of data for the process, especially from private individuals, was done using interviews. Personal interviews were conducted to enable line staff, as well as inmates to provide a detailed overview of cases of inmate abuse within the institution. Such interviewing activities were important in the process since it enabled the collection of information from the primary sources, including the inmates and the line staff in the institution (Aczel & Sounderpandian, 2002). The data analysis process involved carrying out a comparative evaluation of the data collected, especially from the interviewing and questionnaire-filling exercises. The comparative evaluation concentrated on creating a link between the current reports of cases of inmate mistreatment and the prevalence of such cases in the past. Findings Following the needs assessment process, different training needs were identified, where such needs necessitate the formulation of a budget to ensure the development of corrective measures to fill the gaps existing in the process. Outline the Training Needs That Will Be Required One of the main training needs identified during the needs assessment process is the need to enhance staff knowledge and skills, especially in health and safety aspects. The cases of inmate harassment related to health issues, especially when information was gathered from the staff members in the correctional facility. In this view, most of the officers used such reasons as a means of justifying the deaths that occur in the correctional facility. It would act as a means of ensuring that they can be able to accord treatment to the inmates in case of the occurrence of emergency cases. The institution should ensure it trains all staff on the legal provisions that govern the handling of inmates in such a correctional facility. It is important that the institution ensure that all the personnel gain the knowledge about the possible consequences of violating the provisions of the law on the handling of such parties. It is because of such training that they will avoid the occurrence of violent actions against the inmates. As regards the inmates, the needs assessment process noted the importance of training the inmates on the modes of reporting cases of violence and conflicts between them, as well as with the institution’s staff. The training on such issues will go a long way towards ensuring that inmates follow the right procedure in reporting cases of violence that are directed towards them. Equipping them with the means of solving conflicts will enable them to interact with the officers, as well as their counterparts without triggering the occurrence of violent cases. Outline the budget concerns for the implementation The implementation of the needs assessment findings will require financing by the state security department. It is important that the institution formulate a proposal for funds prior to the implementation of the training programs. In addition, the Florida Department of Public Safety needs to seek finances from the federal government. The institution needs to inform the federal government of its proposal to train all the working and non-working personnel within all its jurisdictions. Recommendations Strengths of the institution should be applicable in solving the weaknesses. In this case, the Florida Department of Public Safety will promote its strengths with the aim of empowering the staff and the overall agency. The institution needs to train its staff in order to equip them with a number of skills and competencies. Such would include health and safety skills that would enable them to cater for the inmate’s welfare as and when required, which will help in alleviating the prevalence of cases of inmate deaths. In addition, the Florida Department of Public Safety should ensure that both the inmates and the staff have knowledge of legal provisions that govern their relationship within the institution. References Aczel, A., & Sounderpandian, J. (2002). Complete Business Statistic. New Delhi: Mcgraw Hill. Boiarsky, C. (2004). The Needs Assessment. Business Communication Quarterly, 67 (1), 58-69. Cekada, T. (2010). Training needs assessment. Professional Safety, 55 (3), 28-33. Florida Department of Public Safety. (2014). Florida Department of Public Safety. Retrieved January 8, 2014, from http://www.dc.state.fl.us O’Neill, C. (2008). Strength-based Approaches to Change and Everything Else. Non-Profit Boards and Governance Review, 17-22. Read More