Unifying corrections: Operational challenges and modern-day solutions

• Agencies should examine internal data to optimize workloads, reduce burnout, and identify individuals who need support. 

• To uncover meaningful insights, agencies need clean, unified data. 

• Effective interagency collaboration relies on strong relationships, connected technology, and interoperability. 

• Leaders must act as educators, champions, and innovators to drive progress.

As leaders of corrections organizations look to modernize, they face significant technical roadblocks. Often, agencies struggle with messy data siloed in disparate data sources. That means leaders lack a unified view of their operations, have limited visibility into inmate programs, and can’t find meaningful data to back up funding requests. 

These technical challenges are intertwined with continued staffing shortages, too: Outdated technology makes operations less efficient, potentially contributing to employee burnout. 

With better data solutions, however, corrections organizations can reduce workloads, support staff safety, and open the door for interagency collaboration. In a recent webinar we hosted in partnership with Corrections1, public safety leaders discussed how improved data management and data integration technology can address these complicated issues. Our panelists included:

• Commissioner Jeff Dunn, Alabama Department of Corrections (moderator)

• Dave Fontneau, CIO, Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD)

• Lt. Nathan Zilke, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO)

• Al Cormier, Chief of Operations, Vermont Department of Corrections (VTDOC)

Keep reading to learn how your agency can action its data to support retention, collaboration, and innovation.

How technology impacts staff retention and wellness

“75 is the new 100. Leveraging technology is one way we're going to try to retain staff and still provide effective and timely operational data. That's how we're going to succeed going forward.” —Al Cormier, Chief of Operations, VTDOC

Recruitment and retention challenges are especially pronounced in corrections organizations, with agencies reporting vacancy rates up to 42% and turnover rates as high as 34%, according to the American Correctional Association.

To combat this trend, leaders are focusing on ways to engage and retain their personnel. Staff wellness is one of VTDOC’s highest priorities, said Cormier, who oversees the agency’s strategic plan. VTDOC has adjusted schedules to promote work-life balance, integrated peer support into everyday work, and implemented wellness initiatives. These efforts have cut the agency’s vacancy rate in half — from 30% to 15% — in two years. 

Still, lower staff levels have become the norm, Cormier said, and leaders must embrace technology that engages workers and balances their workloads.

“75 is the new 100,” Cormier said. “Leveraging technology is one way we're going to try to retain staff and still provide effective and timely operational data. That's how we're going to succeed going forward.”

Harnessing agency data to support wellness

“We all know we spend more time here than we do with our own family, so it's important that we take care of them, and really push that work-life balance.” —Dave Fontneau, CIO, OCSD

It’s challenging to quantify staff sentiment, Cormier said, and often, leaders create strategies based on their gut feelings. Instead, agencies should seek out tech solutions that gather and analyze staff wellness data.

The LCSO uses internal and staffing data — such as timesheets, offender management system (OMS) data, and incident-based reports — to monitor employee well-being, Lt. Zilke said. Command staff then apply that data to optimize shift schedules, promote work-life balance, and identify individuals who need support.

“We’re looking at things like: How many hours are specific deputies working? Is that same person working overtime constantly? Are they covering too many shifts?” Zilke said. “We’re monitoring things like burnout, also things like sick leave usage, and if there are patterns of that occurring within shifts or in specific areas, because those can highlight problem areas.”

Leaders push these dynamic reports down to the shift supervisor level, Zilke said, increasing accountability and promoting a healthier work environment. 

Similarly, OCSD captures data to inform its peer support program and counseling team, Fontneau said. OCSD implemented a wellness mobile app, which provides data-driven resources and allows deputies to engage with staff members. That information may be factored in during a critical incident review, helping command staff determine whether an employee needs additional resources.

By capturing employee sentiment, monitoring signs of burnout, and creating a continuous feedback loop, agencies can improve staff experiences, reduce negative interactions, and ultimately create safer environments. Employee wellness can’t be overlooked, Fontneau said.

“We all know we spend more time here than we do with our own family, so it's important that we take care of them, and really push that work-life balance,” Fontneau said. 

Dirty data and siloed sources slow down operations 

“In the past, we almost had to be data scientists to analyze and pull data, or you had to rely on a crime analyst, or someone that knew how to navigate those systems. What Peregrine has allowed us to do is not make our staff become data scientists. The platform does the work for them and creates it in a nice format with a bow tie on it.” —Dave Fontneau, CIO, OCSD

Accurate, reliable data is essential for monitoring inmate programming, maintaining safety, securing funding, and reporting. But analysts must wrangle data from disconnected sources — such as RFID data, OMS or jail management system (JMS) data, and relevant external databases — and incompatible formats, including PDFs and handwritten notes.

Finding the right data to support VTDOC’s inmate programs is a massive undertaking, Cormier said, requiring multiple steps of querying, formatting, uploading, and exporting. Analysts’ work is made even more complicated by high turnover rates: New staff members might file incomplete information, contributing to “dirty data” that causes headaches down the line. All of that unreliable data stored in incompatible solutions adds strain to overburdened staff members.

“It's a lot of additional hours and time spent trying to find that data,” Cormier said. “And we're having to clean that data, because we know it is dirty at points. It's only as good as what's being put in.”

OCSD personnel faced the same issue, with dirty data fragmented across 30 separate sources, Fontneau said. As a solution, the agency invested in Peregrine, a data integration platform that ingests OCSD’s many data sources, merges similar records, cleans messy data, and pools that information into a single data lake. Now, it's easy for personnel at all levels to find and share the insights they need.

“In the past, we almost had to be data scientists to analyze and pull data, or you had to rely on a crime analyst, or someone that knew how to navigate those systems,” Fontneau said. “What Peregrine has allowed us to do is not make our staff become data scientists. The platform does the work for them and creates it in a nice format with a bow tie on it.”

Data integration makes it easy to uncover meaningful data that supports programming initiatives, legislative efforts, and funding requests. That’s where corrections agencies should be headed, Cormier said. 

Connected tech makes cross-agency collaboration possible

“Without it, we're going to be struggling for the foreseeable future — with funding, with effective programming, with effective communication. That need for data sharing is paramount to our success.” —Al Cormier, Chief of Operations, VTDOC

Corrections agencies benefit from strong relationships with other entities, such as state court systems, sheriff’s departments, and neighboring public safety agencies, Cormier said. But resource-strapped organizations might be limited by cost or technical roadblocks.

“Everybody wants to share data,” Cormier said. “Everybody wants each other's data, but when it comes time to do it, it's like people are pointing fingers. Who's going to pay for it? Who's going to write the API? There's struggles with the vendors, but there's also struggles with the agencies.”

When agencies do choose to participate in data sharing, nailing down the logistics can take months, if not years.

“Oftentimes, by the time that's done, there's a new administration, and they want to change what's allowable for sharing,” Cormier said.

Despite these challenges, interagency collaboration is an essential goal, Fontneau said. Public safety agencies need tech solutions that allow them to securely share data, analyze across disparate datasets, and create a common operating picture.

To build this connected landscape, according to Fontneau, agencies need three key factors: modern, cloud-native technology; open APIs; and vendors that act as strategic partners. Agencies should prioritize vendors that promote interoperability, which removes roadblocks to sharing and analyzing data in a third-party platform.

“We have to have strategic partners that have that open API mentality that allows us to share data across disparate platforms,” Fontneau said. “We now are at a point where we won't do business with a technology partner, unless they have that mindset of that open API, that willingness to share data.

LEARN MORE: Download our interoperability guide to learn about the risks of vendor lock-in

There’s no innovation without leadership

“If we're doing things the same way next year or three years from now, then we're failing, because technology is moving at such an exponential pace. We've got to be right there along with it and be driving that change.” —Dave Fontneau, CIO, OCSD

The push for interagency collaboration, interoperability, and modernization demonstrates OCSD’s transition to an innovation mindset. That effort has required strong “change leadership,” Fontneau said.

“We can't be satisfied with the status quo,” Fontneau said. “We have to be disruptors in this space and push back on the way we used to do things. … If we're doing things the same way next year or three years from now, then we're failing, because technology is moving at such an exponential pace. We've got to be right there along with it and be driving that change.”

Leaders need to communicate, educate their staff about new features, and get them excited about emerging technology. And ultimately, it’s up to an agency’s leaders to carry their mission forward. That might mean pushing back on distractions that aren’t serving the agency’s top priorities, Cormier said.

“That communication and that educator piece is huge,” Cormier said. “But what's driving us forward, everything goes back to that strategic plan. If somebody has an idea or thought, we'll take [it]. But if it doesn't match with one of our priorities, it's going to take a back seat.”

Without leadership, there’s no innovation, Fontneau said. Long-lasting changes start from the top, and they need to be consistent throughout an entire organization, its partners, and its vendors.

“It's all about culture. It's all about leadership,” Fontneau said. “It's all about driving that change to provide the best solutions for our first responders and making our communities safer.” 

Build a common operating picture for your organization

As corrections agencies modernize their operations, they need reliable technology that supports staff wellness, eliminates data silos, promotes data sharing, and sparks innovation. Data integration is the connective foundation that allows agencies to maximize their existing technology and fully action their data. 

Peregrine is a scalable data integration solution that supports agencies of all sizes. Peregrine ingests data from virtually any source, cleans and harmonizes that data, and delivers a unified view of your operation. With automated reporting and dynamic data visualization, you don’t have to be an expert in data analysis to uncover meaningful, actionable insights that inform programming, funding requests, and wellness initiatives.

To learn more about how unified data supports corrections agencies, watch the Corrections1 webinar, and to discover how Peregrine can unlock your agency’s data, schedule a demo today.