Juvenile Justice Case

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Ellen Schall and the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Organizational Transformation of the DJJ Discussion of Issues with Analysis & Recommendations Daniel "Phillip" Boutote PA 800 Boutote Transforming the DJJ To: Ellen Schall, Commissioner New York City Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) From: Daniel "Phillip" Boutote, Consultant Date: November 30, 2011 Re: Transforming the DJJ Introduction I thank you for our initial meeting from which I am able to analyze, discuss, and offer recommendations for your guidance in addressing the issues that face the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) as you take the helm of Commissioner. I see several similarities to the issues that Jerome Miller faced when he was made head…show more content…
The teacher personae is further exemplified by the transmission of personal learning and wisdom. The outcome of this will be your legacy of future leaders (Blunt). A confident leader surrounds themselves with talented people, instructs them in their roles and responsibilities, and lets them go about their work. Seek out a trustworthy protégé. I submit, with the above attributes accorded to your leadership skills, that your decision to hire Bill Spiller as deputy commissioner will serve you well. Spiller obviously wants the commissioner position, having applied and been turned down. Mentor and coach him letting him know that your goal of teaching him coincides with his goal of the top spot. Spiller's general knowledge of the DJJ and his working relationship with the unions will also serve your interests as you begin to develop a functioning organization. Your long term goal is to build trusting relationships. Issue: Mission and Reputation Upon review of the DJJ mission statement, I feel that it weighs heavily on detention standards (see Exhibit I) which are not in keeping with current juvenile justice initiatives. I recommend that you re-think the department's core action plans and strategies and institute a rewrite of the mission statement. Your staff has a passion to the work of the DJJ. Realign your mission statement and staff commitment will align with it. The actions of the DJJ and its mission statement should be a mirror image of each other.…show more content…
All of this information in combination with intake and continuing updates to your custodial wards should put the DJJ into compliance with any outstanding or potential violations of federal and state laws as they relate to information and knowledge gathering in order to manage their case loads properly. Once the basics are in place, I suggest that a research project should be implemented in order to follow the ongoing structure of the DJJ and how it relates to its impact on its wards in specific and on juvenile justice efforts in general. Administrators rely on research data to make better decisions, to monitor them, and to examine the effects of those decisions (O'Sullivan, Rassel, & Berner, 2008). A well organized research model can act as the ongoing benchmark for the operational effectiveness of the DJJ. The DJJ is also large enough in the scope of its activities that the rest of the juvenile justice community could potentially benefit from the knowledge that is accumulated. I make final note in this section that staff should be equipped with the proper technology hardware both stationary and mobile in order to maintain the informational database that I am recommending. This is a budget issue and should be a part of your grant funding efforts. Summary with Concluding Remarks In the summary I recommend that you follow the Van Meter/Van Horn model to

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