Embracing Technology in Corrections

As a teenager in the 1990’s, I read articles proclaiming that a new digital age was upon us. Spectacular predictions abounded about what would happen by the year 2000, or soon after. With the birth of the internet, anything seemed possible. Various innovations over the last 100+ years have prompted similar claims about the future, some of which have come to fruition, while others continue to exist only in movies and TV shows set in a distant future.

Fast-forward to 2022, and it’s clear the digital age has lived up to the hype. Virtually every aspect of our lives is driven by technology. It dominates how we travel, shop, organize our lives, pay our bills, and interact with others. Your home’s lights, air conditioning, and security system may be controlled in the palm of your hand from anywhere. Don’t like what’s on the radio or TV? Stream your favorite artist or movie. Need a ride?

Summon a local chauffeur. “There’s an app for that” is perhaps the truest statement around these days.

A common trait among successful businesses is their prioritization of technology for optimizing service delivery. They recognize it as a necessity for beating competitors and meeting ever-increasing customer demands. Many businesses who haven’t taken that approach have closed, or struggle to stay relevant. The COVID-19 pandemic brought this aspect of business sustainability to unprecedented clarity.

The public sector faces unique challenges. Innovative but unproven concepts are susceptible to being beaten out by the familiar and predictable status quo. Budgets are tight. New ideas that cost money require a host of approvals and may take time to fund.

Politics may get in the way. The public sector also has distinct silos: the staff who knows the agency operations, and the IT specialists who know the backend technology. They must work together toward new tech but may have trouble understanding one another.

Also, IT resources are often stretched thin with existing projects. These dynamics can resurface once procurement officials get involved. All this can add up to years before new technology are implemented, especially if the efforts taken are disjointed.

Corrections agencies face all these hurdles and more.

Correctional work is proudly steeped in tradition, which itself can cultivate resistance to change. The person-to-person nature of the work can create real and perceived limitations about potential business use cases. Data and physical security risks are paramount to such an extent, that viable tech solutions may be ruled out prematurely.

It isn’t easy being a technology advocate and pioneer, but that’s what corrections need today. Tech offers efficiency, safety, and work quality enhancements we could only dream of before. It’s also crucial for recruiting today’s workforce. Younger generations simply don’t want to work for employers who are behind the times. The good news is corrections agencies have started making headway, and the concept of technology innovation as a need, rather than a want, is gaining traction among legislative bodies and policy decision-makers.

" A common trait among successful businesses is their prioritization of technology for optimizing service delivery "

So where does one start, or improve upon existing efforts? Although getting something new and shiny in place fast is tempting, urgency is best applied toward establishing (or improving) a strategic plan – a plan which is known and understood throughout the organization, not just among a few high-level administrators or IT gurus. Including technology as a component of your strategic plan can really improve timelines and what is possible. It also mitigates the problem of staff spinning their wheels unproductively, pursuing things that don’t align with the organization’s direction, losing focus, and developing unrealistic timeline expectations. Here’s a basic roadmap toward success:

Identify Business Needs & Develop Business Use Cases

It sounds elementary, but the importance of defining business needs first and putting them in priority order cannot be overstated.

This list should be a living document that evolves as needed. Collaborate with others to ensure you get the best list possible. Build a use case for each need so a layperson will understand the problem and the desired solution; this will pay big dividends later when other partners are engaged.

Ancillary Support Engagement

After your business needs and use cases have been established, review them with ancillary personnel – whomever you need to keep taking small steps forward. This step may entail a series of meetings with professionals in the IT and procurement spaces, among others. The initial goal is to expose them to what you need to achieve at a high level and get their initial input and feedback. They may have recommendations relative to existing enterprise solutions, developing an in-house solution, or procurement avenues. It’s also a good place to start identifying what tentative project schedules may look like. You will find a need to double back to these partners periodically until a solution is in place.

Research

You may reach out to other states to see what solutions they have adopted, see what’s available through cooperative contracts, and leverage your CIO or technology associations ... there are lots of ways to go about this.

Take care to avoid tunnel vision on a particular vendor or product. Focus on your business needs – that target you need to hit, rather than your initial feeling about which bow and arrow are most likely to hit it.

Strategic Planning

Now that you have your needs established and potential ideas for technology that can address them, build them into your agency’s strategic plan. Ensure executive leaders have input and review/ approval opportunities, and that they are committed to providing ongoing support as needed. The worst thing is a great plan without the juice to make it happen, especially when inevitable setbacks are encountered. When applicable, don’t forget to include fiscal year budget requests in the plan!

Use a Gantt chart or other tool to create visibility around targeted project tasks and milestones.

The digital era isn’t going away. Embracing it starts with a mindset, which must be followed by strategic action to achieve success in the short and long term.