NCJ Number
239256
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 76 Issue: 1 Dated: June 2012 Pages: 46-48
Date Published
June 2012
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the history of the Federal Judicial Center's Leadership Development Program (LDP), analyzes its major components, describes its blending of academic and experiential approaches to development and leadership skills, and assesses the impact of the 3-year program on its participants and the Federal court system overall.
Abstract
When establishing the program, Center staff took into account the concerns of the Judicial Conference's Committee on Criminal Law. Five goals for the LPD were determined: develop a personal approach to leadership and management; develop new skills for change management; develop an ability to benchmark the achievements of Federal probation and pretrial services officers; broaden participants' understanding of judicial administration; and learn from the best practices of other probation and pretrial services officers across the country. Criteria for eligibility to participate in the program were established in terms of employment level and years of service in probation or pretrial services. Since the inaugural class in 1992, the LDP has been effective in achieving many of its objectives in its 10 completed classes. Of the 804 participants, 483 have been male and 321 females. The successes of the LDP can be seen both quantitatively and qualitatively in the statistics and responses of participants. One of the major benefits of the program is the promotion of a continuing assessment of policies and procedures based on new knowledge obtained through evaluation research that reveals best practices in achieving the objectives of probation and pretrial services. 1 figure and 3 references