NCJ Number
238504
Date Published
March 2001
Length
48 pages
Annotation
This updated second edition provides guidelines on how to improve jail operations by improving jail staffing practices.
Abstract
This edition updates the 1988 edition published by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), developed to help improve jail operations by improving jail staffing practices. It identifies a series of steps that build on one another to produce a comprehensive and innovative staffing plan. The workbook provides information to create an initial staffing plan for a new facility or conduct a comprehensive staffing analysis for the first time in response to changes at the facility or in policy. The introduction of this workbook discusses the elements of a staffing analysis, describes the benefits derived from a comprehensive analysis, and provides guidelines for how to best use the workbook. An overview of staffing issues includes: identifying staffing problems common to many jails, detailing overtime usage and its causes, identifying unique characteristics of jails, and identifying who should be involved in a staffing analysis. The next section introduces a comprehensive 10-step staffing analysis process that breaks the work into manageable tasks: profiling the jail; calculating net annual work hours; developing a facility activity schedule; developing a staff coverage plan; completing a staff summary, developing a schedule; evaluating, revising, and improving the plan; calculating operational costs; preparing a report; implementing the plan; and monitoring results. Step-by-step instructions are given to guide the analysis, and sample forms are provided. Also provided are additional material and information on methods for optimizing staff resources, a discussion of the myth of staff-to-inmate ratios, blank copies of all forms used in the analysis, and a formula for converting net annual work hours to a shift relief factor. Exhibits, glossary, and appendixes