A week of celebration & recognition!
Message from Gary Hinzman, APPA President
Welcome to APPA's website for the 2008 Probation, Parole and Community
Supervision Week. The information you will find here will assist you in
organizing events for this week. Our theme this year is "Making Your Mark on the
Community".
Working with neighborhood groups, creating advisory boards, and operating
neighborhood based supervision programs are part of the work being accomplished
with the community. It is important to design and facilitate programs for
families to be successful, that are pro-active and preventative for youth, and
that have the potential to return social and economic capital to the community.
If being very active with community leaders is new for your agency, consider it
to be a great adventure and an opportunity to make new friends as well as
creating lasting ties with those who can assist in the important work you
perform each day.
When working in the community there will be a need for organizational and
cultural change in the department. This takes leadership at the top and a
cascading effect within the department. When working with staff on
organizational and cultural changes everyone needs to understand that this work
is part of the “natural evolution of the profession” and not “the program of the
year”. Effective leaders know and are involved in the national policy debates,
understand business trends and best practices, and can confidently move their
departments forward. Staff should be encouraged to approach leaders and
supervisors with new ideas and new ways to solve problems. Open communication is
vital!
Organizational and cultural changes happen simultaneously in the community and
within the probation department. They should be planned for. They have a
cascading effect as they are implemented. Staff and the community must be
prepared for change and understand it. When a member of the community goes to
department staff with a question the staff must have the knowledge and
background to respond in a meaningful way. Interactions between your agency and
the community will make a lasting impression. Make every effort to insure that
these impressions are positive.
During this important week, find ways to improve your department's involvement
in the community. Doing so is a way to provide solutions for a safer community.
Take this opportunity to "Make Your Mark on the Community".
