CHARTER OF THE QUALITY COUNCIL
I. Executive Summary
The Charter is developed to give Community Resources for Justice (CRJ) supervisors and employees a clear understanding of the Council’s purpose, goals and structure in an attempt to better utilize the employee’s time and to operate within a framework of effective organizational management.
II. Purpose
The purpose of the Quality Council is to create, implement and coordinate a quality improvement strategy throughout the organization that will make CRJ the model for our industry.
III. Goals
The goals of the Council include:
§ Develop the “Good to Great” strategy
§ Coordinate and oversee quality improvement efforts undertaken by the individual programs, departments and functions.
§ Identify priorities for quality improvement efforts that involve cross-functional or multi-functional involvement
§ Provide resources and information regarding quality improvement efforts
§ Insure ongoing quality initiatives for CRJ
§ Move CRJ operations from a “reactive” philosophy to a “proactive” one
§ Facilitate, support and encourage quality work and positive morale including recognizing positive contributions
IV. Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the Council include the following: to promote quality improvement throughout CRJ, to set goals and time frames, to make recommendations to the Executive Staff, to monitor progress, successes and areas for improvement, to provide technical assistance with quality improvement projects, to promote communication about quality improvement effort throughout the organization, to provide an annual written report on activities, accomplishments and future projects.
V. Membership
Membership of the Council will be flexible and will be based on the skills and experienced required to be successful in the effort. At minimum, there should be representatives from the following:
§ Adult Correctional Services; Youth Services, Community Strategies of MA and NH
§ Standards and QA and the staff responsible for quality within the departments
§ Human Resources
§ Fiscal/Administration and Finance
§ Executive Team
§ Case Management, Program supervisor or line staff positions
§ CJI
VI. Member Responsibilities
VI.I Liaisons: Each Department and Functional Representative will serve as a liaison with their Department or Function. They should brief their Department/Function Director and other appropriate staff from time to time regarding progress of quality efforts and act as an advocate for quality improvement at the departmental meetings they attend.
VI.II Linkage to other organizational groups involved in quality: Members of the Department Directors Group and the PSI Forum will serve as links to that group. They should brief Department Directors and Forum Members on progress of the quality initiative and act as advocates for quality within those groups. They should seek and get input from members of these groups into the Council’s decision making process. They should arrange for interactions between the Council and the groups whenever appropriate.
VI.III Members: Each Council member has the responsibility to serve as an active member of the council. This includes the responsibility to:
§ Participate
§ Attend meetings (strong emphasis)
§ Solicit ideas and feed back when appropriate
§ Respect others opinions and differences
§ Suggest agenda items no less than three days prior to meeting
§ Work to understand the big picture/organizational challenges while representing the needs and challenges of the individual’s department or speciality.
§ Assist the group in maintaining a productive group process, including participating in reflections on how the Council’s teamwork quality could be enhanced.
VI.IIII The Council may designate other roles, such as chairperson, coordinator, web site coordinator, etc. as it sees fit and as is appropriate to meet its goals.
VII. Council Authority
The Council will have the authority to provide direction, advocate priorities, and provide feedback to the organization in all quality matters. It will receive that authority from the Chief Operating Officer who will serve as the council’s sponsor and advocate. It should exercise its authority in a collaborative manner with organizational groups and managers.
VIII. Meetings
A monthly meeting schedule will be developed to promote communication and information sharing between the council members. The members of the council may choose to meet more frequently if so agreed.
2