Vccja Executive Committee Annual Planning Retreat

VCCJA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ANNUAL PLANNING RETREAT

Stonewall Jackson Hotel, Staunton, VA

Wednesday, January 4, 2012 – Friday, January 6, 2012

Day 1 – January 4, 2012 (1:45 PM – 5:05 PM)

Wednesday Afternoon Session – VCCJA Executive and Committee Issues

Present: Steve Austin (President, 2012), Pat Smith (President, 2011), Andrew Lawson (Vice President, 2012), Dave Pastors (Vice President, 2011), Katie Green (Treasurer), Jackie Boxley (Secretary, 2012), Cynthia Plummer (Secretary, 2011), Andy Warriner, Sharon Jones, Freda Holliday, Ross Carew, Fred Nunez, Steve Vilhelmsen, Ann Marie Freeman, Charlene Johnson, April Higgs, Peggy Cooper.

The meeting was opened by Pat Smith with introductions and a welcome to the incoming new committee members.

Committee Reports Presented with Co-Chair Recommendations for 2012

Public Relations Committee – Andy Warriner

Andy reviewed committee activities since he became chair six months ago and discussed goals for this year. He drafted and has sent out a few postcards to legislators outlining ‘who we are’ and including sections on both pretrial and community corrections. He is currently working on ‘tweaking’ it to actual post card size. He showed a copy from his laptop of a picture of the logo to be used on the cards – a tipped scale. He has gotten some positive feedback and would like to send these cards out periodically throughout the year. Cynthia requested that if these postcards are going out to our legislators, all of the Directors should see it before it is sent out so they will be aware of it and what it says if asked by one of their legislators. The committee requested an email of the final draft before it is sent out. Andy has also set up an email account () and there was some contemplation as to who would be responsible for monitoring this account. He reported that the Facebook page is active but not yet published. He proposed that it would be a static site to provide information with limited posting capabilities by viewers. Dave voiced his concern that it would be difficult to contain some of the comments. Andy explained that once the Administrator posts, others would be able to post their comments. Steve Austin added that today, we almost have to start using social media. It was further discussed that we would need someone to monitor and be able to delete negative posts. Pat said this is the new wave and asked where do we go from here? The question then came up about how many agencies would have access to Facebook. Ross pointed out that some areas have blocked Facebook claiming it is not a productive site. Sharon added that VA Beach tracks its internet ‘10 top users’. Pat stated that each agency would have to take responsibility for Facebook/internet use. Cynthia reported that representatives from Staunton had been invited to Lynchburg a few months ago to give a presentation on how to effectively incorporate social media into government functions. She remarked that it was an excellent presentation which included issues such as addressing negative postings. She suggested that perhaps we could have a representative come to give a tutorial on how to monitor the site. Dave indicated that he has worked with the Staff of the Economic Development Department of the City of Staunton on the same topic and that he would approach them for more information and possible assistance about VCCJA internet exposure and monitoring. Andy will leave the Facebook page static for the time being. Andy advised that he has more information about updating the VCCJA website. He got an email from Tom Pavelco regarding the webhosting fee ($600). Do we own URL? Katie reported that we spent $1,600 last year on the website and we need to explore to see if we can get better costs. Sharon recalled a discussion last year with Tom Pavelco around changing the web design. Katie to shoot some names to Andy from her NAPSA connections. Andy believes that we can get better ‘bang for our buck’, will explore other hosting options and submit a report to the committee during the upcoming quarter. Andy went on to say that we need to push information out there to make people want to visit the website. He has a couple of quotes out on a VCF marketing tool including a CD and booklet. He further explained that it can be either a CD or DVD format. Dave went on to say that a 10 minute DVD on what we do would be an excellent marketing tool to send to legislators. Andy will submit a proposal with costs for marketing a DVD for legislators. Pat added that there is grant funding up to $25,000 for educational communication strategies. Andy asked if we could put out information “Don’t vote on this bill!” and Dave answered that this should be handled by the legislative committee and funneled to the PR committee for ‘packaging and pushing’. Dave will work with Andy on keeping contact lists updated (ie. Executive Committee list, Directors list, etc.). Andy further advised that he is working with Donald West from his office as well as Rachel whose husband is in graphics. Andy stated he could use a creative design type person. Pat suggested that he send out an email to the membership seeking someone with creative skills. Andy was given accolades to doing a phenomenal job! A decision was made that the VCCJA committee needs to make commitment to getting WebEx (put under PR budget). Further discussion on WebEx included a need for an outline or guidelines of step by step instructions to setup WebEx meetings due to difficulties in uploading documents, etc. A camera is not really needed, but not particularly expensive either. A head set and a microphone are good extras. Tom Pavelco told Dave that he had funding to pay for bookmarks and is working on it.

Membership Committee – Katie Green

Katie gave the report in the absence of Tiffany Embry. Although $7,800 income was targeted for income from membership fees in the 2011 budget, $9,000 was received. The membership number is now around 457. The first batch of membership renewals has started to come in. Freda commented that the By-Laws state that membership fees should be received by January 1 and is a contradiction with the February 28th ‘grace’ period date that everyone assumes.

*Consensus – Membership renewal notices should go out earlier.

Training Committee – Steve Vilhelmsen

In the absence of Jennifer McArthur and Craig Worley, Steve V. reported out. The question was asked how many staff are NOT members of VCCJA?Some figures were thrown out on how many staff are VCCJA members (235 Probation Officers, 159 Pretrial Officers, and 40 Directors for a total of 434)…so maybe a couple dozen remaining community corrections and pretrial staff NOT members??? It was motioned and carried that Craig and Jen continue as co-chairs on the committee. Steve V. maintained that EBP is being integrated into training and Effective Communication/Motivational Strategies is going phenomenally well – thanks to Andrew Lawson! The new EBP Coordinator, Rebecca McNees participated in the last M-OST/OST training and she sent out an email on yesterday requesting the number of staff who needs M-OST/OST training. Steve V. is the designated EBP ‘Training Coordinator’. Since the Case Planning Training, Tisha Skinner, the chair of that committee, has been working to standardize a one day course curriculum and to establish a core group of available trainers. That committee to date has not provided deliverables. Plans are being made for regional training on “Criminal Personalities” to be conducted byDr. Steven Conlon from the Behavioral Science Unit at Quantico. This training is tentatively scheduled for late March. This will be one day training from 9 AM – 4 PM with an hour for lunch. Cynthia asked about starting at 10 AM for those who have to drive from further distances. This training will be offered in two regions - Central and Western. Charlene pointed out that polling had helped to make the decision on where regional training would take place and Freda added that the last two regional trainings had better showings from the Central and Western regions. Pat seemed to remember a discussion around discontinuing regional training. Further discussion centered around whether the subject matter of the training had something to do with the interest level and participation in the past year or so. Cost was also questioned. Andrew stated that $25 for one-day training is not bad. Pat added that regional training may need to be re-evaluated after this year. Andy asked about a recommendation regarding new staff taking EC/MS right about basic skills training.

*Consensus – There needs to be more communication between training coordinators.

It was acknowledged that there have been some contractual issues with scheduling Basic Skills. Katie said that the skill set has changed and the Basic Skills Training Curriculum needs to be revisited for updating. Ross added that there also need to be core competency skills around utilization of the PTCC. Steve V. was applauded for his assistance with the training coordination!

Awards Committee – Ann Marie Freeman/Cynthia Plummer

Ann Marie reported that James Woody, from the eastern region, is the newest member of the committee. They met on September 28, 2011 to review and rank order nominations which were submitted to the Executive Committee who made the final selections on October 18, 2011. . Pat stated that this procedure needs to be documented for future members of the Awards Committee. Cynthia stated that since the committee already keeps a historical record, it would not be a bad idea to post the “Awardees” (perpetual awards winners) as well as the procedures for nominating on the website. Andy indicated that he could do this. Pat recalled that they were also condsidering a recommendation made for a “Years of Service” award and there was a discussion about how to track that. Andy and Andrew both said that something should be put on the membership application and that someone would need to talk to Tiffany Embry, chair of the Membership Committee. It was decided that the Awards Committee should decide on how to handle the “Years of Service” awards at the 2012 VCCJA Conference. Ann Marie asked about the 2012 budget for the committee and Katie responded that it will be $800. Cynthia advised there is one representative from each region and she and Ann Marie are both okay with remaining co-chairs on the committee.

Cultural Awareness Committee – Fred Nunez

In the absence of co-chairs Tomaudrie Thomas and Henny Schreurs (Hanover), Fred provided the committee report. He advised that the committee has tried via email for the past three years to encourage VCCJA members to respond to the ‘Scenarios’ but due to low participation, the committee has decided to discontinue this activity. He added that some officers had expressed difficulty in accessing the website; however even via email – the responses had remained low. The committee would like to highlight various cultural backgrounds of staff on a quarterly basis and ask that directors help in ‘spotlighting’ staff in their agencies. The “Taste of Culture” was a BIG SUCCESS at the 2011 VCCJA conference. Cynthia commented that the recipes were a nice take away. This event is also being planned again for the 2012 conference. Charlene recalled that some of the members used ‘out of pocket’ expenses for this activity. Steve V. suggested that donations be solicited to assist with the cost of this activity at the 2012 conference. Goals for 2012 include collaborating with VCCJA Training and Executive Committee to locate cultural training events, advertise cultural events in different regions, cultural awareness Facebook page which would be accessible to members only and preparation of By-laws for the committee. Fred stated the $500 budget is adequate. Pat questioned why the committee would need By-laws. Charlene stated because other committees have them. Steve A. made the correction that other committees have ‘charters’ and/or purpose statements, but not By-laws. Another idea the committee has to build a partnership with the community in an effort to bridge the gap between our profession and communities would be to have college students from other cultures visit nearby community corrections agencies. When asked for elaboration on this proposed project, Charlene stated this would be a ‘lunch and learn’ to allow staff to learn about other cultures on a smaller scale. There was some discussion about whether this was intended to be a model to be implemented statewide and the committee was asked to submit a written proposal about the development of such a community partnership.

Scholarship Committee – Cynthia Plummer

Cynthia and Katie Van Patten are the co-chairs for this committee. Cynthia reported no scholarship was awarded in 2011 due to budget constraints. She advised that the 2010 recipient, Crystal Adkins, had not yet completed her project and explained that the delay has been due to a change in job positions from pretrial to VASAP. She had received an email from Crystal indicating that she anticipated completing the project within about six weeks. The project involves looking at two years of pretrial charge and arrest data from PTCC (looking at number of cases referred without risk assessment, offense type vs risk). She said the scholarship recipient is given $1,500 at the beginning of the project as per the award contract and is paid the 2nd installment of $1,000 at the conclusion of the project. The Executive Committee asked Cynthia to follow up on the current project. Katie noted that she did include $1,000 in the 2012 Scholarship budget for the final payment but no new funding for a 2012 scholarship. Pat reported that PJI is sponsoring a project utilizing graduate students to examine pretrial issues and thought perhaps that could be put to use for VCCJA scholarship purposes. She will provide more information as it is received. Cynthia noted that the committee needs to update the list of statewide university contacts. Andy said to send the list to the Public Relations Committee and they will do the update.

Fund Raising Committee

There was no one to report out on this committee. Pat stated that this committee needs chairs. Steve A. asked the question what has been done in the past to raise funds. Golf tournaments, raffles, poker night, 50/50… Ross suggested setting a goal towards raising funds. Steve A. said funds are generally earmarked for scholarship and training. Andrew echoed Ross in saying that having a purpose makes it easier to raise funds. Fred expressed interests in working with the fund raising committee. Dave suggested selling t-shirts, caps… Someone (???) proposed making chocolate business cards! Decided that the Executive Committee would decide the goal (the amount to be raised and what it would be used for) and let the fund raising committee decide how to raise the funds. Steve A. suggested that the regional reps help with getting volunteers to be on the fund raising committee.

Conference Committee – Sharon Jones

Sharon related that she had received very positive feedback on the 2011 conference – that the speakers and location was GREAT!!! She advised that the budget amendment donations received from agencies (VA Beach, Halifaxand New River) was very much appreciated. She would like to announce at the next Directors’ meeting how funds from budget amendments can be earmarked for the conference/training and would also provide example copies of budget amendment narratives. Pat added that we need to identify conference budget/training expenses. Others reported they have gotten positive comments about the 2011 conference. Sharon reported it has been one of the biggest conferences in quite a while – 267 attendees – and that the size of the venue now has to be increased. The committee is currently working on a survey of the 2011 conference. Kris Bryant is resigning as co-chair but will remain on the committee. April is stepping us as co-chair with Sharon. Sharon advised that the committeeneeds direction on how to move forward with the 2012 conference and asked that the Executive Committee figure out a ‘game plan’ before trying to negotiate a contract. She added that a look should also be taken at the DOJ memo regarding food expenses, etc. She asked the Executive Committee for direction in deciding how many days the conference would be and how federal issues will affect decisions. Dave asked if we were ‘wedded’ to the conference being held within the first two weeks of November. Sharon completed her report by adding that the committee is also looking for new members.

Legislative Committee – Dave Pastors

Dave recapped the “battle” in the General Assembly in beginning months of 2011 when legislation was introduced that was adverse to Virginia’s pretrial services. Most of the spring and early summer was spent strengthening relationships with stakeholders. The committee is gearing up for legislation anticipated to be launched by the bails bondsmen during the upcoming session of the General Assembly. Dave went on to say that the Community Corrections and Pretrial Services agencies have been ‘protected’ in past years from budget cuts, but that may not be the case this year. The Governor wants to introduce new SURE program which may have an impact on drug courts as the violations/graduated sanctions may take away some of the eligible candidates. Legislative Liaison Ron Jordan asked Marla Decker about legislation that threatens pretrial – Secretary Decker’s staff responded “We let things play out in the General Assembly” and said that we have Christy Morton from the Governor’s office to contact if we hear of threatening legislation. Contact with stakeholders was maintained over the summer months. The President Elect of the Commonwealth Attorney’s Association indicated they would discuss issues to come before General Assembly, they don’t have a ‘dog in the fight’, but we have their support. We also have the support of the Virginia Sheriff’s Association. Glen Peterson and Winston Marcus met with Dave Albo and had an interesting conversation but don’t feel they made much headway. For the first time this year VCCJA has contracted with a lobbying firm, Advantus Strategies of Richmond - $6,000 for one year. Reviewed value of having legislative liaison and discussed benefits reaped during the legislative session. Ron Jordan knows the landscape and the key players and helped us to work through some of the mechanics of the General Assembly. He participated in WebEx meetings and will play a significant role once the General Assembly convenes. Committee is gearing up for challenges in the General Assembly this year, and will continue to explore the challenges of introducing legislation and to pass out the one page ‘talking points’. Dave sent out an email to the Directors yesterday regarding the proposed budget cut and included talking points and names of key legislators. We are already getting 5.5% cut and to add another 4% to locality reductions could make it very difficult. The next legislative session will being on April 1st. Dave will be stepping down as co-chair, but Glen Peterson will remain. Committee is looking for a ‘rising star’ to serve as co-chair. Dave expressed concern that there hasn’t been enough done to encourage committee members to step us as co-chairs. Legislative Symposiums sponsored by the committee in 2011 and held in Williamsburg and Charlottesville was supported by Directors and Pretrial staff. Dave concluded his report by stating that the WebEx meetings have really helped a lot in the past year. “Thanks” to Dave, Glen, Katie, Steve and all of the legislative committee members for all of the work they do!