Nebraska Board of Parole
Business Meeting Minutes
Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Central Office
Folsom & West Prospector Place, Bldg. 1
Lincoln, NE 68509
Tuesday
October 24, 2017
2:30 pm
The business meeting convened at 2:40 p.m. on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 with the following persons present: Rosalyn Cotton, Chair; Rex Richard, Vice Chair; Layne Gissler, Member; Virgil Patlan, Member; Nicole Miller, Legal Counsel; Julie Micek, Director of Supervision and Services; Jennifer Miller, Parole Board Program Analyst; Quintin Penner, APA; Habib Olomi, Process Improvement Coordinator; Mark Rumery, DCS; and Sonya Fauver, Administrative Assistant – Pardons Board.
I. The business meeting was called to order at 2:40 p.m. by Chair Rosalyn Cotton.
II. Roll Call:
Chair Rosalyn Cotton Present
Vice Chair Rex Richard Present
Member Teresa Bittinger Absent
Member Layne Gissler Present
Member Virgil Patlan Present
a. Chair Cotton announced the notice of this public meeting was placed on the Board of Parole website on October 4, 2017; and notice of publication was placed in the Lincoln Journal Star on October 14, 2017.
b. Chair Cotton announced the Open Meeting Act information is available in the room.
III. A motion was made by Board Member Virgil Patlan and seconded by Vice Chair Rex Richard to approve the agenda. Motion Carried - Vote: 4-0
Chair Rosalyn Cotton Yes
Vice Chair Rex Richard Yes
Member Layne Gissler Yes
Member Virgil Patlan Yes
IV. A motion was made by Vice Chair Rex Richard and seconded by Board Member Layne Gissler to approve the business meeting minutes from October 3, 2017. Motion Carried - Vote: 4-0
Chair Rosalyn Cotton Yes
Vice Chair Rex Richard Yes
Member Layne Gissler Yes
Member Virgil Patlan Yes
V. The floor was opened for public comments on items listed on the agenda. No public comments were posed.
VI. Chairperson Update:
Chair Rosalyn Cotton reported on the following:
a. Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt:
All APA supervisors; Trudy Clark, Administrative Assistant – Parole Board; Teresa Bittinger, Board Member; and Chair Rosalyn Cotton have been trained in the Yellow Belt course to help develop and improve the processes in the work areas. Currently the Parole Board and APA are ahead in the strategic planning process.
Smart Goals committees are in place. Barb Lichty, Staff Assistant; Teresa Bittinger, Board Member; Jennifer Miller, APA; and Chair Rosalyn Cotton are currently on the committee. The committee will be starting to place goals into tasks and holding daily huddles to obtain gainful information to move the agency forward.
b. NIC Chairs Training:
Chair Rosalyn Cotton reported on her attendance at the NIC Chairs Training that she attended from September 19 to 22, 2017. Topics that were presented and discussed were strategic thinking, set of tools model, analysis, communication values, budgets without cutting employees, current issues, educating stakeholders, and evidence based policy practices.
VII. Office of Parole Administration Update:
Ms. Julie Micek reported on the following:
a. SOW with OCIO:
All state agencies are moving toward a ticket system with the OCIO IT division and be on board by December 1, 2017. Jenny Miller and Joel Denny attended a meeting with OCIO regarding the ticket system. Ms. Micek presented a Statement of Work (SOW) document to the Board.
b. SOW with DAS HR – electronic documents:
APA is moving to electronic documents with DAS-HR and there will be no more hardcopy paper files. All paperwork will be done electronically with new hires and current staff. Ms. Micek presented a Statement of Work (SOW) to the Board.
c. Addendum to Corrisoft Contract:
No presentation or discussions were presented at this time. Currently there has been no increase in budget. If changes occur, Ms. Micek will bring this topic back before the Board.
d. Parole Conditions Discussion:
There was a prior committee formed of Ms. Julie Micek, APA; Chair Rosalyn Cotton; Board Member Virgil Patlan; Nicole Miller, Legal Counsel; and Jenny Miller, APA; to discuss the special conditions of parole. The special conditions were streamlined and cut back and were organized by risks and needs. Ms. Micek proposed and asked for the Board’s approval to have the committee reconvene and meet to discuss the general conditions of parole. The request was approved by the Board.
e. Paroling Clients on Weekends:
Ms. Micek requested the Board be mindful of paroling clients on the weekends. She has concerns of individuals not having an initial contact with a parole officer for 48 hours or more upon their release and prefers that clients are able to meet with a parole officer the day of their release. She is making a request to the Board to not parole individuals on weekends.
f. Reminder of new procedures / Issuing warrants 11-01-2017:
Ms. Micek reminded the Board that the new procedure for issuing warrants goes into effect on November 1, 2017.
g. Budget:
Ms. Micek presented a budget report to the Board showing all expenditures as of September 30, 2017.
VIII. Data Presentation:
Ms. Jenny Miller presented information to the Board regarding data for the quarter of the fiscal year 2017-2018. The report illustrates actual time of reviews and hearings held by the Board, Board decision outcomes, advancement to parole: Set case for parole and parole rate, adherence to guidelines, parole populations: parole admissions and discharges, and successful discharges. Ms. Miller suggested that some of this information be placed on the Parole Board website for public information and transparency. Ms. Miller is requesting that a committee be formed. This committee will meet and review data every three months.
IX. PIC Presentation:
Mr. Habib Olomi reported information on the following PIC projects:
Parole Board and Nebraska Department of Correctional Services project is currently in the control phase. Mr. Olomi and Heather Beal from the Department of Correction are working on a project of converting hardcopy files to electronic files. The goal is to hand it over November 1, 2017.
MOA and Contracts project committee brought the process down from 46 steps to 12 steps. The old process was taking approximately 64 days for a MOA or Contract to be completed and the goal is to bring the process down to 14 days. Currently he is collecting data on the new process and should have data available for review in about a week.
Four Waves: All individuals that were required to complete the Yellow Belt training is in 100 percent compliance. The next wave is Smart Goals. Leaders and supervisors are to align and measure the smart goals and place them on the QDIP report to have a visual tool on the measurement of the goals. The last wave is to implement huddles, which becomes effective January 1, 2018.
Parking Lots: Ideas that have come up within the group committee meetings with the MOA and contracts that are possible future improvement projects.
X. Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP):
A motion was made by Board Member Virgil Patlan to go out of order on the meeting agenda and let Mr. Mark Rumery present his information to the Board first. The motion was seconded by Board Member Layne Gissler and the motion passed 4 -0.
Chair Rosalyn Cotton Yes
Vice Chair Rex Richard Yes
Member Layne Gissler Yes
Member Virgil Patlan Yes
Mr. Mark Rumery reported to the Board on the Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) and requested that the Board review the plan and continue to review it on an annual basis. The COOP plan is an emergency relocation process if needed due to unforeseen issues or emergencies in the building. The plan incorporates where the Parole Board would relocate to and what are the essential needs of the Board to function. He indicated that APA’s emergency relocation plan would also be incorporated with the Parole Board plan procedures. Chair Rosalyn Cotton requested that a subcommittee be formed to review the template plan and review how the emergency operations would be prepared for this particular building. Board Member Layne Gissler and Board Member Virgil Patlan volunteered to form the committee and review the emergency COOP plan. Ms. Julie Micek will assist the committee and Mark Rumery on APA’s part of the emergency plan.
XI Subcommittee Updates:
Board Member Virgil Patlan reported on the committee that was formed to research transitional housing for parole clients being released to a transitional housing environment. Mr. Patlan indicated that they are still visiting sites and are going to continue to visit a few more establishments. At this time they do not have any supported updates and are going to do some random spot checks and surprise visits. Chair Rosalyn Cotton indicated that she would like to see the committee share with APA, Re-Entry, and the transitional housing establishments the concerns that the Board has detected. Ms. Julie Micek indicated that she would like to meet with and join this subcommittee to discuss with them some money that is available for grants.
XII. Plan Next Board Business Meeting:
Chair Rosalyn Cotton scheduled Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at 2:30 pm for the next Parole Board Business meeting.
XI. Adjournment:
Chair Rosalyn Cotton adjourned the meeting at 3:26 pm.
Chair Rosalyn Cotton Yes
Vice Chair Rex Richard Yes
Member Layne Gissler Yes
Member Virgil Patlan Yes
Minutes prepared by Reporter / Assistant on 10-25-2017