The American Jail Association has unveiled 22 Core Competencies for Jail Leaders. These core competencies touch on areas of agility, focus, decision-making and clear communication, all of which are supported in various ways by the Northpointe Suite.
Here are 10 of the competencies we find essential for any commander, jail administrator or leadership team looking to raise the bar:
1. Anticipate, Analyze, Resolve Organizational Challenges and Conflicts.
Adaptability is key, as a jail admin’s day-to day is filled with a gauntlet of wildly different challenges and unexpected issues. For intuition-based problem solving, COMPAS Classification is an effective, proven way to help you track all of the moving parts, as it provides a comprehensive look at the inmates you house and the risks they present.
2. Assure organizational accountability
Top to bottom, a strong jail leader must ensure their jail is able to be held accountable and that there’s no ambiguity around decisions—big and small—that have been made.
3. Communicate effectively, internally and externally
In any organization, many challenges can be traced back to cloudy communication. To be an effective leader, you need to have clear and easy-to-access data to communicate with people both inside and outside the jail. Our ad hoc reports and custom dashboard exist to clear up fogginess by giving you point and click access to reports, charts and statistical tabulations – providing a means of managing communication challenges with virtually no effort!
4. Engage in strategic planning
Thinking ahead, thinking outside of the box, and designing solutions are all aspects of a great plan. Know who is in your jail and when – and how best your team can respond to what’s happening moment to moment.
5. Leverage the role of the jail in the criminal justice system
Know the strengths of your jail and how they work in the criminal justice system to create optimal outcomes for everyone involved. The role of the jail is changing, as the Pretrial reform debate heats up and jails are tasked with more responsibility than ever before. We can help you stay flexible and build leverage with our Pretrial toolkit, complete with outcome tracking and inter-agency communication solutions.
6. Make sound decisions
Acting decisively, confidently and with all details in check is a bedrock skill of leadership. With our COMPAS Classification module, you’ll rely on sound decision support using the Decision Tree method as taught by the National Institute of Corrections. Defensible, transparent decisions makes all the difference when something goes wrong and you’re held accountable.
7. Manage change
What does change mean for you? For your newest and most seasoned staff? Seeing change beyond the tip of your nose and understanding it’s impact on everyone—and being able to clearly communicate this impact—is the mark of a great leader. From building new facilities to implementing new policy to tracking programs and reentry tasks – the Northpointe Suite is a smart way to navigate change and getting the support you need.
8. Oversee inmate and facility management
A birds-eye view of your facility is useful – but so is having the ability to spot minutia moving from a mile away. In fact, having this hawk-like vigilance is necessary for effective and safe jail administration. Our inventory assessment tools can help enhance your “vision” by developing case-specific plans through seamless integration of Suite’s case plan tool and other Suite modules.
9. Reduce jail-related liability risks
Risk is one of your greatest enemies. Risk to your officers, risk to the inmates and risk to the facility can all be addressed by using inmate management techniques and individual classification scores
10. Understand and manage emerging technology
Technology is changing at the speed of light, and in our industry there’s no indication it’s dropping out of warp speed any time soon. Nobody has a full grasp of how incoming technology will impact your team or your jail. However, we’re here to work side by side with you and your team to choose the most effective solutions while keeping an eye on your budgets and operational needs.
To learn more about the AJA’s 22 core competencies, and to learn how we can help you and your jail team build decathlete-level administrative skills, please click here.
