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A Publication Featuring The Information Services Technology of Maine State Government

	State Agencies | Web Policies | My Maine.gov | Email this page

Automating the Department of Corrections
Probation and Parole Division

By Roger Quirion

For years, the Department of Corrections Probation and Parole Division has been operating in a manual fashion, utilizing index cards and manual records as a reference point for all adult and juvenile probationary case information. Probation officers and juvenile case workers have been inundated with paperwork, leaving them little time to effectively manage their caseloads, caseloads which have been growing with every passing year. Through the years, clerical staff have worked diligently to maintain probationary case information, creating and updating the index cards to reflect the various actions taken on each offender within the state. The entire process, though successful, has been very time consuming and inefficient, and two years ago it became evident that something would have to be done to address these inefficiencies.

In November of 1995, the Department of Corrections took the first step toward modernizing the entire process. It was at that time that they contracted with the Bureau of Information Services to design and develop a state-of-the-art probation and parole computer system. Having accrued enough money to purchase laptops for each of their adult probation officers and juvenile case workers, the Department of Corrections stressed their desire for an automated case management system. It was their intention to provide each officer with the ability to maintain their caseloads from remote sites. Additionally, they envisioned the system interfacing with the institution's Corrections Master Record System (COMRS). Their long range plan was to create a department-wide system that would include institutional procedures, as well as other critical departmental procedures.

What entailed in the following months was a massive development effort involving diverse staff from both the Department of Corrections and the Bureau of Information Services. In January of 1996, Oracle was selected as the development platform, and in July of that same year, the first phase of what is now known as the Department of Corrections Information System (DOCIS) was implemented. This phase formed the foundation on which additional system functionality would be delivered. In the ensuing months, a pilot group would be established and additional functionality would be developed and implemented for those participating in the pilot project. During this period of time and even at the present moment, non-pilot group staff utilize a combination of phase one functionality and the old system to maintain offender case information. Just this August, the final piece of the DOCIS system was put in place, thus bringing an end to the pilot phase of the project.

Today, the pilot group is utilizing what to date has proven to be a highly sophisticated and reliable case management system. The eight probation officers and juvenile case workers that make up the pilot group have been provided with the ability to easily download their case information to their laptops for remote processing. Likewise, they are able to upload all new case information and changes to the central database located on the server. Appropriate checks and balances have been implemented within the system to ensure data integrity. The challenge now is to train and phase in remaining staff. Preparations are currently being made to do just that, and the Department of Corrections has indicated that they wish to have everyone on board by the end of the year.

There are many individuals who contributed in one way or another to the success of this project, and I would like to extend my deepest appreciation and thanks to them for a job well done. The Department of Corrections has the beginnings of what should prove to be a solid departmental system for years to come, and everyone should be proud of what has been accomplished todate. Nonetheless, there is still much work to be done. Preparations are currently being made to begin the process of migrating institutional processing to the DOCIS system. In this day and age, it is wise to constantly look toward technology for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of business operations within state government, and for the Department of Corrections, they are well on their way to doing just that.

Roger is a systems team leader in the Development Services Division of BIS.