The national celebration honors the countless professionals across the United States and Canada who play a vital role in public safety and work to change lives.
“It’s important to take time to recognize the work that more than 500 of our employees here at the County do every day,” said Truls Neal, Multnomah County Department of Community Justice Director. “Because of their hard work and commitment, we have been able to change our practices and have been a leader in achieving measurable outcomes in changing people’s lives.”
The County’s Department of Community Justice (DCJ) provides supervision for more than 12,000 adult probationers and parolees every year. Its Recognizance unit processes an estimated 28,000 cases for defendants facing criminal charges. The Juvenile Services Division receives more than 3,000 youth referrals and serves more than 700 youth and their families in the community.
“It’s not about what we as administrators do,” Neal said. “It’s about what our employees do every day that makes that difference in lives.”
Neal was joined by the newly-named Adult Services Division Director Jay Scroggin who told the board of the importance of corrections professionals for adults involved in the justice system.
“Our parole and probation officers go into the community every day, to monitor behavior, provide resources for individuals under supervision and work with them to create case plans,” said Scroggin.“Our community corrections counselors connect with people for needed resources like housing, getting them signed up for medical care and possible employment opportunities.”
Corrections technicians play a key role in maintaining and updating data systems, he continued.
Support staff provide a friendly face and a welcoming environment to the criminal justice system and community works leaders provide guidance for those who need to complete community services.
“Lastly, I’d like to point out our Recog and Pretrial staff, ”Scroggin said. “Thousands of people come into the jail every day. These are people that are tasked with screening them and making key decisions, upholding their constitutional right to be innocent until proven guilty and deciding who can be left in the community with their families and who has a greater likelihood of showing up to court and a lower risk of committing a crime.”
Neal thanked Juvenile Services employees including:
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Juvenile court counselors who work with youth involved in the criminal justice system and their families
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Mental health counselors who provide services for both youth and their families
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Juvenile custody services specialists who supervise youth in custody and provide enrichment opportunities
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Support staff and administrative employees
“Our culinary staff provide nutritious meals for our youth in custody and well as playing a vital role in programming, highlighted in our annual Farm to Table Dinner,” said Neal.
The presenters shared a video of former County clients whose lives were changed by the department’s work.
“I just think that video did a wonderful job, probably more than we can, in recognizing the impact our employees have on the people they work with every day,” said Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson. “Glad to celebrate you this week.”
“Your staff really are the unsung heroes of our community,” said Chair Deborah Kafoury. “Especially over the past few years as we’ve moved to trying to meet people where they are and deal with the underlying causes of their criminal behavior and instead of putting people in jail and using punishment we’re trying to use other services to help them get back on track.”
“I just have to say thank you and I appreciate we have this opportunity to recognize great staff.”