DCS Annual Report 2015 | Page 7

DCS OFFICERS Our Community Supervision Officers shoulder an enormous responsibility to promote positive change in the communities they serve. It is through the work of these individuals that DCS seeks to transform the lives of reentering offenders under our supervision, break cycles of incarceration, and effect greater public safety for Georgia’s citizens. DCS CSO S Total Number 1,167 Average Tenure 8 years FY 2016 Starting Salaries $32,103. 56 NEXT PRACTICE DCS’s Enhanced Supervision Program (ESP) is a training program to help our CSOs be agents of change for the offenders they supervise. Traditional officer-offender interactions primarily focus on the officer’s responsibility to monitor offenders’ compliance, which can create a tone of confrontation. Meanwhile, research shows that the quality of the relationship between the officer and offender and the content of the discussions they have during their interactions are extremely important factors in offenders’ chances of success. ESP replaces the traditional, often ineffective model of officer-offender interactions with one designed to facilitate strong, trust-based relationships that encourage offenders to choose positive changes for themselves. In FY 2016, 74 officers received ESP training. In 2017, DCS intends to include ESP as part of Basic Training for all incoming CSOs, and host three additional training sessions for 240 current CSOs, including a Train-the-Trainer intensive course. georgia department of community supervision 4