DCS Annual Report 2019 | Page 27

Misdemeanor Probation Oversight Unit The Misdemeanor Probation Oversight Unit (MPOU) along with the Advisory Council provide regulatory oversight to Georgia’s public and private misdemeanor probation providers. MPOU was embedded into the DCS organizational structure in order to provide for a collaborative, inclusive, and thorough analysis of Georgia’s adult community supervision model to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently. The significant measure of this new regulatory system is to give providers and officers the requisite training hours and materials to confirm they are operating with fidelity to the intent of the misdemeanor reforms. DCS managed to find ways to make these training more affordable by allowing the providers to co-host the trainings at their homebase. This allowed rural areas greater access to training and resulted in bolstering the attendance by providers.