Dallas County judges have ordered an extensive review of felony cases after discovering that probation officers failed to report probationers violating repeated drug and alcohol tests.
The audit is designed to tell the extent of the breakdown and whether potentially dangerous criminals have remained free instead of facing probation revocation.
“This is a failure of supervision in the field. It’s extremely dangerous for Dallas County,” said state District Judge Tracy Holmes.
Holmes’ concerns already have triggered an overhaul and staffing changes in the county probation department.
The decision to have an outside agency examine current probation files also signals courthouse efforts to move quickly to uncover cases that could pose a risk to the public.
The probation department chief acknowledged the errors.
Dallas probation director Michael Noyes fell on his sword and has begun the obligatory reshuffling of employees and duties that such incidents inevitably engender:
“Regardless of the number, the quality of the supervision was indeed unacceptable,” said its director, Michael Noyes.
Holmes began questioning probation practices after finding 34 cases in which the department didn’t tell her probationers had been repeatedly drinking or using drugs in violation of their sentences.
She was most outraged to learn about the case of a drunken driver who, over 18 months, saw at least eight probation officers. He tested positive for alcohol more than 30 times, but she was never told.
With 450 probation officers and supervisors in charge of 50,000 probationers, the caseload is high. But Noyes said that doesn’t excuse the “system failures.”In general, high caseloads do seem to be the main culprit. Though the felony DWI probationer in question had eight probation officers over 18 months, "testimony showed that none appeared to have read his complete file before meeting with him." That's directly related to excessive caseloads, even if it's not politically correct at the moment for Noyes to say so.
The probation department already has shuffled its staffing, including reprimands, a firing, more training and more personnel.
With the department having admitted fault, DMN columnist Jacquielyn Floyd took the easy shot, opining, "If probationers realize they can ignore the rules without getting hauled back to court, then probation is no longer the closely monitored second chance it’s supposed to be – it’s a free pass. If that’s the case, then what’s it for?"
Though we'll learn more from the audit, from what's been reported IMO that's the wrong lesson from the episode. Grits responded to Floyd in the comments: "A big part of the problem is [that probation departments] give drug and alcohol tests to too many people and the volume swamps them. Felony DWI cases, sure. But requiring it for every single case overwhelms the system. Do less drug testing and it's easier to focus on violations in cases where it's used. Do it for everybody and there simply aren't enough resources to effectively monitor or sanction every violator." That's especially true when the department is understaffed.
That's similar to what IMO was the main issue last year when the Harris County probation director was forced to resign over drug-test results falsely attributed to the wrong probationers, a fiasco that ended up getting some innocent people's probation revoked. There, the department's sweeping use of drug and alcohol testing on non-high risk probationers overwhelmed the under-resourced system. It won't surprise me if an audit shows the same dynamic underlying the mess in Dallas.
The News reported that Dallas County judges have discussed "creating a standard for all 17 felony courts about when probationers should be sent to court for violations." They would also do well to standardize and limit the type of probationers for whom they order drug and alcohol testing in the first place, and to identify probationers eligible for early release. Otherwise, the most likely solution will simply be "spend more money," a suggestion for which there is no obvious or ready revenue source.
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68 comments:
Thought the great recruited director was going to be the courts answer to their complaints about 5 yrs ago. WOW..great management..NOT. They will now flop to the other extreme...the judges will say "bring me all of the positive UAs and I.'m going to put all of them away". They will not find better managers than Ron Goethels and Jim Mills. It's called what goes around comes around.
Seems like micromanagement by the judge. PO's are in the best position to ascertain whether or not a probationer needs to be revoked. With all of the rules they are forced to abide by, it's always been a wonder to me why no one has ever went postal and sent a message.
"for failing to inform a district judge of failed drug and alcohol tests of its probationers"
What's the law on this?
I think it will be interesting to see what the audit finds and how Dr. Noyes will try to blame everyone but himself for the departments issues. I think that the auditors will find that Dr. Noyes has diverted supervision monies to finance his bloated and top heavy CATS program, to carry the numerous "specialty courts" that were formed to curry favor with Judges and to make a name for himself in Austin, to keep in effect the stagnant STAC and IIG programs that have proven to be incredible time and resource wasters. All of this has been done at the expense of the overworked, stressed out and unappreciated field officers. I hope the auditors uncover the cronyism and back room deals made by Dr. Noyes to promote himself at the expense of the hardworking supervision officers. Maybe they will look into the solely race based promotion process which bypasses qualified officers to simply promote someone to fill a "need" to pacify local politicians, maybe they will shed light on his "buying" off of a two-bit association president by overlooking his poor performance and rewarding him for being quiet by giving him a higher paying position that has less responsibilities and allows him to hide out and surf the internet all day. Maybe some light will be shed on the corrupt Human Resources Director who has had to be reprimanded for hiring personnel to positions solely because she was having a relationship with that person and then covering up their "relationship" issues by forbidding her to go to certain parts of the department. Hopefully the audit will show that Dr. Noyes has destroyed a great department singlehandedly, for the sole purpose of inflating his status and ego. It is evident that Dr. Noyes will continue"throw his officers under the bus" whenever his shortcomings as a leader are uncovered and some line officer or midlevel supervisor or assistant supervisor will be sacrificed to cover his incompetence and arrogance. He will then attempt to cover himself by sending emails out to the department saying he was "misquoted" by the press. All of this B.S. while he is actively seeking the Travis County Directors position. Kudos to Judge Holmes for taking action against this megalomaniac. Sorry this has to be posted as anonymous but some of us still have to worry about our positions because of this incompetent dictator.
Life is too short for the foolishness that is posted by probation officers on how they feel about Dr. Noyles and what he has done the organization. If they don't like there job and feel it's that poorly just find another place to work, McDonald's is always hiring.
Question for the probation experts:
Did the department fail to notify prosecutors OR did prosecutors fail to push the violation notices to the court?
How does a judge sees the violation of probation before the actual Revocation Hearing without creating a conflict?
2:09...well spoken by the man who is the subject of the failed program. McDonalds cook might be the head man's pinnacle of success, although he maybe under qualified.
Good point 2:45 ref creating a conflict. No one one here seems to know or want to answer the question.
It is too bad that a philosophical conflict that has been ongoing for a long time had to errupt on the front page of the DMN, spewing lava on the participants and by-standers alike.
Should we as a society endorse a "tough on crime" position in every case, with a zero tolerance? That has been the stance in the past. What it produced was a 76% recidivism rate.
Should we flee to a Rehabilitation Haven for all offenders? Using that for every criminal produces some positive results, but the offender has to be motivated to change. How do we tell who is truly desirous of real change?
How sad that when the opportunity for real discussion on dealing with offenders, some will turn to politics and/or personal attacks. Having worked with Ron Goethels, Jim Mills and Dr. Noyes, I find that each brings strengths to the table and each has weaknesses and blind spots in his vision. But making accusations on a blog without the opportunity to reply does not address the principle revealed in the article.
I don't know about the past president of the employees association, but I understand that the current president is working towards having the employees' perspecitve heard in the policy making process, and has been having good success.
The current HR Director has nothing to do with the relationship of the department with the judges, so I fail to understand how she got brought into the discussion.
Let us spend our time addressing the real issue - the cost of crime to individuals, families and the community, developing balanced approaches to probation, hiring, training and entrusting probation officers to make the determination of the correct response to violations (do we really want to fill our jails with marijuana users?), holding probationers accountable or appropriately using motivational interviewing to help facilitat real change, and the list goes on and on. There are no easy answers or quick fixes.
When the children, who initially react with tantrums finally run out of breath, perhaps the adults will have the opportunity to sit down and discuss the real issues and develop approaches and/or programs that address the problems and not personalities, politics or posturing.
Sounds like the current union president is selling out too.
All of this fuss and everyone is losing sight of what's really important ... Everyone working together for what is best for the clients and providing the guidance and tools for employees to be effective.
Fingerpointing gets us nowhere but in the midst of confusion and away from protecting the community.
He who is without sin cast the first stone.
@8/21/2013 07:03:00 PM
You couldn't be more wrong and he may end up defending you one day.
@8/20/2013 08:33:00 AM
Dr. Phil is that you?
@8/19/2013 09:47:00 PM
Dr. Noyes started in May 2006. The judge mentioned in the article was elected in November 2006. This makes your comment, "Thought the great recruited director was going to be the courts answer to their complaints about 5 yrs ago" invalid.
9:47..I retired as a director 51/2 yrs ago so my estimate of the recruitment of noyles was just that..an estimate. I know that dallas county is a politically driven department resulting in Ron having enough b.s. to contend with..the newer direction is full of gaping holes which leaves massive public safety issues with unreported drug and alcohol positive ua's. Your so quick to explain "what the real issues are" and defending "dr" noyles sounds like u ought to be appointed by the board and give it a whirl. Probably last sixty days begore they started looking for your replacement at the local Kroger store..good luck with your application.
The reality is that the problems highlighted in the Dallas Morning News article regarding the handling of DWI probation cases in Dallas County represent the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps people in positions of authority at the state and local level should push past the half-truths and misinformation they have received to reconsider reported reductions in recidivism and specialty court successes. While they are at it, they might consider reviewing how resources in the department are allocated, staffing, and promotional and disciplinary practices. Ultimately, as Director of Dallas County Probation, the buck stops with Dr. Noyes, but Dr. Teresa Williams, former Assistant Director of Dallas County Probation and current Director of Harris County Probation should be held accountable for problems in the agency as well.
Those that are busy pointing fingers need to stop and notice that 3 fingers point back at them.
Are the problems with this department the fault of one individual?
No. It is the fault of the whole department that failed to work as a team. With one policy for employees that work in the courts and a different policy for those that work in the field anyone with a grade school education should be able to figure out that is a plan for implosion.
Instead of going from one extreme to another how about meeting in the middle? Help those that want help that are motivated to change. Those that continue in the negative behavior the criminal thinking send them on up the river. Save the resources for those that will give you the best outcome. Save it for those individuals that want to change their lives.
If you continue to throw treatment at an individual that does not want to stop using and has no plans to stop in the future you are throwing those tax dollars out the proverbial window.
One person stated that money was being funneled into a cats program. If after funneling this money and the program still doesn't work then even the average joe on the street would say get rid of it.
This reader feels that treatment needs to stay in the field of treatment and probation needs to stay in the field of Criminal Justice. Otherwise rename Probation to County Counseling and Rehabilitation or 50/50 or DCFACP - Dallas County Flip a Coin Program.
If you keep doing the same thing and keep getting the same result...isn't that the definition of insanity?
A “retired director”? That is not only funny as hell but a pathetic attempt at Appeal to Authority. If you really are a “retired director” trolling the political blogs to defend your buddies Ron Goethels, who had his ass handed to him by the association, and Jim Mills, that is pathetic. Go back to the pasture and chew some more cud; you are no longer relevant. If you are not a “retired director”, that is also pathetic you are still pining for them after 7 YEARS!!! If you are Ron Goethals, GIVE IT UP, MAN!
You must have me confused with another anonymous poster as neither of my two posts “explained the real issues” nor “defended ‘dr.’ noyles”. I pointed out that your first post was not relevant as the “great recruited director” was “recruited” by the republican judges at the time and not the current democrat judges who are the ones complaining. If you still can’t figure it out, that makes you sound like a little kid in the playground saying, “See, I told you so!” So, how is your new part time gig as a Walmart greeter going?
Judges in Dallas county have the reputation for doing nothing when a drug or alcohol case is sent to court. why are they in an uproar now, look at Holmes record , why are judges putting offenders with three DWI's on probation anyway. who is failing the system the judges that bend to the high priced lawyer demands for probation paid for by the defendant
probations officers in the field seldom have a voice,
the judges allow a court officer to speak in court, that court officer has no experience with the defendant, and I would bet did not even read the file or the notes left by the line officer. please lets speak of the administration. his only interest is not justice for his department, it is a witch hunt, judges hide behind their bench, and administration just wants to blubber they are fixing the problem by firing officers...
The contents of this report can be deciphered differently, depending on the audience/reader. One would originally believe from this report that the field officers are incompetent, and are not reporting offender violations to the court. However, unbeknown to most Judges, the field officers have been directed to report violations to their assistant supervisors, supervisors, or court officers first, and are being told to use "progressive responses" and not send files to court. It has been a custom to reduce the amount of files being sent to court because of the reduction of court officers. As a result, a plan was devised to avoid overloading court officers and diverting sanctions to field units. Field officers are not encouraged, nor directed to contact a Judge personally regarding a case. Basically, field officers are encouraged to handle the violation within their unit. So an assistant supervisor will then give their “directive” on a particular violation after a case staffing with the officer. This directive may be different from what a Judge would agree upon.
This means that Judges won't ever see files until their expiration, or a new offense has been committed. How can field officers report all violations to the court when nearly all offenders are violating their probation? The court officers/Judges would have a never-ending stack of files coming into court, and field officers would have no files in their filing cabinets if this were a common practice. As a professional in the field, I see that Judges overuse probation as a sanction because of the problem of mass incarceration, and place high-risk offenders on probation for officers to supervise. Therefore frequent violations occur.
My suggestion would be to use probation for the offenders it was initially intended for, low-risk, or adjust their standards and accept that numerous violations will occur and increase court staff.
In addition, some Judges feel differently about certain violations than others, so a standardized court policy for all felony courts would need to be implemented for uniformity. Some Judges are ignoring offender violations when reported to court by field officers. This can be discouraging, and send the wrong message to the field officers that some violations aren't important/necessary to report in the future. Or, the field officer is later held responsible for a violation that occurred, and was ignored by their supervisor or the court staff/Judges when originally reported.
Furthermore, the individuals in leadership aren't always capable of doing their job, and one should consider the skill sets of those in management. Meaning, promote people who have the skills to manage other officers, and/or units. You will never have a "perfect" criminal justice system, and there will always be flaws. Which flaws are Dallas County CSCD willing to accept as their standard?
Hello.I wanted to chime in as a Dallas County Probation Officer.I have been around long enough to know that our department is in shambles.The point here is Dr Noyes changed our policies on reporting violations to court.He wanted to handle violations at the office level.Officers are forced to create sanctions and can't get a violation past their supervisors. This reduces revocations causing the state to send more funds to Dr Noyes, sort of a reward for not filling up the prisons. Mean while he claims success by pointing to his bogus programs for the reduction in revocations.The facts are bloated caseloads, lack of leadership, top heavy mgmt and a counseling dept within the probation dept have crushed morale. Our director wants to blame our failures on everyone else now that Judge Holmes is calling him out. SAD!
Hello, I have read the blogs and feel the need to chime in also as an current Dallas county field officer. First and fore most I went to school with the plan to make a change in a persons life while helping my husband with support our kids. I take pride in my work and do as I have been directed by management even when my experience which is often longer than most management in place tells me this is wrong. And to the doint like it quit and work at walmart comment, If I wanted to work at Walmart I would have not gone to school for a degree and spend most of my life working for Dallas County trying to help our city. I fell that it is ok to be frustrated with your job from time to time but lately it has really gotten bad. Dr Noyes has no ideal what he is doing as the head of CSCD and I am still trying to understand just how did he leap frog ahead of everyone in line for that position. He has done some unethical things from sleeping with officers to funneling funds to his programs and claiming they work because he has "reduced recidivism rates". When in the end he just made officer take more risk in the field trying to supervise some of the most dangerous criminals Dallas has to offer which makes this job feel a lot like the after care of parole type criminals. And of course he does not have his officers back even when it was his directive that told us to handle these problems in the field and to "NOT I repeat NOT send the file to court just for one positive ua. Personally I think we need a tear down at the management level to rectify this situation. Officer are not to blame here, when they are following directions to the letter even when they are completely wrong. I think the problem exist with Dr Noyes and his close protective circle of management Hr and upper supervisors who back his every move wrong or not. In the end I am GLADE I will retire soon and I hope to find that greeter job at walmart better run than this travesty of probation we are currently being subjected to. Something must be done or bigger things will happen to the public trust me and since we are reactive not pro active it will cost Dallas Probation dearly when it does....
07:23:00 PM makes a good point. Why doesn't the media call for an audit to take look at the track record of the currents judges responses violations sent to court? I think the public response to that article may be more shocking than Judge Holmes article. Good officers were following the directives of the former Manager of Field Services and Dr. Noyes and Judge Holmes used them for her political gain. What does it matter whether the officers send the file to court after two positive urinalysis or use progressive sanctions if the judges are not going to do anything about illegal drug usage? I will not be casting a vote for ANY of the current judges up for re-election!
I smell Baby G and it STinks!
What the heck do you people expect when you hire a bunch of retards? Garbage in>>Garbage out! You get what you pay for for crying out loud! Half these idiots can't read or write at a third grade level....and you want them to report violations on time??
Jimbo, pick the bottle back up and stop posting comments.
to 10:13:00
were you one of the retards that Dallas County did not hire, your post reflects the idiot third grader that cannot read or write.
I agree with the post that suggest you pick up the bottle and quit posting comments.
The former manager of field services was demoted, The individual put in his place has a track record of the same tyrannical behavior, Problems in Dallas County Adult Probation Department will not be fixed with any of the current administration in place, it have been proven time and time again, unethical behavior has become the fabric of the current administration. The officers have become the target of this administrations witch hunt, solely to divert attention from administration destructive track.
It "have been proven?" I guess you got your degree on line? Or maybe you slept through English class?
I rest my case. Tard!
After reading all of the previous comments and also being part of this department I have to agree and disagree with some of the information given here. One thing that is clear to me is that WE NEED A CHANGE. Change in how the judges deal with the clients when they are initially sentenced and given the privilege of probation. A change in how the Administration is allocating money for something that has been proven that “ IT DOES NOT WORK”
We all have our expertise , we are not counselors or psychologists here, we are field officers trying to manage huge caseloads due to the inability of this administration to allocate funds properly. We are crying for help!!! And we have been doing this for the last 5 years, the morale at the offices is low and there is no hope of improving. The workload is so distorted among the field officers and the administrators that is a JOKE. While the field officers are managing huge caseloads with clients that have a criminal history from Dallas to China, Dr Noyes and the administrators are trying to figure out how to “fix this clients with evidence based practice” Wasting time and resources in making “recorded tapes” for this clients that doubles our work and accomplish NOTHING.
It is a fact that almost all of the clients that are “taped” commit another crime shortly after. What does that tell you? Lets focus on the real issues. Probation is a Privilege that should be given to the one that really deserves it.. Not a ticket to get out of jail.. judges need to think who is worthy of it. Once the client is granted that privilege field officers need to have less RED TAPE and allow them to do their job! We the field officers handling all this cases need clear directives and NOT all those unwritten rules that change day by day depending on the weather outside. We need consistency with all the courts and not a “special rule” for each one, we need to go back to enforcing the law and not pampering the clients that DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE!!
Now that the tip of the iceberg emerged from the deep murky waters of the dark sea NO ONE IS TAKING RESPONSIBILITY. Some of us that have been working at this department for a long time and have seen how things are done by this administration. We have been expecting this IMPLOSION for some time now. And yes!!!.. This is only the tip of the iceberg. We need REAL changes, not shuffling of positions to make believe that something has been done here. Most of the employees at this department are here because they WANT protect and serve the community. Give us the opportunity to do that by making it clear on what is needed to be done and going back to the basics. We get in trouble if we challenge the system and if we ask questions we are viewed as a “problem employee”. Is not the field officers that are failing like is portrayed at the Dallas Morning News report. It is the administration that is failing to see the “BIG and Stinky Elephant “ in the middle of the room
I stand corrected I should have proof read My words. thank you.
I always enjoy reading posts about Probation. Probation Officers don't put people on probation. Judges do. Probation Officers don't revoke a probationer's term of supervision. Judges do. Probation officers don't even file motions to revoke. Prosecutors do that. Probation officers don't even get much say in Court. The defense counsel and the prosecutor get the say, and the judge usually just rubberstamps whatever the agreement is. In Court, it is always more about the agreement than it is about public safety or what is the right thing to do with the defendant. The real work begins once the defendant meets the officer. But, it up to the officer to develop the relationship with the probationer. Often, the officer just goes through the motions because they are underpaid and overworked.
I don't work in Dallas County. But, I do know that Judges approve CSCD's budgets. I do know Judges approve CSCD's Community Justice Plans. I have never read Dallas County CSCD's Community Justice Plan, but I bet it states progressive sanctions will be used instead of sending every violation to the Courtroom. If the judges aren't aware of that then they aren't reading what they are approving. Much like judges often don't even read the circumstances surrounding a crime, they basically just read the plea agreement, make sure they admonish correctly for the record, etc.
Not much can happen to a probationer without a Motion being filed. It is true a Judge can modify conditions of supervision without a hearing, but usually there is a violation report filed by the probation officer, then a motion by the prosecutor, then hearings upon hearings until there is resolution. The resolution is usually too little too late, hence the reason for the progressive sanctions without the need for a hearing.
Adult Probation has always been underfunded and taken for granted. Probation has to rely on its clientele to pay a fee just so the probation dept can pay its bills. The State does not provide enough money for any Department to operate.
Most judges are clueless about the operations of a probation department. That is really sad. But, when they have a chance to blame probation for something just so they can get their name in the paper, well, that is sad also.
The problem in Dallas County now and the problem in Harris County last year weren't completely the probation department's fault. More people play a part in the debacles.
People need to own their part. People need to move forward. People need to remember it is about public safety and public health, not politics.
Most often when things go wrong they can be attributed to decisions made at the top. In this case, the top is not probation administration. Sure, there is enough blame to go around and administration has it's due. In this case the criers of wolf are foul with blame. The article(s) published concerning this matter often speak of "dangerous criminals. These "dangerous criminals" didn't just become dangerous after they received probation. These folk were dangerous when they were standing in front of the presiding judge! Felons with firearms, DWI offenders with 3(+) offenses, violent offenders with extensive violent criminal histories and even murderers. Yes! MURDERERS receive probation. Officers often report violations and either the DA fails to address the matter with the judge or the judge decides to do absolutely nothing. New offenses are reported, both felony and misdemeanor but offenders are continued on supervision and field officers do their best to do their jobs without the help of the judiciary. Sure offenders are not concerned with changing their ways. Why should the be? They know the judges with the power to do address the matter won't.
Let us quite the finger pointing and the name calling. Let us get the the fix this department needs. When officers send files or notices to court about violations and receive either no contact or a simple email that states continue supervision. What is a field work officer supposed to think. We send in notices of violations all the time. Violations that I do not think ever make it to the Judges. Violations that result in court dates but those court meetings are never entered into the official records so the field officer had no clue what the hell is going on. I have seen cases where defendants have reported to court for over 6 months and not one entry is made.
The Field officer works off of those narratives on how to deal with the client. If they are blank what is the field officer supposed to do. Make something up?
They move Mr. Silva to a different position. Is this supposed to fix all that is wrong? No because they replace him with a tyrannical racist that has no clue of what is going on. Why move the one person that did nothing wrong? Why not move the Manager of Court Services that always responds his court officers are too busy to do their job and everything is the field officers fault? Files sent to the field that are improperly assigned, files that have no address or contact information. Too over worked? How about do your job. This is a team effort or should be. I am so tired of those that speak out of both sides of their mouths that I could scream.
One of the only people that has been honest with me is Fidel Silva and he gets booted to the side in a “keep quiet position”. We need a director that understands just what probation is. That understands that programs that worked in Pennsylvania or Arizona do no automatically work her. That MI and EBP are not the end all to be all. Deal with the client individually. Give treatment or assistance when it is warranted, when it is not send the defendant back to court.
Let’s rip out the cancer and make this department what it needs to be. That include getting ride of Jeff Arnold that lies and backstabs at every opportunity. Angie Hall that is racist and only wants to promote blacks or men. Vonda Freeman that talks to people like they are crap scraped off of her shoe. Gerald Crumpton that is a sexist and an idiot all rolled into one. Let’s clear the decks and make this department what it used to be.
I remember a time when I was proud to say I worked at Dallas CSCD. Now I duck my head and hope no one asks what I do.
Bottom line is that Dr. Noyes wants probationers reprimanded at the office level: once by the po, then by the asst. sup., then by the office supervisor, then by ct. officer, then just maybe if they violate again a vr is filed. When you are told not to contact the court officers to discuss the case there is a problem, when a judge has a meeting with the probation officers and the judge ask the supervisor to leave so the judge can get an honest answer and the supervisor says I was told to stay here and the judge answers do you think I am gonna hurt them.
The problem is that the probation officer is not allowed to send in a vr because of Dr. Noyes and this is what happens.
These programs he is shoving down the throats of the probation officers may work in jail or prison but when you have 1 or 2 15 min. sessions with the probationer it does not work. MORALE AT THE DEPARTMENT IS AT AN ALL TIME LOW.
LIKE THE EARLIER POST IF YOU DONT LIKE IT GO WORK AT WALMART- that is the mentality of the HR department and we hear it every day..
Offices are short staffed- one office has 4 open case loads and has been this way for over 6 months.. overworked, underpaid- (NO PAY RAISES IN 5 YRS) and understaffed. does anyone else see a problem here?
The last several posts indicate just how unhappy some Dallas County employees are. Instead of complaining on a blog, perhaps people should actually take action. Remember that the Director serves at the discretion of the judges. Unless Dr. Noyes steps down on his own (highly unlikely), he will not leave unless he is removed from office by the judges. As for complaints regarding other administration employees, name-calling is not very productive. Remember that these people serve at the discretion of the director and likely are doing what they have been told to do. If change is what Dallas County officers want then perhaps they should inform the judges about the issues plaguing the department. Folks at Dallas County can choose to remain passive actors or take action. Nothing will change until and unless they act.
To 10:43:00 AM
The "w" in the word were should have been capitalized. There should have been a "?" after the word hire. The "y" in the word your should have been capitalized. Did you make it out of the third grade?
To DCCSCD employees, the anonymity of the internet gives you the opportunity to trash what you do not like about the department and its administration. Please stop! This is embarrassing. If you must continue to vent, please use proper grammar and correct spelling.
I am employed with DCCSCD and Dr. Noyes IS the problem, but also all the managers that serve under him that are following his directives and treat employees as if we're CRAP under the bottom of their shoes. And yes, they all have the mentality that "if you are not happy here, leave." Jobs are not very plentiful now and for those that have been at that job for numerous years, are vested, or approaching retirement, why would they leave? Majority of the officers are doing their job to the best of their ability, but it's like we have to accept all of their crap just because we need our jobs. And this is why morale is extremely low. Dr. Noyes put us in this situation with the Judges, and it's going to take someone else, not any of those top persons there now, to get us out of this. None of those in upper management are worth the thought I'm outting into this writing. But a lot of these comments are great readings and most have valid points. So, all, please keep Dallas County CSCD peon employees in your prayers. We are just trying to follow directives and earn our paycheck, as small as it may be. But let's face it, it's better than nothing.
Enough please! I've never heard such belly-aching from adults! So you don't get the pay you feel you deserve. Who does for Christ's sake! Although, after reading some of these blog entries, I'm not sure why some of you think you should get more. But you provide an incredible and valuable service to the public and the vast majority of you deserve much more than you get. But look around you, very few people are being paid at the rate they deserve. There is an economic crisis people! And how can you seriously claim that you have it so bad? Nobody has yet to mention that if you are a field officer, you don't even have to come into the office every day! Your director has repeatedly told you that the money is not there to pay everyone at the level he would like to, at the level you are worth. If you don't believe that, then look into it. It's a free country and that is public information. He has, however, provided you with an environment that is safe (e.g., thanks to the implementation of risk- and evidence-based supervision, you now know more about your probationers than anyone else working in corrections does and ever has; and there's the additional security features that have been installed), non-discriminatory and free of harassment (issues that were clearly present with the previous management that used HR like the KGB), and flexible to meet your life demands (e.g., how many of you have saved thousands on daycare and other services due to your flex schedules). Would you really trade your work-at-home days for a pay raise? Come on people - stop crying and realize just how bad it could be!
Where is all the finger-pointing and s**-slinging coming from? You let the comments of a rogue judge get you all rattled and doubting yourselves and your leadership. Wow! You are actually turning on each other! Have you taken the time to analyze just what Judge Holmes has alleged? Why are you not supporting your own? You would never see another law enforcement agency, a fire department, or other entity charged with public safety turn on their leader and each other as you have. It's sickening. I recognize that these comments are those of a very few but the impression is getting around that there is chaos in your agency. If you have issues with the director, use the resources that I'm sure have been made available to you to address them rather than airing your dirty laundry at a time when you need to be standing together. The judge's comments were clearly aimed at advancing herself at a time when she is facing an election opponent. They should be taken seriously for the facts that may be there but also must be taken with a grain of salt as coming from a politician. At the most basic level, they represent an attack on you as a group, one that needs to be taken personally if you care anything about what you do. Whenever the referenced audit of your department occurs, it will show the good work you're doing and point out areas that need improvement. That is nothing new in the public sector. And as for judges that you feel are supportive, show that support at the ballot box. And for those you feel that are NOT supportive, return that lack of support in the same way.
For those of you who do care, please put an end to this nonsense among a few of your coworkers. Please stand together and show what you are made of. Support each other and you will get through this without damaging your good reputation. It may be the director under attack now but it will eventually be all of you if you don't take a stand!
With 450 probation officers and supervisors in charge of 50,000 probationers, the bad behavior of probationers overwhelms the system and burdens us all. Of course, we can never suggest personal responsibility. We can never expect them to take charge of their own bad behavior and give us a break. They can save us millions and millions of dollars and relieve us of the burden of trying to talk them into...what? Into behaving properly.
5:07PM has a very valid point and one that I pointed out in a previous post that I made. I completely agree that the Judge is not supporting the probation department's efforts, and if I lived in Dallas County, she would not get my vote. She is attacking the probation officers, and treating us as the villains. Why would anyone, meaning voters, want to re-elect her into a position where she isn't being supportive and throwing Dallas County CSCD employees under the bus for her own advancement. I would definitely consider this audit to be a tool for her re-election due to competition she is now facing. The information in the article isn't anything new and has been occurring for a long time (We all know positive UAs go unreported all the time because Judges hardly ever take action). But now all of the the sudden she is bringing it to the media????? Coincidence, I think not. Just a political move. Dallas County CSCD employees should come together and realize that this is making headlines because of her special requests for news reporters, not a change in CSCD standards or practices.
The irony to all of this is that few if any courts revoke solely on a failed UA. When UA's are included in a revocation it is usually a lesser technical violation of a list of many bigger violations being alleged.
What the hell? Now if there is an organized effort to pad numbers to give a false indication that a program is successful to obtain program funding, I may be mistaken but that is treading awfully close to falsifying information or reports.
An earlier post suggests that numbers generated by Dallas County on a multitude of efforts may not be entirely truthful. If I were people in a position of authority, I'd take a very close look. Why? because Dr. Noyes has used those numbers to get additional funds from CJAD and because Teresa Williams used it to get her current job as Director of Harris County. If people reviewed the data with a critical eye they'd see smoke and mirrors.
And while judges do very much play a role in the revocations process (they are the final arbiters), they can't rule on possible revocations that they never see. Line staff are doing what they are told, but when policy chanes so frequently, it is difficult to keep things straight.
Dallas CSCD is a large department in a large county with a large population of persons who commit crimes. They cannot all be sent to prison there is no room, and no desire by the public to build more prisons. I have worked for Dallas CSCD for over twenty years, both in court, in the field, and in a special program. I know that the current administration has done more to increase officer salaries than the previous one, and it is certainly more open to improving communication with line officers. this administration is open to correcting and improving the way things are done (as opposed to the 'my way or the highway' of the old administration). I understand that everything at the department is not sunshine and light. I have managed to get a passing grade on only two motivational interview tapings, which means that I will be making tapes for god only knows how long. Trust me, I hate having to tape. I have learned one thing, and that is that every person, probation officer and probationer, wants to be treated with respect. I felt neither were respected by the prior administration. And remember, CATS was the brainchild of the prior administration, and treatment the thing to do when Judge Creuzot had most of the Judges emulating him. I do know that Dr. Noyes is open to listening to ideas and change. Perhaps if we concentrated on communicating those with him, we would all be in a better place.
Lol, I can for one say Dr Noyes is no open to change I have given him some ideals and he basically told me he would not even look into that direction and EBP is all he wants to hear about. And this adminstration has given raises but Dallas Probation supervises more people then any probation in the state and are still I repeat still among the lowest paid. Not to mention they gave us a rasie then took it back the next year. They have made changes but not all have been good or bad like they want to take work from home away right now, which is ghe only reason some of us did not leave this job. The judges may take stabs at probation but they KNOW the cannot do their jobs without us period(eyes and ears) for a week I would love to see them try it without probation officers help and monitoring I wouldd gladly take a week off and watch the fireworks
08:38:00 PM
LOL! You gave Dr Noyes some "ideals" and he is "no open to change"? Maybe if you put them in writing with your wonderful grammar and spelling (the red crooked line underneath means it's misspelled), he might take a second look. Keep looking for that "rasie"!
Stop it please! GAWD this is embarrassing!
8:38. You are a typical coward who hides behind the keyboard. This world would be better off without people like you. I challenge you to show your face and I will show mine. COWARD!
I have read a few of the post, it appears that there are more unhappy people than there are happy people. The old saying goes "where their is smoke there is fire"
I myself experienced the administration of the current director. Before I took retirement I had spent 53 years in the work force. During this time I experienced very good Leadership and some that was not so good. The last few years years under the DIRECTION (which is different than LEADERSHIP) of the current director was the worse years of my career.
The current director does in fact meet my definition of a DIRECTOR, this is a person that TELLS you what HE wants done and how he wants it done. If this does not happen you are assigned to the dreaded "Special Projects" cubicle on the 9th floor where you can be watched very closely.
I have a couple issues that I have not seen addressed, they are:
The use of Probation Officers to sort through cans at the NTX food bank. In my office alone there were approximately 40 officers asked to give up approx 300 hours supervision time each time we "volunteered" to go to the food bank. The approximate cost of this project is approx $6,400.00. In addition if assuming it was a report day for 20 officers, this meant the loss of report time of approx 80 hours report time or needing to find time for approx 240 clients..
item number 2:
The quarterly meeting at the court house. Are they really a good use of time and money
Given there were about 350 employees in attendance for 4 hours (actually not quite 3 hrs) which translates to 1,400 work hours lost. Using an average salary of $20.00 an hour the cost to the county would be $28,000 in salaries. Add to the cost paid for mileage and parking maybe another $500.00. This was an event that happened 4 times a year, which is approx $114,000.00 annually.
Item number 3:
Prior to the current director arriving the Judges gave us time off at Christmas time. He arrived they became "DIRECTOR DAYS"
I guess I could go on and on but I was told by a wise man "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything"
IT was once said that if "a man needs to USE others to make his way, he will be lost forever
To all the officers that have chosen Probation as a career my heart is with you. I been there.
Just remember nothing is Permanent, Learn from the honorable, don't spend your energy on the less than honorable.
S/F
TO 08/25/13 @ 2:41PM I know that the current administration has done more to increase officer salaries than the previous one,( he gave a raise 1 year and then took it back he next yr) and it is certainly more open to improving communication with line officers.(how come all calls go to T. Artesi when you call the director?) this administration is open to correcting and improving the way things are done (as opposed to the 'my way or the highway' of the old administration)(all the director wants is more data imputed into the computer for stats).
There is also not enough office space at the field offices for all staff but he is taking away the work from home (where the officers spend hrs doing data entry for his stats) and all will be required to come to the office daily.
As far as all the ones saying if you don't like it leave: well we enjoy the job, that is why we are here. We are bringing the problem to the surface so the judges have an idea of what is going on... The director has kept the courts in the dark for long enough.
bastages......
8/25/2013 10:15:00 PM lol anything better to do than trying to be the spelling monitor? Lol you must be a idiot if you cannot tell that the poster is pissed and I doint think his or her spelling got anything to do with the issue of how they feel. Lol at the stupid red mark comment I am posting from my phone there is no red lines for spelling check. Say something useful or just SHUT UP no one cares lol and stop being annoying and get a life
Dallas Probation has become a joke under the direction of M. Noyes and his management team of excessive managers who are raking in excessive salaries and bonuses. Every one in administration is a manager, how ridiculous. He has now made a major mistake promoting a drunken, racist, ignorant A. Hall as a manager believing she can manage a sinking dept where F. Silva could not. He made the mistake of letting her run his office, letting her run rampant, stabbing people in the back not thinking she would turn the knife on him, major mistake; once a snake always a drunken snake. She promotes only incompetent black males who literally suck her ass and toes. While qualified whites cannot get promoted; reverse discrimination is the new thing in Dallas County. We should file a law suit. Well not only should white males file a law suit, so should probationers, they have been robbed by M. Noyes who initiated a 100.00 dollar assessment fee for Cats assessment but not all probationers get an evaluations but a lot of them are paying the 100.00 dollars. How about that judges, did you know that and it is not on their conditions of probation.
Maybe that's how M. Noyes paid managers, supervisors and assistants their bonuses or was it hush money.
Probation officers were forced to sit on violations, does the public really believe officers want drug addicts reporting to them, running the streets when they have to deal with the effects of their behavior every month- NO. Officers want action but cannot force supervisors and the courts to take action, officers are puppets working for the court and the department following directions of greedy, political tyrant and you cannot reason with the devil or make deals with him either.
Officers do their jobs under the directions of their boss, M. Noyes who is out making a name for himself at the expense of the community he swore to protect and the probationers he swore to supervise and help. He is the joke and the judges are allowing the joke to continue. Let's hope the audit is for real and not a Dallas County cover up for public show.
Amen! 8/26/13, 10:11:00PM
I hope the audit shows how many times Judge Tinsley returns files on violations. The guy is a total joke. The probationers are happy to be in his court. The motto is "use drugs and violate", and Tinsley will save the day!
Please Judges, if you are reading these posts, please help us. It's hard to talk to clients all day about doing the right thing when you know the Administration is so corrupt. In addition to being an absentee director, Noyes has allowed promotions that make no sense at all. How in the heck did Givenshall get promoted?? She may be of equal intelligence to Silva, but she is so dirty and vicious! I didn't know about the drunken part until an earlier post, but I do know from experience her character is seriously flawed. Tonya Williams is another prize choice of Noyes. She has done so many questionable things that there are too many to mention them all. My favorite is how she changed the Nepotism policy just long enough to hire her own nephew. (A nephew I suspect was promised big things based on his own words). Once she got all of her family hired, she then reinstated the Nepotism policy. INSANE!! Where is Noyes in all of this. Then recently Tonya Williams left the department for a brief time. Rumors were that she left so she could withdraw her retirement money. It's also reported she knew she would be rehired on a certain date. Only Noyes could have approved that. Who the heck does that. It's just weird, unprofessional and shows the current administration is corrupt and without concern for the integrity of the department and County. I'm so embarrassed! Please Judges, we need help!
The audit is only going to look at the extent to which positive ua's were reported or not reported to the courts. To this end, it will only draw upon a scientific sample of cases. If you want to see a change in administration, then do it the old-fashioned way and take the fight to the man. If you don't know how, then go ask the people who went to war with Ron Goethals. I read a previous post where the employees association handed Mr. Goethals his ass.
Agreed! Making vicious personal attacks as Anonymous bloggers only makes you look silly.
REPLY TO 8/28/2013 11:04:00 AM ... If you put this much energy into making sure that your HOME LIFE IS COMPLETE and YOU ARE DOING YOUR JOB so that you are not called down to court, maybe you would not be so MISERABLE. Get a life and we are embarassed for you!!!
8/29/2013 07:50:00 AM
Lol really look who is talking WHY ARE YOU EVEN ON HERE?
All I know is the Dept. used to be a great place to work at. Then "the new guys" came in, took over and ruined the morality, the competency, and the professionalism of the organization. There are now crazy people running the place who have no morals, no class and they lie about everything. Oh, and is Tonya still have affairs with her female employees?? - still in the open!? wow! What a tragedy that it all turned in to. / And management (if that's what you call them) stop telling officers to go work at McDonald's. You couldn't handle that job either.
This is the worst place to work with so many small minded people who are just as ugly on the outside just as well in the inside.They don't have a life and are so scared to show face if you really have something to say speak up in the quarterly meeting you cowards..
CSCD,once was a place of respect,however now that this article has come out regarding UA's the agency has went up against each other. Wearing there feelings on thieir shoulders and talking about each other which makes you think they really don't care for the company so why care for the probationer,never seen such a organization with so much hate for each other its a sad thing to see or read,pray for the people who happen to take probation in Dallas County.
Peace love and happiness :). :)
The probation department that is Dallas County is the way it is because of those whom are in control of it, unfortunately. The backlash, the finger pointing and "turn against one another" mentality that is displayed in this blog alone is representative of what officers experience first hand on a daily basis. Call it a learned pattern of behavior, if you will. From the judges to administration and even down to direct supervisors, finger pointing in the probation department is the name of the game. So if it's done from the top of the chain, why wouldn't many down at the bottom of the totem pole turn that blame right back around? As one person mentioned earlier on, probation officers simply follow directives. These directives will be one thing on Friday and change over the weekend. Come Monday, there's a new way to do things. Officers don't make those decisions. If this judge felt so strongly about the DWI felony convict, she could have avoided this by making the decision herself not to place him on probation, after all jail is where he ended up anyhow. She did this to promote herself as a savior to the community. In 2010, there where nearly 3000 alcohol related traffic deaths in Texas, 2011 over 3000 deaths and 2013, over 1500 to date. Think of all the lives she and others like herself could have saved if they weren't so money hungry and power driven. Yes, the department is managed, not run, by a corrupt group of individuals, sure there is widespread resentment towards those individuals and utter disdain for their behaviors and the practices they have put in place but not a darn thing will be done about it. Why? Because the whole reason we are all having this discussion is because there are but a few who are responsible for the shamble(s)and those few will protect themselves only to ultimately all gang up on one lowly probation officer. They will then pat themselves on the backs and claim, "job well done-we have outted the good and faithful servant."
For the record, Noyes nor the judges actually run the department, the probationers/customers are running it because they are the ones bringing in the bucks and they know this which is why they can smoke all the dope they want, drink all the alcohol they want, have interlock violations, go to see their probation officers when they want and face no recourse.
The community is being duped by this spectacle of an organization. The probation department in and of itself in Dallas County, is a debacle.
People keep saying hey go speak up at the meetings lol. What a joke you must want to see someone get fired. This administration has a habit of moving people to squeeze them to quit what do you think they would do to a person who was to stand up in a meeting and say how every one feels. If they really even cared about officers they would bring back the suggestion box or an dallas county probation online blog for employees only like this site. They will not do that because this is a dictatorship and they do not care what the ground soldiers say or know they think they know everything even when people like Givens hall and Silva have not been on the front lines in 10 yrs and have not first hand used MI, EBP or PROGRESSIVE RESPONSE. Not to mention clients are diffrent now then 10 yrs ago I have seen it first hand.
Fascinating posts. I just wanted to post to respond to a few things here and there. Harris County officers make about 4K less a year than Travis County with a regular caseload of 120-160 depending on what side of town you work. Harris County also has a lot of "special programs" in which officers have 20-35 cases and want to bottle feed the "clients". Our new director, Dr. Theresa May has ordered a drastic reduction in UA's, more "progressive sanctions" and now is now hiring psychologists to set up the greatest assessment unit ever which will give recommendations most judges don't want and don't need, but almost always include some special program (most often)or class that only the probation department can offer. Rarely in Harris County, are people placed on deferred or probation without an agreed recommendation, the ADA's love to offer probation as a way to cut down their numbers and and the defense attorney's always want probation, even though sometimes their clients know better and just want to do their time. Not to forget the BEST IDEA EVER to come out of Austin which is MANDATORY probation on first time stj pcs. Never mind the defendant has 8 prior misd, is homeless and likes it that way. You can't 12.44A everything! It sounds Harris County and Travis County are similar in that some (not all, but way too many) Judges say they want to be notified at a certain number/type of violation and a mtr will be filed. The probation officer types up the file and sends it in thinking the Judge will do what they say in their court policy/court notes etc . Then the Judge does nothing, or worse yet, calls the defendant to crt and does nothing. Now the probationer KNOWS the Judge can be manipulated and the probation officer looses all credibility. I have been blessed with good STRICT Judges so I am much happier than most.
CORRUPTION! Dr Noyes,Fidel Silva,Angie RACIST Hall,and Tonya Williams need to be dealt with. Don't fault Judge Holmes for calling them out. I wish more judges would investigate.
Has anyone seen the paper today
9-7-13? We are under fire again and I feel thrown out to the wolves!! There is a lot of problems with our department and
** I do agree with we are again too top heavy, not enough CSO's in Court(Court Supervisors are excellent but over worked too)
** In my opinion the Department should go back to having CSO'S assigned to the Courts then you know the policy of that Judge, a knowledge of their standards and was a team. WAIT>>> that was dissolved because the new Administration felt the Court CSO and Supervisors had to much power with the Judges. No matter what anyone wants to think that is the bottom line.
**Our, Department does not work for the Judges as that is CORRECT answer on the promotion board! There is a fine line there and our department has forgot where it is because the Judge control the Client future not us!!
*** I personally do not like the way we are managing the caseloads by supervision levels. My understanding this was done prior to when I started working with Dallas CSCD (97) and it did not work so why did we ever go back to it?
**We do have to face the fact that how Bryan Sexton case was handle was incorrect; however, he did have to walk home. Funny he drove back to Probation for another meeting on the same day the paper said. Why would he be returning on the same day to Probation? Maybe it was the Cats treatment program? 2 times in one day, odd?
**I agree that there is a lot of problems in our Department from moral to CSO not doing the correct work. But it has been a long time coming and I fear it is going to get worse than better if we continue not being a team!! Oh! wait yesterday we were praised for the work we did but today the paper and our leader through us under the BUS!! JUST HAVE TO LOVE IT!!
P.S.
If you are so upset then attend the UNION meeting and help correct the problem. We have to pull together somehow to get the problems resolved. Remember we are human and make errors and all play a role in it by doing something or just sitting on the sidelines.
@ 9/07/2013 12:28:00 PM post I would agree with almost every thing but CSCDs union is a joke plain and simple with no real ready for war leader and no true power period. Not to mention the way they divided court from field gives us no chance to really get to know each other and have words outside blogs
It is sad that nothing will come from knowing that Dallas county adult probation is a corrupt and racist organization. the powers that can effect change just want to talk about it, and take no action. Judges will only spout change at election time to hold on to their positions on the bench, administration has already proven that if the word I is not in the sentence " I don't care about you is evident"
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