NCJ Number
223906
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 70 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2008 Pages: 38-40,42
Date Published
August 2008
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article provides an overview of the Quality Assurance Unit in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC).
Abstract
The article notes that quality assurance in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections is a philosophy and a strategy for continuous improvement at every level of the organization; the ODOC strategy makes an effort to ensure the best allocation of resources; provide the most efficient and effective operations based on continuous improvement; and ensure creation and delivery of quality (best practice), result driven programs and services to best fulfill the department’s vision and mission. Key components of the ODOC Quality Assurance System consist of the use of organizational review panels composed of internal and external subject matter experts from other organizations, quality councils, and process action teams (PATs). The Executive Quality Council, composed of executive-level leadership, is responsible for identifying the department’s quality assurance philosophy or strategic goals; supporting, modeling and promoting the quality assurance system; identifying and prioritizing critical issues with agency-wide impact and working with the Quality Assurance Unit to initiate organizational reviews or charter PATs to address those issues; and providing guidance, support and resources necessary to effect organizational changes resulting from reviews and PATs’ recommendations. Local quality councils, made up of management staff, are supported by a training component. One noted key benefit of this process is organizational transparency on the part of the agency. Several methods are used to reinforce this transparency and to keep employees informed about progress related to the agency’s quality assurance effort, such as agencywide communications bulletins issued by e-mail and posted online, as well as through access to organizational review executive summaries and other information available on the Quality Assurance System Web page. 3 notes