Baker Proposes Government Reform In Wake Of Probation Trial
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
These four reform measures would help to increase ethical standards for state government as well as make the hiring process more transparent.
"The Probation Department is just one symptom of a broken culture that exists on Beacon Hill and it's clear the people of Massachusetts deserve more from their public servants. These much needed reforms will set a new direction for state government, where ethics and accountability take priority over connected cronies," said Baker. "As Governor I will break up the one-party rule that has wrought boondoggles like the drug lab, Health Connector and Probation department because the great people who call Massachusetts home deserve a state government that works as hard as they do."
Baker proposed the following reforms:
Ethics Training and Evaluation: Make ethics training compliance rates of each government agency or department publicly available and compel the Ethics Commission to intervene with any organization with a compliance rate of less than 90%. In addition, the Ethics Commission should facilitate annual in-person training days with expanded and specific training for various types of employees including elected officials and county employees. Currently, state, county and local government employees must complete an online training program on the conflict of interest law only every two years and provide a certificate of completion to their employers. However, there is no accountability other than to the employer as to whether the training is completed.
Integrate Probation and Parole: Establish a formal agreement between the Probation and Parole Departments so that they can better perform core functions and integrate their responsibilities to reduce recidivism and provide better outcomes. Probation and Parole should be better integrated given the missions and operations of these two departments are similar and a significant number of offenders are subject to both departments simultaneously. The agreement will delineate the two departments’ respective roles and responsibilities, and incorporate goals, objectives and key metrics that define success in a public memorandum of understanding.
Transparency in Hiring: Increase transparency in the state employee hiring process by mandating the hiring authorities note for all job postings when the position has been filled, who it was filled by, their relevant experience and if the hiring authority was contacted by state officials on behalf of the candidate selected. Currently, the Commonwealth Employment Opportunities site only posts current job openings in state government.
Audit Hiring Practices: Request the Inspector General to conduct annual random audits of agencies’ hiring practices (including the courts) and urge the IG to utilize a professional HR consulting firm to conduct them. These random audits should rotate over time so that all agencies would eventually be audit
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