By: Andy Meier, Brian Hickok, Bob Berg, Dan Scoggins, and Glenice Booker-Butler

• Restorative Justice is a diversion program for misdemeanor offenders from Minneapolis and Hennepin County.

• Misdemeanors include charges for drug possession, public intoxication, disorderly conduct, but also prostitution cases.

• Adult and juvenile cases. • RJCA handled 360 cases in 2012. Goal to triple the client

served in the coming years!

Our Team’s objective is to complete a structural assessment of the technology of Restorative Justice Community Action (RJCA).

Overview

• Interviews – November 24th, Staff and InfraServe IT provider• 7 page chart, process for youth, adult.

• Analysis tools – technology assessment tool, SIPOC, Project Charter

• Assumptions – staff, IT partners are honest!

Minneapolis City Council Member Andrew Johnson presenting the Resolution Honoring RJCA during Restorative Justice Week (Nov. 16-22) in Minneapolis, 11/14/2014.

Methodology

Interview Themes/Findings

Projects Rapid Growth

• Expand partnership to city of St. Paul, metro transit, and Minneapolis Public Schools (200 per year)

• Upgrade IT within the business to improve efficiency in workflow.

Interview Themes/Findings

Transactional data

• Majority of data is on multiple Excel spreadsheets

• Clients submit information via email or hard copy

• Minimal web access for volunteers

• Inadequate security levels for customer data

Interview Themes/findingsInternal RJCA Workflow

• Limited employee access to data

• Work force consists mostly of college interns

Social Media

• Gain exposure and connect volunteers to RJCA

Facts regarding current Alignment between IT & Business for RJCA

• Current State of RJCA IT is lacking necessary resources to adequately support the business

• Currently no business specific software for:

• standardizing processes • organizing data• Scheduling• client case management

• Case Files (Data Retention) o not stored electronically, currently in hard copy format located in file cabinets

• Current Personal Work Stations/ lab tops used by staff are older models that are inadequate for their jobs

• These inadequacies provide the following results

• Spend way too much time with office work that does not increase the value of the organization • Time spent retrieving files is not time well spent• Computer Locks ups are common, thus causing unnecessary delays • Single use Shared Drives cause unnecessary delays

IT is more of a Liability than a Asset at RJCA

Baseline IT Assessment of RJCA

• A Baseline IT Assessment of RJCA was conducted using a Strategic Alignment Model

• Results show that IT contribution to Business Value Creation is currently at the “Low Performance” with a score of 22% (225/1005)

• Main contributors to the low performance• Innovation (Identifying new ways for IT to support existing strategies, 3/

75)• Prioritization (Assessing the business impact of new IT based initiatives,

3/60)• Value Management (Managing IT based on business value outcomes,

12/60) • Performance Measurement (Metrics for performance, 15/75)

Facts for improving alignment between IT/Businesses at RJCA

• Scores from the Strategic Alignment Model show there is currently no “Management Processes” for

• Innovation • Prioritization • Value Management • Performance Measurement

• Lacking resources is main contributor for no current “Management Process” in these areas

• Obtaining the objective of this Project, i.e. helping RJCA in their pursuit of a Technology Grant for ~$20,000.00 would allow them to purchase the necessary resources if they choose to

• In order to increase the IT’s contribution to Business Value Creation (Alignment) at RJCA RJCA must create a “Formal Management Process” in these four areas of their IT

o This will allow RJCA to attain a level of “Acceptable Performance” with a score of 44% (449/1005) when using the Strategic Alignment Model

Structural Implications – Core Process

• A frame in the organization to transform its inputs (intake of criminal offenders) to its output (rehabilitated person) as its product

• Staff roles and responsibilities imply the frame work alignment to representing the process of offenders

• Staff define the high level future state of the organization

Structural Implications – IT• gap by their ability to process information

• The current IT system is limited to how it operates

• Must get updated to provide a better service internally and externally

• Better IT framework for the updated systems

Model Comparison

As Is Model Coordination Model

Coordination Model

• A low process standardization but high process integration as a “unique business unit with a need to know each other’s transactions”

• This model implies that providing more of a coordination structure in RJCA’s framework with the updated IT systems, software, and hardware will support the expected year over year business growth.

Web Application/Data Base - #1 Priority

Standardize processes and organize data. • Allow multiple users to edit data at a time. • Sortable data storage, so hard files would no longer be

necessary. • Accessible to outside users (volunteers etc.) • Email process connected to the web application• Training manual to focus on the business processes.

Databases reduce hard file storage, less old style typing, filing, copying, printing, etc.

Recommendations

Social Activation - #2 Priority• Social Media changes from an informational tool to

interaction tool. • Use web application as part of a Social Activation media

effort. • RJCA could activate to find more volunteers and individual

donations.

Recommendations

Data Security - #3 Priority• Design access levels for registered participant data. (Classic Authentication, Adventures of an IT Leader - pg 274)

• Use technology to restrict access to confidential client data.

• Use access levels also avoid errors or loss of data.

Recommendations

RJCA’s hard copy files, in secure storage with the “Lost Ark.”

Data Retention - #4 Priority

Review of the data retention requirements. • What legal liabilities do these files address? • What happens to participant Completion files?• Are juvenile files in particular, inappropriate to keep

on file after a case has been completed?

Recommendations

Conclusion

A technology upgrade would greatly improve RJCA’s efficiency. This will give them the room to grow in the future to realize their vision of doubling client served.

A grant will be necessary to take on this technology upgrade, as RJCA does not have extra funds for this type of purchase.

Our dream is to see this paper be part of a grant application for RJCA.