In January, the Dept. of Rehabilitation and Correction and the Dept. of Youth Services released a joint statement and FAQ about a Shared Services plan between the two agencies. The plan would “allow for collaborative work, with a focus on improving the quality and efficiency of back-office, administrative services.”
A Recommendations of Shared Services statement released in February includes the areas for consideration of “consolidation and collaboration.”
In the January statement, the agencies indicated that this was not a merger, but that there could be central office “co-locations” for some administrative functions. In the February statement, they reiterated that the two agencies would remain “separate and distinct.”
The union was notified of the intent to merge services between the two corrections agencies in late 2016. OCSEA immediately asked for a list of duties being looked at by the agencies that might overlap. The union and the public both have been asked to give input regarding the collaborative services.
OCSEA asked that DR&C and DYS use this process as an opportunity to look at agency contracts that may be brought back in-house. In the Recommendation Statement, the agencies indicated that they would “identify existing contracts that should be evaluated for potential efficiencies and opportunities for collaboration in the future.”
While the agencies said that their intent was to have no job loss, the agencies made a point of clarification in their February release that “it is possible that job duties may change as a result of these recommendations.” The agencies stated that management will make these decisions based on operational effectiveness, budget allocations and other legislative mandates. The union will be closely monitoring the transition and potential impact on employees.
Go to
collaborativeservices.ohio.gov for more information.
More news:
DRC, DYS release FAQ on Shared Services