Welcome to the February 2017 Q&A.
This is our monthly installment addressing questions and suggestions received through the online suggestion box (top menu bar on the intranet). We respond to questions with agency-wide relevance, and we cannot answer questions that may affect client or staff/personnel confidentiality protections. If you have individual or office specific questions, please communicate that within your office or division.
Some questions/suggestions are summarized or simplified in the interest of clarity, brevity or to address tone.
Some questions require more time to answer than is available or are received after we started drafting this Q&A, so missed this installment. We’ll work to address them in later installments.
Suggestions/Questions list
- Changing language of the Maura Mellon Award
- Anonymous IT survey
- CPCS requirement for retaining client physical files after scanned
Suggestion/Question: Changing language of the Maura Mellon Award
Why was the description of the Maura Mellon award changed? It is described in your most recent awards nomination memo as an award which “honors an administrative staff member who has made an outstanding contribution to the delivery of zealous and effective advocacy for CPCS clients.” However, a 2007 memo from former Chief Counsel Bill Leahy notes: “The Maura Mellen Award was created to help us remember Maura and Maura’s spirit, by honoring members of the staff whose positive influence upon their colleagues evokes her unfailingly upbeat and friendly manner.”
This award had nothing to do with providing zealous advocacy. A large majority of administrative staff are shut out under the current criteria as their jobs do not involve providing zealous advocacy. Many of the previous recipients of this award which dates back to 2000 would not have received this award under the new criteria.
Despite adversity & numerous hurdles that non-attorney staff face daily working at CPCS, many of them continue to come to work with a smile on their face and motivate colleagues with their enthusiasm and good nature. It’s a sad day when the agency no longer chooses to recognize this.
Response:
In 2015, when we created the independent Awards Ceremony, the Senior Management Team reviewed all of the award descriptions to insure that every staff member is eligible for an award which recognizes excellence. The Maura Mellen Award is designed to recognize excellent service provided by an administrative staff member. All staff providing administrative and/or operation services are eligible for the Mellen Award. This includes staff members who routinely interact with our clients (e.g. Administrative Assistants) as well as those who do not (e.g. members of the Finance, Human Resources, IT and Audit and Oversight Units). The reference to zealous and effective representation recognizes that all staff, no matter what their position, contribute to our ultimate goal – zealous representation of our clients.
Division: Administration – Debra Krupp
Suggestion/Question: Anonymous IT survey
I would suggest that future ‘anonymous’ surveys not include position, department, primary office location, and years worked with CPCS. This would seem to defeat the purpose of being an anonymous survey. Just food for thought.
Response:
I thought of that issue when crafting the survey. Frankly, I decided that having that information was important, because it might help me identify issues that were specific to a location or division or position or even based on tenure.
To be somewhat snarky: if I wanted to gouge my eyes out and page through systems to find out tenure versus division versus office, I could probably pinpoint a user if I wanted to, but that is not my goal. Frankly, I have better things to do with my time. I simply wanted to get the best information I could, so that I could identify both broader issues, and pinpoint specific issues related to groups within the agency.
This is the first major IT survey of its kind for the agency (and I know it is long), so I wanted to get the most “bang for the buck” from it. Data helps provide those insights.
Division: IT – Daniel Saroff
Suggestion/Question: CPCS requirement for retaining client physical files after scanned
What is the CPCS time requirement for retaining client physical files after the file has been scanned?
Response:
We do not have a single policy for how long physical files should be retained after a file has been scanned. In general, once a file is scanned to the network, the physical file may be shredded. (Always confirm scanning was successful before shredding.) There are some exceptions. Original documents with legal significance, and non-digital photos should be retained. In addition, we generally retain all murder files. Our current focus is on insuring that all files are scanned to the network.
If you have discs (CDs, DVDs, etc.) with case-related data, copy them to the network to the case folder where they belong. Once you have confirmed successful transfer to the network, store them in a secure location and notify Facilities that you have discs requiring disposal. Facilities will arrange for them to be picked up. Do not dispose of the discs in trash or store them in a location where a custodian might mistake them for trash and dispose of them insecurely.
Debra Krupp/Daniel Saroff