Welcome to the October Q&A. This is our 2nd monthly installment addressing questions and suggestions received through the online suggestion box. The suggestion/comment site was created directly in response to requests received by the management team from staff as a mechanism to improve communication and receive more insights into the thoughts of the CPCS staff community.
We responded to questions based on whether they were relevant to the larger CPCS audience (i.e., individual-specific questions we did not answer. For individual questions/issues, we ask you to speak with your manager) and where they did not violate the Agency’s responsibility to protect confidentiality or other personnel matters.
As part of this process, some questions/suggestions were summarized or simplified in the interest of clarity, brevity or to address issues of tone. When we received multiple of the same questions, we selected the one that was most representative of the question or suggestion.
In some cases, we received questions requiring more time to answer than available, so they didn’t make it into this installment. They were good questions that need significant consideration or discussion amongst multiple parties (for example, one suggestion proposed a mechanism to address how CPCS handles potential representation conflicts). In those cases, we will work to address them in a later installments.
As an FYI, if we don’t understand your question or suggestion, we can’t answer it. So, if you can try to be as complete in your question as possible, it will help us respond. When the questions/suggestions are anonymously submitted, we have no way to seek clarification. If you don’t submit a question anonymously, we can always contact you for a clarification. I’ve listed one such question at the end of this installment; if the person can resubmit with more clarification or contact me directly to chat, that would be great.
With that, here is the Q&A!
Suggestions/Questions list
- Phone number and addresses for CPCS offices
- WiFi in offices and blocking websites
- Forwarding a work phone
- CASEY reporting improvements
- Policies affecting defenders
- Business card quality
- Recycling in the office
- Travel form improvements
- Cross-training new attorneys
Suggestion/Question: Phone number and addresses for CPCS offices
Where does one find the addresses and phone numbers for the offices on this website?
Response:
On both the internal website (intranet.publiccounsel.net) and the external website (publiccounsel.net), you can find the addresses and phone numbers for CPCS offices under the “Directories” link at the top of every page. Click on that link to get to the information and it will bring you to the Directories page. You can find the office information by clicking on the office location shown on the Commonwealth map or using the search box on that page (e.g., search for “Worcester”) or scroll down the page where you will see a listing of all office locations (you can click on an entry to pull up its address and phone number).
Division: IT – Daniel Saroff
Suggestion/Questions: WiFi in offices and blocking websites
I’m struggling to understand the point of spending what must have been many thousands of dollars for agency-wide WiFi installation that is still behind the firewall and still prevents us from using our devices in the workplace to access blocked resources. Given that we all have access to GoToMyPC from our devices, it seems a waste of money that could have been better allocated during a period of austerity.
Relatedly, why impose such sweeping firewall blocks? Are you open to reconsidering them? Is data so expensive? Could we not have paid for a lot of data with the money sunk in the WiFi project?
Response:
We implemented WiFi because (during my visits to numerous offices) it was a common request. When I seriously examined it, there was a demonstrable benefit to the Agency. There were a number of considerations that drove the decision to invest in WiFi, chief amongst them were:
- Improving mobility between offices – By implementing WiFi, we have made it easier for people to work in different offices across the Agency using their own mobile devices and when travelling with Agency laptops. A common complaint for folks travelling between offices was the inability to easily work unless tethered via Ethernet.
- Limiting impact on staff data costs – Most staff (myself included) have limited data plans where we pay for any data overages. Introducing WiFi means that CPCS emails received on mobile devices in the office do not count against your mobile data plan. So, it gives our staff more of the data they pay for and helps avoid data overages due to emails received at work.
- Improved flexibility – With office WiFi, staff can can access the internal web site for forms, documents, blogs, etc. and also check and release emails caught in the SPAM servers from their mobile device. So, if you are in meeting, you now have more robust access to CPCS resource without being tethered to your desk.
Regarding the second half of your question: Yes. Data really is that expensive. WiFi is a one-time investment, while network bandwidth costs are paid every year.
We try to provide the highest speed data we can for all offices. We spend over $250,000 in network costs annually. In many locations, there are also simply no other options for improving bandwidth (even if they were not cost prohibitive).
I like and listen to streaming music at home all day, but any of you who have multiple family members simultaneously streaming media know how it degrades performance. My role is to ensure that network performance is optimized for Agency purposes, which means blocking most streaming sites.
If you need temporary access to a blocked site for an Agency-purpose (client defense), instructions may be found here.
Division: IT – Daniel Saroff
Suggestion/Question: Forwarding a work phone
Can we set up a way to forward our work phones to our cell phones? I spend so much time out of the office at court, meetings, etc. that I end up missing a lot of calls from people that aren’t always easy to get on the phone, like DCF social workers. I don’t necessary want to give out my personal cell number to all these people, but I’d like the option of taking their calls even when I’m not at my desk so I don’t have to play phone tag for weeks.
Response:
Yes. You can forward and it’s pretty simple. On the phone cheat sheet found on the IT Resources intranet page (click here), on page two, under “Forwarding Calls” there are instructions on how to forward your phone.
Division: IT – Daniel Saroff
Suggestion/Question: CASEY reporting improvements
Many of the supervising attorneys in the PDD use CASEY to generate case load reports by lawyer (titled “Defender Unit Caseload Report”). Others of us create our own reports, or supplement the CASEY caseload reports, to compensate for the lack of features in the caseload report.
The CASEY caseload report could be easily improved to provide the data lawyers need, thus saving us time and, in the end, benefiting our clients. These simple improvements have broad support:
- Add the docket number for each case
- Add the next date for each case (I think it would be something like “select min (date) from schedule where date > today”)
I reached out to many of the other supervising attorneys and many of them responded and said that they agree that these improvements to CASEY would help us serve our clients better.
To be clear I would never ask that secretaries who don’t already enter the next date in CASEY be asked to do more work, but for those offices which already enter this data (like the Fall River PDD Office), wouldn’t it make sense to include it in the caseload reports?
Response:
Your suggestion makes eminent sense. I’m having my team look at your request from a technical feasibility perspective, and then we will run your ideas by PD management to get approval.
You, or anyone, with suggestions for improving CASEY (or TRIS or CMS) should feel free to directly request new features or functionality directly from my team. You don’t have to wait for the suggestion box. To submit improvement requests (or issues) for CASEY, TRIS/CMS, please email (respectively) [email protected] or [email protected].
Division: IT – Daniel Saroff
Suggestion/Question: Policies affecting defenders
What is the process for HR writing policies that govern the work of defenders
Response:
The Director of HR is responsible to design, implement and monitor human resources policies and procedures governing all staff. However, the HR Director does not do this in a vacuum. There is a formal process for making CPCS policies changes or creating new policies. This policy change process applies to any policy-making group within CPCS, including IT and Finance. Before any changes are made to the CPCS personnel (or other) policies affecting any staff (attorney or non-), the following steps occur:
- Recommended policy changes are briefed to the CPCS management leadership team for feedback and revision
- Depending on the scope and nature of the policy, a cross-functional sub-team may be formed to drive the drafting process. This team may draft the policy that is reviewed by the CPCS management team
2. Based on feedback from the management team, there may be revisions to the draft policy
3. The revised or new policy is submitted for review and approval by the fifteen member Committee for Public Counsel Services.
Division: HR – Donna Leete
Suggestion/Question: Business card quality
The current business cards don’t look very professional. Can we get improved business cards?
Response:
We are currently working with our business card vendor to see how we can improve the overall quality of the business cards (in an economical fashion). Anyone should feel free to contact me directly to discuss their thoughts about how to improve the quality of the business cards.
Division: Facilities – Susan Kreusch
Suggestion/Question: Recycling in the office
In an effort to make our office more green and sustainable, can we obtain recycling containers for our plastic bottle and cans? Currently we have to dispose of these in the ordinary trash which is wasteful and further fills up our landfills.
Response:
Depending on which office you are located in some of our newer leases have a clause that requires white-paper recycling at minimum and “including, by way of example and not limitation, delivery pallets, cardboard, glass, and recyclable plastic metals.”
Please let me know which location you are at so that I can check the lease requirements at that location. We cannot ask a landlord to incur costs additional to those agreed upon in the lease. Facilities is checking into some vendor options that are offered at no cost to state agencies through the Operational Services Department (OSD) master service agreements and under contract in CommBuys. Any service not included our leases will need to be negotiated with the landlord before implementation.
If you have further questions or want to share specifics to your location, please reach out to [email protected].
Division: Facilities – Susan Kreusch
Suggestion/Question: Travel form improvements
Is it possible to make a drop-down menu for our travel forms? For example, our home office address populates automatically and then there is a drop-down list of our home courts/jails/etc. Then if we have something out of the ordinary we can fill it in ourselves.
Response:
We have received a number of positive suggestions related to the new Travel form. While it does include some pre-populated lists, it doesn’t include them for the actual expense rows, as you suggest. We like your suggestion, because it will make it simpler to input travel and also increase the accuracy.
We are trying to determine the best method to incorporate changes such as this in our next form revision.
For future improvement suggestions, please feel free to email me or contact me directly.
Division: Finance – Kevin Lucchetti
Suggestion/Question: Cross-training new attorneys
Has the agency ever considered cross training new lawyers as part of their new lawyer training? Has the agency ever considered having new lawyers rotate through several different divisions during their first year or two with the agency?
Response:
There are many client benefits to attorneys understanding more than one practice area. YAD and CAFL have conducted training programs to introduce attorneys to each other practice areas, jointly trained attorneys on Children Requiring Assistance cases, and work together each year on the Juvenile Delinquency and Child Welfare Conference. Over the past year or so the Senior Leadership Group and the Office Heads Group have each considered encouraging attorneys to second seat a case in a practice area other than their own. In addition, CPCS supports attorneys who want to transfer from one division to another. However, at this point we are not going to conduct true cross-training at new lawyer training or have new lawyers rotate through the practice areas early in their careers. During the first year or two of practice most of us are still learning how best to represent clients in one practice area. While many large firms do have new lawyers rotate through practice areas, those new attorneys rarely, if ever, have primary responsibility for the cases they work on. Our brand new attorneys, though closely supervised, are principally responsible for their clients’ representation.
Division: Training – Debra Krupp
Question needing clarification:
Is it possible to eliminate one of the folders for the new folders? Right now, it goes from Smith, John, to only a single folder, then content. Why not combine, John Smith and the next folder?