Virtual New Officer Training, Education, and Skill-building Academy

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

On average, the Maricopa County Adult Probation Department (MCAPD) hires 70-90 new probation and surveillance officers each year to keep up with the growing number of individuals placed on probation supervision by the Superior Court, and to fill other vacancies. In addition to the state’s probation officer certification (administered by the state’s Supreme Court), MCAPD organizes and instructs an academy each quarter to prepare new officers to supervise a caseload of individuals on probation. In the eight-week New Officer Training, Education, and Skill-building (NOTES) Academies, full-time and adjunct trainers instruct the new officers on a variety of significant and important skills such as motivational interviewing, risk assessments, case management and planning, court-report writing, defensive tactics, and other skills that train them on how to supervise and provide treatment to individuals in the community who have been placed on probation supervision. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the in-person NOTES Academy was no longer a safe method of delivering curriculum and training. The MCAPD Staff Development and Training team created a high-quality Virtual NOTES Academy which observed public health guidelines, adequately trained new officers, and established permanent process improvements for future classes (regardless of the status of the pandemic).