BY SHEENA FORDE-CRAIGG | AUG 22, 2022
Deputy Chief Probation Officer (Ag.), Angela Dixon (left), and Senior Probation Officer, Diana Goodridge, have both given their nod of approval to the Tyler Case Management Supervision Software. (Photos courtest BPS)
A new software has been credited for the improvements seen in the day-to-day functioning of the Barbados Probation Service (BPS), also known as the Probation Department.
It is the Tyler Case Management Supervision Software.
Deputy Chief Probation Officer (Ag.), Angela Dixon, while speaking about the department’s new website, shared that the Department had acquired the tailor-made, cloud-based software, created by Tyler Technologies last October, courtesy of a grant from UNICEF. She also noted that since then it has “enabled the Department to transition from a paper-based to an electronic case management system”.
BPS’ Senior Probation Officer, Diana Goodridge, who is also the Allocating Officer, overseeing the day-to-day management of the use of the software, echoed similar sentiments. Pointing out that the software was “basically what we would call an offender supervision database”, she noted that it allowed the department “to manage offenders in terms of their case management.”
Further explaining what the Tyler Case Management Supervision Software does, she said: “It allows me to input whereas before, it was pretty much paper-based …. I’m now able to input all of the information that we get from the courts with respect to the offender in terms of their personal details, contact details if they’re in prison, if they’re in the community and their relatives and sureties. All of those things we’re able to put immediately into the database, which then assists the probation officers in their preparation of the pre-sentence reports.”
With the software, a supervisor can now view the current status of any pre-sentencing or other reports that an officer is working on, which the Department has been asked to provide. This includes who they visited or called as well as notes they would have made pertinent to the report.
The Allocating Officer noted that one of the beneficial aspects of the software is that it prompts/reminds an officer to carry out certain activities pertinent in the preparation of their reports and case management of an offender. These include if the officer has to make a call, visit persons or check if they have participated in a mandatory programme as part of sentencing.
At present, other departments in Government, such as the Psychiatric Hospital, the Barbados Prison Service and the Barbados Police Service, as well as drug counselling agencies have ‘limited’ access to specific areas in the software system where they can add any reports they have prepared concerning an offender, which is then added to the person’s case file.
This, Ms. Goodridge said, is another benefit because it allows for collaboration with other departments. “It allows us to get the information that we need to prepare these reports in a much speedier way…. They can put it straight onto the system,” she stated.
Another benefit of the Tyler Case Management Supervision Software is that it allows for ease in preparing statistical and analytical reports.
“So, we will be able to see the number of pre-sentence reports ordered, let’s say on a monthly basis or within a quarterly basis. We’ll be able to see straight-off how many males compared to females; where are the offenders coming from, which is really important in terms of when we want to structure modules for programmes and prepare proposals for assistance,” Ms. Goodridge added.
Overall, both Ms. Dixon and Ms. Goodridge agreed that the software has improved the office’s day-to-day functions.
