July 1 Director's Message
Office of the Governor / Office of Financial Management sent this bulletin at 07/01/2022 06:54 PM PDT
July 1, 2022
Dear Stakeholders:
I am so proud of the staff of the OCO for their integrity toward our shared work and for the many ways they show up to protect the basic human dignity of the people living in our state's prisons. Last month, a top priority of the OCO was releasing three Monthly Outcome Reports (MOR). We are glad to say that we met our goal! Click on the months to review these MORs: December 2021, January 2022, and February 2022, and attached below.
As many of you know, we are currently updating our case closure process to ensure that our data reflects the outcomes reached by the office and to provide greater transparency into the work of the OCO. Beginning in March of 2022, we implemented new case closing options. Click Here to review the updated case closing options, and attached below.
The OCO staff are actively participating in the Washington State Office of Equity's Pro-Equity Anti-Racism (PEAR) Teams. Per Executive Order 22-04, PEAR Teams must include agency executive leaders, the agency equity officer, employees, external customers, partners, and experts for key business lines. The goals are examining and reforming the equity practices of all state agencies to enable all people in Washington to achieve their full potential.
The OCO PEAR Team Leaders are:
Carolina Landa, MPA: Carolina is an Assistant Ombuds with the OCO and identifies as a Mexican-American woman. She brings cultural competency, along with an equity and inclusion lens to this work.
Chase Rapach: Chase is an Early Resolution Ombuds with the OCO and a member of RAIN Best Practices. They volunteered to do PEAR work because they believe all systems need to be reexamined with an anti-racist lens.
Zachary Kinneman: Zak is an Early Resolution Ombuds with the OCO and is following PEAR issues concerning the aging and elderly incarcerated population.
All are welcome and we hope you will participate in the OCO's PEAR team. The OCO PEAR Team Leaders ask that you email me directly, and I will pass along your information to the team.
Finally, thank you to everyone who participated in our June Quarterly Public Meeting. If you were not able to join live, you can review a recording of the meeting on TVW by Clicking Here.
We appreciate your support of the OCO.
Caitlin Robertson, PhD
Director, Office of the Corrections Ombuds