The city probation officers union is demanding renegotiation of their contract terms over high turnover and unworkable caseloads they blame on managerial decisions, a copy of a Sept. 4 letter to the city Office of Labor Relations states.
In the letter, Daniel Doeschner, a lawyer representing the United Probation Officers Association, writes the number of officers leaving the agency skyrocketed by 129% last year over the pre-pandemic average. Meanwhile, he wrote, the agency cancelled three academy classes.
The result of the staffing shortfall under Probation Commissioner Juanita Holmes has been an explosion in caseloads, up to 48 cases per officer, the letter states. Previously, the agency capped caseloads for high risk probationers at 25 cases per officer, the letter states.
Meanwhile, Holmes’ agency has been disciplining officers for failing to keep up with their cases “without warning and often involve penalties that lack any basis in progressive discipline,” the letter states.
“While the DOP has been hemorrhaging rank-and-file employees represented by the UPOA, it has not done enough to replace them with new recruits,” Doeschner wrote.
“The extraordinary attrition at the DOP has created a 25% vacancy rate among probation services staff.”
In addition, the letter states, Probation “eliminated” the steady court liaison posts in Family Court. The move means that rather than having an officer stationed in each court, officers have to travel from court to court for appearances of youths under their supervision, the letter states.
“Probation Officers must now travel around the city and wait for court appearances, as well as sift through court orders for ones related to their cases, all of which reduces the amount of time they can dedicate to their cases,” Doeschner wrote.
In a statement, Probation spokeswoman Regina Graham said the agency remains fully committed to carrying out its public safety mission.
“Like many public safety agencies across the nation, we have experienced staff attrition as part of broader workforce trends that accelerated during and after the pandemic,” she said.
Graham added that the agency has taken steps to “ensure caseloads remains manageable.”
Holmes has been criticized for her management of the agency, most recently in a July 28 City Council hearing which aired a range of grievances from staff including high managerial turnover and issues with rising caseloads and a rising re-arrest rate of probationers.
Council Member Sandy Nurse, chair of the Council’s Criminal Justice Committee, called in August for an independent audit of the agency, The News reported.
The News also reported Aug. 20 that Holmes received a dressing down from First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro over her leadership of the agency, though the department denies that characterization.
