In 2019, Keith complained to his probation officer about his conduct. When his issues went unaddressed, Keith’s spouse escalated the complaint to the probation officer’s supervisor. Neither Keith nor his spouse felt the complaint was investigated properly, so they contacted us.

Based on the information reviewed during our investigation, it appeared that the Community Corrections Division (CCD) did not follow the procedures outlined in its Information for Community Corrections Clients booklet. Because the complaint had been submitted by Keith’s spouse, the CCD did not consider it a complaint and did not take action or inform them of any decisions made in response to the complaint. The CCF also did not inform Keith and his spouse of the option to seek a review by the Regional Director, and the letter and subsequent conversation with Keith’s spouse were not properly documented in its records.

We discussed our concern with the CCD staff who agreed that Keith’s spouse’s complaint should have been handled differently. To resolve the unfairness identified, the CCD agreed to distribute a directive to all staff instructing them to provide a handout explaining its complaints and appeals processes to all complainants, to document all complaints in its client log, to confirm external complaints with clients and to accept complaints from the public. The CCD posted this directive on its intranet so it would be easily accessible to all staff. The CCD also apologized to Keith and his spouse in writing.