By Tom Eldred,
Delaware State News
DOVER - Although they concede they are seriously understaffed, Department of Correction administrators would not answer questions about a correctional officer hiring process that has seen 1,115 applicants "recommended for hire'' in DOC's last 10 job fairs dwindle to 261 prospects actually enrolled in officer training.
DOC's 10 previous training academy classes, going back to March 2003, have graduated 224 officers. Another 15 officers are slated to graduate Tuesday.
According to DOC, the last completed job fair in June produced 102 job applicants recommended for hire after initial interviews and testing.
Of the 102 applicants, only six were enrolled for training.
The previous nine job fairs show somewhat better ratios but average only about 25 percent of people "recommended for hire'' who make the grade to training.
Meanwhile, DOC's latest figures show 301 current correctional officer vacancies statewide as of Sept. 28, including 41 officers on military leave.
Despite the wide variance between applicants "recommended for hire" and those actually hired, DOC sends out press releases touting the "recommended for hire" numbers from job fairs.
The most recent job fair was conducted Sept. 25.
"The Delaware Department of Correction announces the results from a job fair held Sept. 25 at the Delaware Tech-Stanton campus,'' a release from DOC spokeswoman Elizabeth Welch said on Sept. 27.
"One hundred and eleven applicants were interviewed and 105 were recommended for hire. Employment is contingent upon background check and health exam.''
Mrs. Welch said the administrator in charge of employment, DOC Human Resources director Alan N. Machtinger, declined comment for this article. She said other human resources administrators also declined and that Correction Commissioner Stanley W. Taylor was unavailable.
A good idea then?
When DOC determined years ago that a process was needed to attract and hire hundreds of new officers needed for the state's expanding prison system, the idea of holding job fairs several times annually surfaced. It seemed a likely method of targeting large numbers of potential hires.
DOC advertises the job fairs in newspapers as a process "to establish a list of potential candidates for future training classes'' for correctional officers.
The ad says no experience is needed, professional training will be provided and that applicants do not need to live in Delaware. It lists starting salary, vacation and health benefits, and explains that applicants must be at least 191/2 years old, be high school graduates or have a GED, and have a valid driver's license.
It says applicants on probation or having felony, drug or domestic-related convictions cannot be hired.
The ad does not indicate how applicants can achieve "recommended to hire'' status, or what background checks and health exams involve.
DOC does not issue press releases explaining how many "recommended for hire'' job applicants don't make it to the training academy.
'Different ballgame'
Newark resident Ted Petroulis worked eight years as a Delaware correctional officer before being forced to resign in 2003 because of a work-related injury.
He recalled being asked to help out with a DOC job fair before he was injured.
"I was asked to participate in a job fair they held at the DelTech Stanton campus,'' Mr. Petroulis said in an interview with the Delaware State News.
"Job seekers fill out applications, they take a test for approximately 21/2 hours and then they get interviewed by someone from personnel and the supervisor's office. Those people decide if they're going to be recommended for hire or not.''
Mr. Petroulis said he was asked to come to the job fair in his correctional officer's uniform, along with several other officers.
"There were two or three of us,'' he said. "We basically just stood around so (applicants) could see us in uniform.''
He said it's no secret correctional officers' work is difficult, dangerous and underpaid, and that it's not surprising many "recommended for hires'' drop out before - and even after - training.
"A lot of (applicants) don't even begin to realize what you have to do in this job,'' he said. "It's a whole different ballgame when the prison door closes behind you.
"It's not so much the inmates that stress you out, it's the administration and involuntary overtime. They can freeze you any time they want to, and they do.
"There's no advance warning. No matter what plans you have, kids, wives or anything else, they don't want to hear it. When they freeze you, you work. You've got no choice.''
'Numbers game'
David Knight is senior vice president of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware, representing most of approximately 1,500 officers working in the state's prisons.
He said DOC is "playing a numbers game'' when they talk about how many job applicants are recommended for hire.
"People go in, they get tested, and they get recommended,'' he said. "If you've got blood pumping through your body, that's pretty much it.''
He said the recommended for hire figures mean next to nothing when compared to actual hires.
"They're putting in a lot of effort for not a lot of results. Even if they said 50 out of 100 applicants were recommended for hire, they'd still be lucky to end up with 10 or even 20,'' he said.
"Many times people don't realize what they're getting into. When they get to the academy, they take tours of the prisons. They see the inside for the first time. Then they begin to realize what they're getting into. Quite a few don't show up after that.
"When I started, applicants came right to the institution. They could see right away what the prison was like.
"I think it would be more productive to report how many applicants finish the academy and then stay on the job. I've seen them quit between the academy and the first day at work.''
Mr. Knight said he thinks DOC needs to stop spinning numbers and become more proactive in recruiting efforts.
"I think they should have a recruiting position like the military does,'' he said. "Nobody does that now at DOC. They could go to career fairs at high schools and talk to the kids about careers in corrections.''
He also suggested DOC could begin training sergeants as recruiters.
"Obviously, not everybody would be good because you have to have some kind of sales ability,'' he said. "But if you ended up with 50 or so officers who could go out to talk to the kids in the schools, I think you'd see some results.''
Passing the test?
Mr. Petroulis said DOC attempted to increase hiring by lowering the minimum passing test score for applicants who are recommended for hire, an allegation that DOC has repeatedly denied.
"They actually hired people and then sent them to DelTech to take classes so they could bring their grade level up,'' he said.
"They'd bring up their knowledge so they could pass the test. It was ridiculous. It was an insult to everybody else that worked there.''
Mr. Knight said he's been aware of the practice for at least six or seven years.
"They send people to DelTech to take classes on how to pass the test,'' he said. "I don't know if the applicant pays or if the department does.''
Mrs. Welch flatly denied that DOC coaches applicants to help them pass the tests or sends them to classes.
She said DOC does not send applicants to DelTech and is not aware of any classes orchestrated to help applicants achieve passing grades for entry-level jobs as correctional officers.
Mr. Knight said that with or without job fairs, staffing levels in the state prisons are continuing to plummet, and that more officers leave than are hired.
"I'm worried the numbers are going to continue to be depleted,'' he said. "If it keeps going like this, they may have to close down one of the prisons, consolidate the officers they still have and send some of the inmates to other states.
"I believe we are heading into an abyss. When I addressed the (legislative) Joint Finance Committee, I asked what they were going to do when they run out of staff.
"Not one person answered me.''
Post comments on this issue at newsblog.info/0407.
Senior writer Tom Eldred can be reached at 741-8212 or at teldred@newszap.com.
