Kern County Saved Probation Department $400K In Labor Hours With GLSS
Teresa Dickey and her team saved hundreds of work hours and $400,000 in soft savings after using DMAIC to identify and eliminate waste in a process in this Lean Six Sigma Success Story.
THE CHALLENGE
Kern County, California had a juvenile probation violation problem. The problem wasn’t the kids—it was the 29 hours it took each officer to complete a Violation of Probation Warrant. With an average of 18 cases per week the process cumulatively drained over 2,000 staff hours each month—hours they couldn’t spend helping troubled youth.
When a juvenile goes to court, they may end up on probation. Violating their probation means they’ll end up back in court. Juvenile Supervision works to make sure juvenile probationers comply with the orders of the Juvenile Court. But when a juvenile fails to comply, that triggers a Violation of Probation (VOP) Warrant.
With officers spending 29 hours processing paperwork for each warrant, they couldn’t spend that time helping juveniles stay out of trouble. If they weren’t tied up with the VOP Warrants, they could be helping kids get into schools or coaching them with positive reinforcement. The time wasted on this process prevented officers from dedicating themselves to the mission of the Probation Department.
This VOP Warrant process was 30 years old. It was outdated, cumbersome, time-consuming and labor-intensive. The process was ripe for improvement!
THE DISCOVERY
Deputy Probation Officer Teresa Dickey and her team decided to use Lean Six Sigma and solve the problem. Teresa took advantage of a Kern County offering and participated in a Continuous Improvement training program. It involved two weeks—80 hours—of Lean Six Sigma Training.
“It was a great experience. Our instructor was very helpful and walked us through the process. Initially, I did not have a project idea. Then after learning about ideal DMAIC projects, I spoke with three Division Directors, and I found my project. Our instructor, Scott Thor, met with us for two hours every other week as we applied the methods and tools to our project.”
Teresa assembled a team of eleven people to tackle the VOP Warrant Process. They clarified the problem and measured the baseline Lead Time it took to complete the process—29 hours. They mapped the process on the wall creating a flowchart with sticky notes.
“We started looking at the map. It was a defining moment. It was so overwhelming!”
The team made the following discoveries about the process:
- Too many steps—83 steps to complete the process
- Too many forms and lots of duplicate information
- Ten screens used to complete the process
- Lots of redundant reviews
“After seeing the map, everybody had their own ideas of what they wanted to do to improve the process. This worked great because we needed people to own making changes in their own area. Everyone was on board.”
The dots represented areas that the team felt were opportunities for improvements.
“It went smoothly. Probation Officers knew it was going to save time. Everyone was on board.”
“We kept expecting roadblocks! We had to get approval from the court and three judges. We had to present updates to five Division Directors and two Deputy Chiefs. We were expecting push back. We didn’t get any! I couldn’t imagine doing this without the support we had.”
Based on their discoveries, and the amount of buy-in, the team was able to make significant changes to the process. “It was eye-opening to see how much the process was condensed.”
THE IMPROVEMENTS
Within seven months, Teresa and the Probation Department reduced the Violation of Probation Warrant process Lead Time by nearly 50%. Breaking down some of their accomplishments:
- Number of process steps reduced from 83 to 47
- Number of hours to complete the process reduced from 29 to 12
- Number of work hours for Probation Officers reduced from 18 hours to 10 hours
This improvement equated to an annual soft savings in excess of $400,000 in staff time.
The department expects to realize additional revenue as Probation Officers become free to commit more of their time to activities that are eligible for federal reimbursement. Given the project success, Probation Officers are now free to spend more of their time positively engaging with youth—activities that are key to reducing recidivism.
“I had an awesome team. It truly was a team. Everything we did, we did together.”
It’s amazing what you can accomplish with leadership support and methods and tools from Lean Six Sigma!
Teresa Dickey is a Deputy Probation Officer III. She’s worked for Kern County’s Probation Department for 20 years.
