This Television Program is available at http://media.csosa.gov/podcast/video/?p=4
[Video Begins]
Male 1: And it’s not just about the paycheck, there is another type of richness that affects the body and the soul. And that’s that richness that helps you to sleep at night knowing that you’ve helped your fellow man, that you have done an outstanding job.
Male 2: We here at Court Services have the opportunity to make a difference in the quality of life in the District of Columbia.
Female 1: It exists to help other people.
Male 3: We feel like now that the work we do has more socially redeeming value than any other work that an individual can possibly get involved in.
Announcer: In 1997, Congress passed the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act. This progressive legislation set the stage for the creation of Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia.
Female 2: People who get out of prison need services if they are to stay out of prison.
Announcer: CSOSA, this independent federal agency brings together the functions of parole, probation, and
pre-trial services under one umbrella.
Male 4: It’s a very important area of law enforcement. Without CSOSA, it would be very difficult for us to maintain safe streets in the District of Columbia.
Female 3: And it’s not just to put people back into confinement, but to offer all types of community supervision solutions.
Male 5: It’s the cost of incarceration both human and financial are very high, so it’s a vital role to be able to take those who can safely work within the community and work with them in the community.
Male 6: When someone comes out of corrections and they’re given the proper supervision and proper rehabilitation, and CSOSA clearly plays a role in that, that reduces the repeat incidents of crime which has a tremendous public value.
Announcer: Today, there are approximately 14,000 offenders under CSOSA’s supervision. On the frontline is the community supervision officer or CSO.
Female 4: We have that social work in law enforcement capability so you’re able to assist people and show them that there are other choices out there.
Male 7: Supervision officers many times are very purpose-driven or very passionate and are very focused persons who are working – getting paid for things that they look like they would do for free.
Male 8: There’s a passion that goes along with this process. When I conduct group therapy sessions-cognitive restructuring therapy sessions with the offenders, there’s a passion that I have. The key to it is that the offender has to know that you are concerned about their welfare and their well-being.
Male 9: You just gotta get to know the CSO because a lot of people that’s coming home, they think CSO is police. So they’re always being rebellious against police, but it’s not like that.
Announcer: CSOSA partners with community organizations and faith-based groups greatly expanding the resources available to offenders on release.
Female 5: CSOSA has really been instrumental in helping me and the citizens that I represent actually
reclaim our neighborhood.
Male 10: We have organized probably about 20 to 25 faith organizations both Christian and Muslim that provide mentoring and other support services to ex-offenders who are returning to the community.
Announcer: In a unique program, CSOSA makes it possible for inmates hundreds of miles away to
teleconference with mentors and prepare for life on the outside.
Male 11: Yeah, it sounds kind of wild, but I got to work. I mean, my plan –
Female 6: Just calm down, when you get home, you need to see your CSO –
Male 11: Right.
Female 6: –and one of those days I need to go in there with you to meet your CSO so we can talk about some things about what’s going to keep you out here on this end and not down at Rivers [Correctional Facility], okay?
Male 12: So what we want to do is reach them now while they’re still in the penitentiary, and when they come home we try to get them to come to the support group.
Male 13: But well it’s bible study night. So I sacrificed to miss bible study so I could come down here and be with you.
Male 14: I really enjoy this mentoring because it wasn’t such a long time ago that I was released from prison.
Female 7: We connect them to the community, to their neighborhoods, to ministers, to employers.
Male 15: We have a wealth of resources. If an offender wants treatment, we provide them with treatment at no cost to them. If the offender wants GED programming, we provide that. If they’re underemployed, underachieved, we help assist them in acquiring whatever goals they want to acquire, so it’s a great feeling. We are truly a one-stop shop.
Female 8: I have a little girl, she’s five, so basically I live for her and I’m just willing to get ahead to be able to
just have a comfortable life for her.
Female 9: We want to be successful with that individual because we want that individual to achieve that goal that he has set and we don’t let go of that.
Male 16: It’s not about a paycheck, the money isn’t an issue, it goes out the window when you see lives are being changed.
Male 17: I was interested in doing social work or law enforcement and early in college I didn’t even realize that you could do both at the same time.
Male 18: And just really trying to deal with why people do what they do and try to bring them into a place of compliance. And that’s not an easy job, but it’s fun for me, it’s my passion.
Male 19: Well we’re unique in that we’re a federal agency that has a local mission. But what that means in
reality is that we have resources and we have a mandate to be creative.
Female 10: I think we have the freedom to try a lot of things that you traditionally wouldn’t find in other areas of federal government.
Male 20: There’s a wealth of talent here, there’s ability to grow and implement and take chances.
Male 21: We have lots of tools available to us that other jurisdictions envy.
Female 11: I’m a Domestic Violence Treatment Counselor.
Female 12: I’m a Special assistant for communications.
Female 13: Officer of the General Counsel.
Male 22: Community Supervision Officer.
Female 14: Human Resources Assistant.
Male 23: Community Relations Specialist.
Male 24: Supervisor of the Sex Offender Unit.
Male 25: IT Department.
Female 15: I’m a Quality Assurance Specialist.
Male 26: Drug Testing Operations Manager.
Male 27: Senior Program Analyst.
Male 28: Customer Support Manager.
Male 29: Under my office we have architects, engineers, space planners, property management, we have got accountants, budget analysts, contracting specialists, security specialists.
Male 30: We’re looking for people who have very good writing skills and very good communication skills.
Male 31: If you’re motivated, if you want some challenging opportunities and you want to stay on the leading edge, please contact us.
Female 16: There are so many opportunities for someone who really wants to move up.
Female 17: I started out as a receptionist and a year later I’m a Human Resources Assistant.
Male 32: I started off as a LAN tech and worked my way up to management.
Female 18: We have many programs, we have management discovery, we have leadership development programs.
Male 33: It’s got great job security obviously being the federal government.
Male 34: There’s nothing like government benefits, I mean, there’s no match. Corporate can’t do what we do.
Female 19: We have one of the best retirement systems available.
Male 35: You get the best of both worlds in a sense that you have the benefits and stability of working with the federal government, but you also have an opportunity to work directly with the community.
Male 36: It’s just exciting to work in this environment anyway in our nation’s capital.
Male 37: A lot of history is being made.
Male 38: Perfect place to build a career.
Male 39: In terms of arts and cultures, it’s one of the leading cities in the world.
Female 20: I did internships in the D.C. area and decided it was a very exciting place to be – a lot of things to do, a lot of things to see. I seriously went back home and said, ‘mom, when I graduate, I love you, but I have to leave New Jersey, I have to move the D.C. area.’
Male 40: Another person gets help, another family is assisted, another community becomes more stable-and that’s the joy in this work for me and what keeps me coming back every day.
Male 21: It’s a fun place to work.
Female 21: We have to work hard, but we have a great time.
Male 41: The best thing about working here at CSOSA-
Female 22: They offer classes-
Female 23: Tuition reimbursement.
Female 24: It’s the recognition that we get for the work that we do.
Male 43: There’s never a dull moment.
Male 44: You’re not being micromanaged.
Male 45: It pays well.
Male 46: Flextime.
Female 25: The support that the agency gives me.
Male 47: Telecommuting.
Female 26: Transit subsidy.
Female 27: I love the people that I work with. The people –
Female 28: The facilities are beautiful.
Male 48: The CSOSA mission.
Female 29: Knowing that you make the streets a little bit safer.
Male 49: They’re only paying me for something that I enjoy to do, you can’t get a better job than that.
Male 50: We’re saving this community and we’re making a difference in people’s lives. And if that makes
you feel good, then this is the place where you need to be.
[Video Ends]
Information about crime, criminal offenders and the criminal justice system.
Meta terms: crime, criminals, criminal justice, parole, probation, prison, drug treatment, reentry, sex offenders, employment.
