assumed responsibility for advertising,
screening, testing, training and certification of
candidates for correctional officer positions.
Following certification, applicants would be
added to a candidate list that would be sent to
all institutions. The institutions would hire from
the list.

There were growing pains under the new
system. Institutions were not always satisfied
with the profile of candidates they received (e.g.
not enough life experience, paramilitary
background). To address these concerns, the JI
advertised its selection and training of
candidates, and developed a process for
institutions to give input.

In April 1992, the Corrections Academy
introduced the ERP model for secutity/
correctional officers. The five-week program
was offered at an initial cost of $65. Candidates
paid tuition fees and supported themselves
during training.

The program was assessed at the end of its first
year of operation. The findings were that 63%
of graduates from the 1992-93 fiscal year
obtained work with the Corrections Branch and
70% got work in corrections or a related field
by June 30, 1993. Cost savings from the
program were used to fund advanced training
for in-service staff.

The success of the security/corrections officers
ERP led to the development of an ERP for
probation officers/family court counsellors,
which was introduced in April 1993. The
18-week course for probation officers was
longer than for correctional officers. The

screening process was also more complex,
involving a language proficiency exam and a
role-playing assessment of interpersonal skills.
Consequently, the cost to recruits was higher
than for correctional officers.

An evaluation compared the old system of
training to the new system. Although there
were fears that the introduction of ERP would
negatively impact the Branch, the evaluation did
not substantiate these concerns.

Advettising campaign focuses on
minority recruitment

In the 1992-93 fiscal year, the Corrections
Branch offered eight correctional officer
pre-employment readiness programs in
locations including Vancouver, Victoria,
Langley, Kamloops and Prince George. These
cities coincided with institutional locations and
anticipated hiring by those institutions. An
intense advertising campaign was launched in
the first year of the program to promote public
awareness and broaden the appeal to women
and visible minorities who had not considered a
cateet in corrections.

The latter focus grew from a Branch
employment equity initiative to increase
applicants from groups traditionally
under-represented in the corrections field. The
groups included visible minorities, aboriginals
and women. As a result of the extensive
advertising campaign in the first year of the
program, 46.3% of graduates were from one of
the three groups.

63 Interview with Paul Pershick, 2002.

64 D. Duerden, P. Pershick, B. Sadler and R. Watts, “Employment Readiness Program for Community Program
Workers: Evaluation Report,” Ministry of Attorney General, Corrections Branch, 1995.

The Era of Risk Management (1990-1997)

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