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How Strategy Drives Partnerships (faith­ and community­based) rules; correctional staff were often
Let us start with a brief recap. organizations of any size are likely suspicious of ASO staff for recom­
Correctional (and other law enforce­ to have a website where they post mending practices that violated a
ment) organizations are increasingly their mission, values, or vision facility’s rules. There were some
being asked to acquire functions statements. If they do not have a negative outcomes. However,
that were not previously considered website, their annual report may most of the partners negotiated
as core functions. This generally contain this statement. the relationships, and the result
involves becoming engaged in what These statements can be consid­ was a much greater collaboration
Goldsmith & Eggers (2004) called ered as the viewpoints of a potential once certain cultural issues were
“networked governance,” which partner, as well as an expression addressed.
may also involve other organiza­ of their organizational interests As correctional facilities acquire
tions not under the direct control of and values. The more similar your new tasks in order to better serve
the correctional agency. These other mission is to that of the potential their communities, it can be dif­
organizations provide services not partner, the greater likelihood a ficult to know who can provide
generally considered core to the CJ partnership will benefit both orga­ services that are not already covered
organization. nizations and the people served by by facility personnel. Education
We previously have called these the program. This is the idea behind about an organization is impor­
interorganizational relationships, those reciprocal relationships men­ tant. It assists in knowing whether
or IORs, which may be “manda­ tioned earlier in this series. the decision­making process will
tory” or “voluntary.” Our focus be symmetrical or asymmetrical.
is on voluntary IORs, especially Not Always Easy Likewise, it allows you to know if
partnerships that are needed to Websites and other social media the potential partner has the orga­
provide a range of services at a local are great windows into the formal nizational stability and capacity to
correctional agency. Our focus here and informal positions of many NG develop and deliver the necessary
is on some ways to make the “fit” organizations. Lack of a website, programming over the course of the
between the jail and partner orga­ websites that are not updated on a grant period and beyond.
nizations better for both parties and regular basis, or mailboxes that are Many of you may recognize the
effective for your current inmates not answered for long periods of elements of good “intelligence­led”
as well as those released into the time may be an indicator of limited approaches in this section. Having
community. organizational capacity. the right data and analyses are as
The first step is to develop a list Because so much of what we important to the selection of pro­
of the organizations in the com­ do in terms of programming is gramming partners as they are in
munity that provide the types of driven by time­limited grant cycles, reducing disorder in your facility.
services that your facility needs. you may find that many potential That means the knowledge and
Unfortunately, in some communi­ partners do not have extra capacity skills utilized in planning partner­
ties, the number may be quite small. beyond their current grant funding. ships for program delivery are
In others, there may be multiple That does not mean they cannot transferrable to other aspects of the
potential providers from which to develop the services needed. They jail management tool kit.
choose. Once you know the range may simply require extra time to
of choices, you can begin to narrow develop and recruit workers with Shifting Priorities and
your list. Depending upon the pro­ the capacity required. Partnerships
gram area, check with local United Choosing the “right” partner for “The future ain’t what it used to
Way or other service organizations these voluntary IORs is not always be” is a saying attributed to Yogi
for resource directories to begin easy. For example, Dr. Potter’s Berra. The events of our world and
your list. experience with HIV/AIDS educa­ nation since early 2020 fit that senti­
The next step is to determine tion in correctional settings in the ment. Very few of us could have
how well the values of a poten­ early 2000s often involved uneasy imagined our experiences since that
tial IOR partner align with the and sometimes conflictual “partner­ time—from a pandemic disease
values of your CJ organization. ships” between community­based to economic disarray and social
Organizational mission statements AIDS service organizations (ASOs) unrest. For many, it has disrupted
are one of the organizational “arti­ and correctional facilities. Jails and the future they imagined.
facts” that can be used to assess prisons often had only a handful of When we wrote our book in 2015,
potential partners. Often mission ASOs available for partners. ASOs we were coming out of the effects
statements are accompanied by were often suspicious of correc­ of the 2008 “great recession” period
values and vision statements. NG tional staff because of their facility’s and the Ferguson incident (Potter

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