State Board of Community & Technical College’s Law Enforcement & Corrections Workforce Needs Assessment
Background, Rational & Intended Use of Research
In October 2023, the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) contracted with the Seattle Jobs Initiative (SJI), to assess the workforce development needs of law enforcement and corrections agencies across Washington State. This research study originated in a 2023 Washington State budgetary provision which established three objectives:
- Assess the recruitment and retention challenges of law enforcement and corrections agencies
- Provide recommendations to meet needs with an emphasis on education and training programs
- Develop an outreach strategy that attracts students from non-traditional program pathways
This needs assessment will include labor market analysis, desk research, stakeholder interviews, and focus groups.
Once collected, the labor market analysis and stakeholder engagement will inform a final report on the state of the law enforcement and corrections workforce along with informed recommendations for meeting current education and training needs and improving outreach, recruitment, and retention. This report will be presented to the Washington State governor and the relevant legislative committees for further action. SJI intends to present and publish findings in academic or trade outlets.
Identifying key stakeholders and attracting focus group participants is a collaborative effort between SJI, the SBCTC, and SJI’s subcontractor, the IF Project. The IF Project is a non-profit collaborative consisting of current and formerly incarcerated adults, community partners, and law enforcement aimed at reducing incarceration and preventing recidivism. The IF Project will assist the SJI research team in promoting and recruiting for community engagement and focus groups.
With the aid of the IF Project and their law enforcement and corrections network, the SJI research team will coordinate eight focus group engagements and 40 individual interviews with key stakeholders across the state.
The overall objective of this stakeholder engagement is to seek out a geographically and institutionally diverse range of perspectives to assess the current state of the law enforcement and corrections workforce, to inform recommendations on how training and education could address any recruiting and retention gaps, and to learn how outreach and recruiting strategies could attract students from underrepresented communities and/or non-traditional law enforcement educational pathways.
The SBCTC provided SJI and the IF project with a list of stakeholder groups that this research must engage. These stakeholders include representatives from state and local law enforcement agencies and a wide range of those involved in training and educating that workforce. The SBCTC has also stipulated that participants must represent a geographic balance between the Eastern and Western Washington State and those with lived experience and/or otherwise qualify as low-income must be compensated with a stipend.
All focus group and interview participants must be 18 years of age or older. All outreach material will clearly state that all participants must be 18 years of age or older. The IF project will be instructed to screen out anyone who is under the age of 18. Each interview and focus group will begin with a verbal confirmation that participants meet the minimum age requirement. However, to protect client confidentiality and privacy, we will not collect written consent or require participants to present formal documentation of age.
Frontline law enforcement workers and community members are community-based experts who possess deep insights and knowledge of law enforcement career paths and pipelines as well as why they are and are not effective at building a diverse law enforcement workforce in the State of Washington. Just as academic subject matter experts would typically be compensated for participating in technical working groups, it is reasonable to value and compensate community experts for their time providing information on what changes may be needed in law enforcement-related education program design, recruitment, and retention to make the workforce more equitable and effective. This cost is expected as “community compensation” as defined by the Washington State Office of Equity in compliance with Washington State SB 5793 2021-23.
When conducting participant feedback activities, such as interviews and focus groups, it is customary for SJI to compensate community-based participants (participant stipend) for sharing their time, information, knowledge, and recommendations. Compensation is provided in the form of a gift card (e.g., Visa or similar). In accordance with the Washington State Office of Equity’s guidelines, SJI will compensate community members who are not otherwise being compensated for their attendance.
Who
The research will be recruiting frontline law enforcement workers, including but not limited to sworn officers, students, and other community members who have insight into the recruitment, training, and retention of a diverse, equitable law enforcement workforce in Washington State.
All recruiting efforts will be focused on those who are 18 years of age or older. All outreach material will clearly state that all participants must be 18 years of age or older to participate. The IF project will be instructed to screen out anyone who is under the age of 18. Each interview and focus group will begin with a verbal confirmation that participants meet the minimum age requirement. However, to protect client confidentiality and privacy, we will not collect written consent or require participants to present formal documentation of age.
This compensation plan excludes Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and others who are otherwise compensated for their attendance.
How
Participation in a 60-minute interview or 90-minute focus group makes one eligible for compensation. Given the potentially sensitive nature of the interviews and focus groups, participants will still be eligible for full compensation if they decline to answer any or all questions or choose to exit the interview or focus group early.
Amount and Form
Participants will be given the choice between receiving a physical or electronic $50 Visa or MasterCard gift card. SJI uses gift cards for one-time engagements to minimize the administrative burden on both SJI and the participant. It also poses the least amount of risk to participants’ privacy because this method requires minimal data collection of personally identifiable information.
Distribution
Participants will indicate the preferred method. Within one week of the interview or focus group, the researcher team will email the gift card to the email address or mail the card via USPS to the physical mailing address each participant provided. Participants’ contact information and interview/focus group transcripts will be stored separately and their personally identifiable information will not be published or presented publicly.
Non-compensation
Participants who are otherwise compensated for their attendance (e.g., attending during work hours, allowed to flex time for outside-of-work hours attendance, or participating as part of work duties) are not eligible for compensation according to the Washington State Office of Equity’s guidelines.
Prorating Compensation
Given the potentially sensitive nature of interviews and focus groups, participants will not be penalized for exiting the interview or focus group early as we do not wish to compel participation if a participant were to feel unsafe or that they were risking their employment.
If a focus group attendee declines to answer any or all questions or exits early but indicates they are willing/interested in participating in an interview, they will receive full compensation for the focus group attendance and a prorated compensation of $25 for their interview participation.
With participant consent, interviews and focus groups will be recorded for transcription. To ensure a safe environment for participants, all personally identifiable information will be removed from the transcriptions. After transcription, all recordings will be destroyed. Anonymized transcriptions will be stored on secure servers and destroyed after three years using a digital shredder. Any personally identifying information will be removed from all final work products and will not be shared publicly.
If the participant does not consent to being recorded, the research team will take notes, leaving out personal information. These notes will also be stored on secure servers and destroyed after three years.
For auditing purposes, SJI is required to collect the participant’s name, title, organization, email address, and/or mailing address as part of the gift card compensation plan. However, the compensation-related contact information will be collected and stored separately from their anonymized interview and focus group transcripts. Given the potentially sensitive nature of the interviews and focus groups and to future ensure participant safety, participants will still be eligible for full compensation if they decline to answer any or all questions or choose to exit the interview or focus group early.
Compensation-related contact information and anonymized transcriptions and notes will be placed in separate Box an encrypted cloud storage service that provides a high level of security meeting many compliance standards. SJI will access data directly from the encrypted cloud storage space and analyze it on their password-protected encrypted laptops. Only SJI staff listed in this IRB form will have access to the data.
You are invited to participate in an [interview/focus group] on the workforce development needs of law enforcement and corrections agencies in Washington State. This is part of a research project being conducted by Seattle Jobs Initiative on behalf of the Washington State Board of Training and Technical Colleges. A final report will be presented to the Washington State governor and the relevant legislative committees for any further action.
You must be 18 years of age or older to participate.
The [interview/focus group] will take approximately [60 minutes/90 minutes]. If you are participating on your own time, you will receive a $50 gift Visa or MasterCard gift card.
Purpose
This [interview/focus group] is being conducted to learn about the workforce challenges faced by law enforcement and corrections agencies in Washington State. The goal of the study is to seek a diverse range of stakeholder input on how education and training can help meet the sector’s workforce needs, how retainment can be improved, and how those from non-traditional educational pathways and underrepresented communities can be attracted to a career in law enforcement and corrections.
Topics
In this [interview/focus group] the following topics may be discussed related to law enforcement and corrections sectors.
Voluntary Participation
Your participation in this [interview/focus group] is voluntary. Whether you decide to do the interview is up to you. You are free to withdraw your consent and to end your participation at any time. Your compensation will not be affected.
Data Protection and Privacy
With your consent, [interviews/focus groups] will be recorded for transcription. To ensure a safe environment for participants, all personally identifiable information will be removed from the transcriptions. After transcription, all recordings will be destroyed. After the analysis, the transcripts will be anonymized and stored on secure servers. They will then be destroyed after three years using a digital shredder. Any personally identifying information will be removed from all final work products and will not be shared publicly.
If you do not consent to being recorded, the research team will take notes, leaving out personal information. These notes will also be stored on secure servers and destroyed after three years.
If you wish to receive compensation, SJI is required to collect your name, organization, email address, and/or mailing address for auditing purposes. However, the compensation-related contact information will be collected and stored separately from the anonymized interview and focus group transcripts. To ensure participant safety, anyone who declines to answer any or all questions or chooses to exit the interview or focus group early will still be compensated.
Compensation-related contact information and anonymized transcriptions will be placed in Box, an encrypted cloud storage service that provides a high level of security, meeting state compliance standards. SJI will access data directly from the encrypted cloud storage space and analyze it on their password-protected encrypted laptops. Only SJI staff listed in this IRB form will have access to the data.
If you have any questions, please contact the SJI research team at research@seattlejobsinit.com
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