Help Chaplains –
40 to Chaplain III
February 19, 2005
Help TDCJ Chaplains obtain a small career ladder, the first in Texas history.
Allow 40 of the most senior TDCJ Chaplains to move to Chaplain III in the Texas Classification System. This is still well below the national market.[1] Cost: Chaplain III’s make about $200 dollars a month more than Chaplain II’s, so a ladder it would add about $96,000 per year, or $192,000 for the biennium. TDCJ chaplains still recover their entire operating costs in volunteer supervision alone.
No
other inmate program in TDCJ can claim such success. More than a fair—Texas
MHMR has been utilizing Chaplain III positions for decades, with about 2/3 of
their chaplains at Chaplain III. Today’s 2005 TDCJ chaplains do about the same
amount of volunteer supervision with 1/3 of the chaplains. Today, they
supervise $7,285,786 of volunteer services, about 1.5 times the current
operating budget.
|
TDCJ Chaplaincy Volunteer Supervision ~ FY 2004 ~
Simple Report[2] |
|||||
|
|
FY 2004 Totals |
Monthly Averages |
Monthly Min. |
Monthly Max. |
FY 2000 Totals[3] |
|
# Volunteers |
124,507 |
10,376 |
8,504 |
12,492 |
132.473 |
|
# Volunteer Hours |
491,287 |
40,941 |
28,332 |
83,206 |
469,001 |
|
Offender Contacts |
3,436,748 |
286,396 |
238,149 |
354,743 |
n/a[4] |
|
491,287 hours =
$7,285,786 dollars saved by chaplain volunteers[5] Chaplains Recover about 1.5 x Total Operating Cost |
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Compare ALL volunteers for FY2000, where entire TDCJ reported “119,195 volunteer visits were made to TDCJ facilities with 501,386 volunteer hours served. These services represent $7,435,554.30 in benefits to the State of Texas.” Among the dozens of TDCJ entities utilizing volunteers, TDCJ Chaplaincy contributed 469,011 hours for the entire agency in FY2000, for an astounding 93.5% of all volunteerism.[6] With 1/3 less chaplains than in 2000, according to the FY2004 chaplaincy reports, the 2005 chaplains still supervised 491,287 volunteer hours or .95% more than in 2000.[7] The dollar value of volunteer reports comes from the National Average Hourly Volunteer Time of $14.83 from The Independent Sector valuation studies for 1999. For more, please see:
www.preciousheart.net/chaplaincy/Chap_Cost_Savings.htm
www.preciousheart.net/chaplaincy/Chap_Market.htm
Chaplains automatically go to Chaplain II after the first year. Adding this two-stage ladder with Chaplain III positions for senior chaplains will be the first in Texas history. Many others, like teachers, have gradations for 20 or more years. Help chaplains approach professional equity.
Sincerely yours
Dr. Michael G. Maness ~ mgmaness@earthlink.net
Woodville, TX ~ H: 409-283-3673, W: 409-283-8181, x8245
www.preciousheart.net/chaplaincy
[4] The manner of reporting was changed after 2000; for instance, in 2000, the numbers of inmate attendance at just primary and secondary worship services was 1,858,979 cumulative. That did not include the thousands of others in dozens of other chaplaincy categories, which are drastically decreased from 2000 in the 2005 reports. See www.preciousheart.net/chaplaincy/index.htm for all reports.
[6] TDCJ Volunteer Coordination Committee Reports for FY2000.
[7] Even though supervising roughly the same amount of volunteer hours, the differences between the 2000 and 2005 chaplains is seen in less staff chaplain pastoral care, less chaplain-led classes and counseling—which is sad for the chaplains’ care for souls.