Need a job? The NH State Prison wants you

[Silent_Bob]

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20141023/NEWS07/141029513

CONCORD — Wanted: Corrections officers to staff the New Hampshire State Prison.

A trainee earns between $32,365 and $37,648 plus $1,300 in hazard duty pay.

Apply now.

The state Department of Corrections continues to struggle to fill 20 correction officers' jobs, positions needed to reduce overtime costs that are now projected to reach $8.5 million before the June 2015 end of the fiscal year.

At the New Hampshire State Prison for Men, there are nearly 70 fewer funded corrections officer jobs than there were 10 years ago, despite the inmate population growing 10 percent in that period, according to a news release issued Thursday by the department.

A 2012 performance audit by the Legislative Budget Assistant recommended a minimum of 277 officers at the prison to maintain critical operations.

Today, there are 200, and the Fiscal 2015 budget might have only enough to fund another 20 positions, 57 fewer than what's needed, according to the department.

"Even if we fill all 20 positions it does not alleviate the shortages," said Warden Richard M. Gerry in a prepared statement. "We still have to back-fill positions for officers who are out of the workplace because they are attending mandatory training, on temporary active military duty, out on medical or other leave, or on scheduled days off."

He said the staff has done a tremendous job, working a significant amount of hours to meet safety and security requirements.

For Fiscal 2014, $3.4 million was budgeted for overtime but, with vacancies going unfilled, overtime costs reached $7 million.

The current budget allots the same $3.4 million for overtime, but the department projects it will spend about $5 million more than that before the end of the fiscal year in June.

Corrections officers must successfully complete a nine-week Corrections Academy and then complete a four week on-the-job training before they can be certified by the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council and assigned a post at any of the state's prisons.

Since the beginning of the year, the department has beefed up efforts to recruit corrections officers, with volunteers attending 10 job fairs, including two jointly hosted by the department and Teamsters Local, 633, that focused solely on hiring corrections officers.

In September, 16 new officers were hired and all are attending the academy, with graduation slated for Nov. 14. Another dozen new officers are expected to be hired this month, with the next Corrections Academy scheduled for January 2015.

The department has placed recruitment notices and links to job listings on its Facebook (NH-Department-of-Corrections), Twitter (@NHDOC), and YouTube (NH Department of Corrections) pages.

"This staffing shortage is not going to be resolved overnight because the department has weathered many years of eliminated positions and hiring freezes due to budget limitations," Gerry said. "But these recruitment efforts are important steps at improving our current situation."

Anyone interested in a corrections job should visit the department's website at www.nh.gov/nhdoc or call the department's recruitment office at 603-271-5645.

[Russell Kanning]

I have seen ads for these kinds of jobs all over the US .... I guess it is hard to get people to do this sort of work.