Texas County Corrections eLearning course catching on & reducing costs

COLLEGE STATION – The Basic County Corrections (BCC) course offered through the TEEX Corrections Academy has progressed from being merely a good idea to becoming a significant licensing tool to meet new jailer staffing requirements. In fact, more than 50% of all Texas counties are now using the course, a blended learning program developed and offered by the Texas Law Enforcement Extension Program.

Since the course was launched in 2010, more than 1,550 County Jailers have completed the training necessary to sit for the licensing exam administered by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE).

The Basic County Corrections course was developed in an effort to reduce the cost of training jail staff. Instead of spending 12 days in a traditional classroom environment, jailers are now able to complete the 10-module online portion of the course at their own pace, followed by three days of hands-on physical skills training. In order to develop self-sufficiency in departments statewide, Corrections Academy staff members conduct tuition-free instructor-level training so county agencies can administer the 24-hour physical skills portion of the course in-house.

“This course represents a substantial cost savings to the counties these jailers serve,” said Corrections Academy Training Manager Kyle McNew. “A 2012 study by the Ellis County (TX) Sheriff’s Department found savings of approximately $1,013 per new employee, saving the department $40,000 in the first year of transitioning to the TEEX blended learning program.

“Each year, about 5,000 new temporary jailer licenses are issued for corrections officers, and these probationary officers must be certified by the State of Texas within 12 months of their date of hire. Now with the training available on demand, agencies can train new employees as soon as they hire them without waiting until they have enough new jailers to justify a class.”

The development of the course was funded by the Office of the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division and meets the training requirements set forth by TCOLE. TEEX also offers other online courses for the Basic and Intermediate Jailer Proficiency Certification, as well as three new online courses in Inmate Health Care, through its Corrections Academy.

Learn more at www.teex.org/corrections