Dalvney Powell testifies on underpayment and pay disparities in probation
Dalvney Powell, president of the United Probation Officers Association, says probation officers are underpaid relative to their peace officer responsibilities. She cites EEOC and federal lawsuits and analyses showing men earn nearly $5,000 more than women and white men earn about $14,500 more than women of color in DOP.
I want to thank you for holding this hearing to discuss the current policies and culture of the Department of Probation as well as 1104.
I want to first take maybe 30 seconds to discuss 1104.
While we applaud the intent of the bill, what we're talking about here is a time that is post-arrest,
pre-filing, pre-assignment of counsel, and the decisions that are made during that process, during that interview process by the child and their responsible adult
can affect the long-term posture of their case, which affects the long-term posture of a child's life.
We think that this bill does not go far enough and that counsel should be required at that stage for
those for that interview and for the important decisions that are made during that time period.
The language both in the bill and also in the Family Court Act about what information can be disclosed at what stage in the proceeding is confusing and it's complicated and we find a lot of our clients don't necessarily understand it which is why it's
immensely important for counsel to be involved that early in the process.
Now, in March of this year, the Department of Probation made some promises.
They promised that they would no longer continue punitive practices and tactics of the previous administration, that they would be more and provide more support.
Towards our clients, towards our client population.
We were hopeful that, you know, 10 months into this administration that we would see those changes, and we haven't yet seen those changes.
We are still seeing a punitive carceral stance from the Department of Probation.
Can I just take a couple more seconds?
Sure.
So while I do thank them for their testimony during this hearing, there are a couple things that I am asking for the Department of Probation to do.
First of all is to keep the pathways of communication open with defense counsel.