ABSTRACT
The essential chemistry between staff and youth occurs most often in programs with special leaders. Leadership is the elusive variable in any model of organizational effectiveness. Not that leadership is difficult to define or recognize; many have made their fortunes promoting good leadership strategies, including sometimes pricey trainings, books, certifications, and t-shirts. A popular leadership guru for juvenile justice and detention agencies is Mel Brown. Dunlap would contract with Brown to do assessments of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) leadership and to conduct a series of leadership development workshops based on the results. For Dunlap, the Professionalism, Accountability, Communication, and Teamwork (PACT) had been part of his leadership strategy and an expression of his core values for many years. The beauty of PACT effects multiple aspects of facility operations. Situations lend themselves to quick analyses using PACT, and problem-solving can occur without the necessity to have a union steward witness the interaction.
