Public Personnel
Case Study

Abstract This paper will address the functionality of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. First, it will examine the Agency as a whole and then it will explore the individuality of sectors within the agency. Second, the paper will discuss the different ways that the agency survives and serves the community. The South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice plays a vital role in the success of at risk youth and maintaining a secure structure to assist youth that end up in troublesome situations.

Introduction
The public service of assisting youth may be one of the most difficult jobs around. Not only does the job have to consider what is in the best interest of the child but it also
DJJ is able to sustain workers to facilitate these services through its human resource management team.
Human Resource Management
As stated by DJJ human resources (About DJJ 2011), DJJ supports the human resource needs of approximately 1,700 permanent employees, advising them on issues regarding organization development and change; strategic planning; staff development, training, and recognition; and interagency communication. They also oversee the recruitment, selection and retention to ensure a professional and stable workforce of new employees. Moreover, human resources, is responsible for making sure all employees are subject to fair treatment. They determine pay grades and qualifications for positions. DJJ is an agency that often promotes from within. However, because they are so many different divisions of the agency they have no choice but to go out and recruit new hires. In 2007 authors, Kellough, F. Nigro, and L. Nigro of The New Public Personnel Administration, stated that for an agency to be effective, ‘human resources must be able to identify, recruit, and acquire people who are well qualified at entry, responsive to available incentives, and able to develop new skills and abilities.’ (p.85) with the current state of the economy DJJ is consistently subject to budget cuts. Therefore, many qualified applicants are not willing to accept positions because the pay is substantially lower. In 2009 the State cut the DJJ’s budget 6 percent from a budget that