TJC Leadership Profile

Jack Kavanagh has almost 37 years of experience in the corrections field. Prior to becoming Director of the Howard County Department of Corrections in 2008 Mr. Kavanagh served as Deputy Director beginning in 2003.  Prior to employment with Howard County, Director Kavanagh spent 24 years with the State of Maryland Division of Correction holding positions at numerous levels in the agency including Warden and Deputy Commissioner.  In State corrections and at Howard County, Director Kavanagh has worked to embrace community partnerships in reentry.  He earned a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Baltimore and is a graduate of the Nation Institute of Corrections Executive Excellence Program.

What is your approach for getting multiple agencies to work collaboratively, getting the work done, and accomplishing the TJC Initiative goals? First, as the agency head it was important that I let staff know that TJC would be a long-term systemic change for the agency and it was not going to be “the flavor of the month”.  Communicating the goal of improving public safety as well as improving offender’s lives through a data driven approach was repeated over and over.  Once this was accomplished, I let the talents of the staff be utilized to their fullest and then marveled at the work they accomplished. The staff ownership of TJC was incredible to watch.  Their enthusiasm was contagious, even for an older corrections professional like myself.

What are your tips for getting support from system stakeholders for the TJC Initiative? Getting initial support from system stake holders in Howard County has not been a significant challenge. The County has a strong history of collaborative work with many of the agencies involved. However sustaining the needed support and engagement has required good open dialogue; a respect for the services and input each partnering agency provides as well as a sincere acknowledgement that the involvement of all stakeholder agencies is necessary for successful return of offenders. We use the theme “Our clients are your clients.”