ODRC Announces Top Parole Officer and Employee Honors

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) -- On Thursday, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) announced the Division of Parole and Community Services (DPCS) Robert White Memorial Parole Officer and Employee of the Year.

Andrew Pietras, a parole officer from the Columbus Adult Parole Authority (APA) region, has won the Robert White Memorial Award. Pietras started his career as a parole officer in 2021. He is highly motivated to train and assist officers with delivering cognitive behavioral interventions. He is regarded as a subject matter expert in an array of highly regarded nationwide techniques that assist in discovering the root of a supervisee's behavior and finding ways to treat it to improve success.

Pietras also trains officers in motivational interviewing and is extremely skilled at using this practice to support his supervisees and contribute to their successful reintegration back into their communities.

Brandi Glore was announced as the DPCS Employee of the Year. Glore started her career as a correction officer in 2006. She was later promoted to a correction program specialist in 2017. A year later, she transferred to the APA as a parole officer. In 2023, she was promoted to her current position as a unit supervisor in the Columbus region.

Glore dedicates much of her time ensuring new staff have the tools they need to succeed in their careers. She presents to ODRC staff at the Corrections Training Academy on career development and teaches all new parole officers during their training. Glore is also involved in strengthening partnerships with local law enforcement and community agencies.

"Andrew and Brandi exemplify our agency's core values," said Roger Wilson, Deputy Director of DPCS. "They are both highly motivated and have dynamic skill sets that they freely deploy to benefit everyone. They lead by example and have shown tremendous initiative to secure the foundation for addressing the criminogenic needs of those we supervise while facilitating a more cohesive and safe work environment for their colleagues. Their commitment to the principles of behavior change to achieve community safety is the outcome we all strive to attain."

"Our parole officers, and the rest of the DPCS staff, are out in our communities making sure that Ohioans remain safe," said ODRC Director Annette Chambers-Smith. "Parole officers' jobs are increasingly dangerous, but are often the reason why second chances don't turn into third strikes. Andrew actively works to dig into the 'why' behind certain behavior, and Brandi helps ensure we maintain the right relationships to respond to it. That's what keeps this work moving. Congratulations, and thank you, Andrew and Brandi."

The Robert White Memorial Award was established to honor the memory of Robert White, who served as a parole officer in Cleveland after retiring from 25 years of service with the Cleveland Police Department. Tragically, he was fatally shot while performing his duties as a parole officer in 1979. This award honors his commitment to the APA and his dedication to protecting the citizens of Ohio.

DPCS is the community corrections division of ODRC. It consists of the Bureau of Adult Detention Bureau of Community Sanctions, the Office of Victim Services, the Ohio Parole Board, and the APA.