A SYSTEMIC APPROACH TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY SUPERVISION A

A SYSTEMIC APPROACH TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY SUPERVISION A Five Part Strategy Judicial Branch Court Support Services Division

FIVE PART STRATEGY 1. Manage probationers based on their risk and needs. 2. Engage probationers to change their behavior. 3. Provide manageable caseloads and supervision standards. 4. Implement evidence-based treatment programs. 5. Provide for quality assurance and measure outcomes.

RISK REDUCTION There is no silver bullet when it comes to changing criminal behavior.

There is a substantial body of sound research that identifies what has worked best in reducing criminal behavior.

RESEARCH FINDINGS • Recidivism can be predicted. • Risk factors for reoffending can be identified. • Recidivism can be reduced.

How Community Supervision Can Reduce Recidivism • Provide intensive community supervision combined with appropriate treatment for high-risk offenders. • Match program intensity to the offenders’ level of risk. • Focus on the offenders’ identified criminogenic needs. • Use structured cognitive-behavioral treatment and incorporate motivational enhancement techniques.

Strategy 1 MANAGE PROBATIONERS BASED ON THEIR RISK AND NEEDS

Research has established that high-risk offenders are less likely to recidivate when they receive more intensive treatment and services.

Risk Level, Treatment Intensity, and Recidivism STUDY RISK MINIMAL INTENSIVE Low O’Donnell etal High 16% 78% 22% 56% Baird etal Low High 3% 37% 10% 18% Andrews and Friesen Low High 12% 92% 29% 25%

To have the greatest impact on recidivism reduction, supervision and treatment resources should focus on high-risk and noncompliant offenders by addressing their identified criminogenic needs.

Criminogenic Needs / Risk Factors • Antisocial peers • Antisocial values / attitudes • Antisocial personality • Antisocial behavior (low self-control) • Family distress • Substance abuse • Employment • Education

Selecting an Assessment Instrument It took CSSD approximately two years to select and fully implement the assessment tools (LSI-R and ASUS-R).

Level of Service Inventory Originally developed in 1982 and revised in 1995, the LSI-R is a validated objective 54 item risk / needs assessment instrument.

LSI-R Subscales • • • Criminal History Education / Employment Financial Family / Marital Accommodation Leisure / Recreation Companions Alcohol / Drug Problems Emotional / Personal Attitude / Orientation

Level of Service Inventory-Revised When scored appropriately, the LSI-R provides 3 basic scores or measures: • A total risk score (risk to recidivate) • A profile of criminogenic need (crime producing risk factors) • A profile of prosocial or protective (protection from crime factors)

ASUS-R A self-report validated assessment that provides insight into a persons’ drug use, emotional state, openness, and readiness to change.

ASUS-R Primary Scales • • Drug Involvement Drug Disruption Drug Benefits Social Non-Conforming Legal Non-Conforming Mood Adjustment Defensive Motivation to Change

CSSD Assessment Validation Study These findings demonstrate the value of the LSI-R and secondarily, the ASUS-R in predicting recidivism. (Bogue, 2007)

Sample Assessment 19 year old male 1 prior Adult Conviction Offense: Burglary 3 rd

Sample LSI-R Profile

Sample ASUS-R Profile

Sample Assessment Results LSI-R Total Score: 38 Calculated Sup. Level: High Rec. Substance Abuse Level: Eval. for enhanced treatment

CSSD Present Supervision Levels and Minimum Monthly Contact Standards * Classification Level Specialized Sex Offender High-Risk Medium-Risk Low-Risk (Administrative) * October 2007 Face-to-Face Collateral 4– 3 3 2 1 2 2 1 1 N/A

Judicial Branch Court Support Services Division PROBATIONER PROGRAM REFERRAL GUIDE LSI-R TARGETED NEED ASSESSED RISK LEVEL Attitude / Orientation High or Medium RECOMMENDED PROGRAM MODEL AVAILABLE THROUGH Reasoning and Rehabilitation II AIC Anger Management ABH Medium Reasoning and Rehabilitation II AIC Emotional / Personal High Medium Mental Health Services ABH Family / Marital High Medium EXPLORE or EVOLVE (if DV case with intimate partner) Companions High Medium Reasoning and Rehabilitation II Leisure / Recreation High Medium Education / Employment High Medium Job Services High Medium Treatment need and level of program intensity will be determined by the attached ASUS-R Conversion Table Criminal History High ASUS-R CONVERSION TABLE SCORE Alcohol / Drug See Attached Family Counseling Services Info Line AIC Mentoring Services Info Line Structured Leisure Time and Pro-social Activities YMCA / YWCA or other local resources AIC Local Adult Education or GED Services Info Line REFERRAL SERVICE AND PROVIDER 1 -2 Alcohol / Drug Education 3 -6 Weekly Outpatient (TAD) 7 -10 Intensive Outpatient. The need for residential treatment will be determined by the ABH provider ATR High Medium ABH AIC ABH NOTE: This information serves as a guideline and, at the discretion of the probation officer, the probationer may be placed in other programs as case circumstances warrant. Specific program locations can be found at http: //ares/cssd/Administration/default. aspx

Specialized Assessments • Domestic Violence (DVSI-R) • Women’s Program (SPIN) • Sex Offenders (Static 99, V-RAG, HARE PCL-R, RRASOR, VASOR)

Strategy 2 ENGAGE PROBATIONERS TO CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR

Supervision Focus Beyond short-term offender control, place an emphasis on long-term behavior change.

Enhancing offender motivation to change should be a key component of a recidivism reduction strategy.

Motivation: A Key to Behavior Change Of the 340 probationers in need of treatment, only 32. 9% were somewhat or very troubled by their alcohol or drug problems

Enhancing Offender Motivation • Use Motivational Interviewing • Provide assessment feedback • Collaborate on a Case Plan

Strategy 3 PROVIDE MANAGEABLE CASELOADS AND SUPERVISION STANDARDS

Caseload size is directly related to workload which is directly related to the success of community supervision in enhancing public safety and reducing recidivism.

CT Probation Average Caseload Size 2000 to 2007

Probationer Distribution by Classification Level * Classification Level Sex Offender High-Risk Medium-Risk Low Risk (Administrative) Warrant Status Pending Total * October 2007 # of Clients 1, 600 12, 000 14, 000 15, 000 11, 000 3, 000 56, 600

Caseload Targets Short-Term Long-Term Classification / Present Program Category Goal Specialized 25 – 35 25 25 Sex Offender 35 25 25 High-Risk 65 55 45 Medium-Risk 175 110 90 Low-Risk (Administrative) N/A N/A

Strategy 4 IMPLEMENT EVIDENCE-BASED OR RESEARCH INFORMED TREATMENT PROGRAMS

CSSD Evidence-Based or Research Informed Treatment Interventions • Alternative Incarceration Centers – Reasoning and Rehabilitation (R & R II) – Treating Alcohol & Drug Dependence (TAD) • Adult Behavioral Health Programs – Anger Management for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Client – Matrix Model for Intensive Out-Patient Treatment – Seeking Safety: A Treatment Manual for PTSD and Substance Abuse – Helping Women Recover

Strategy 5 PROVIDE FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE AND MEASURE OUTCOMES

An evidence-based program designed to reduce recidivism, when poorly implemented, can actually increase recidivism.

Program Integrity and Program Effects

CSSD Quality Assurance Initiatives • Provide comprehensive initial and ongoing training for program providers (2005) • Establish continuous Quality Assurance to maintain treatment fidelity (2006). • Provide staff feedback regarding performance and outcomes.

CSSD Performance and Outcome Reports • Assessment timeliness • Contact standard compliance • Reductions in risk scores and increases in protective scores • Violation of probation percentage • Employment Status (Intake / Discharge) • Rearrest percentage

SUMMARY

Implementing evidence-based practice to reduce recidivism does not occur quickly nor easily.

How Community Supervision Can Become More Aligned With Evidence-Based Practices • Affording officers more time to spend with their clients. • Keeping caseloads at manageable levels. • Providing training and ongoing coaching in evidence-based supervision practices.

• Implementing and quality assuring evidence-based treatment programs. • Focusing performance measurements and feedback on the quality of work that is linked to an outcome of improved public safety.