Without supervision released offenders are at high risk of taking the same path that originally got them arrested
The law’s realignment of certain low-level offenders from state prisons to local supervision has placed increased responsibilities and demands on these county-level institutions. County probation departments have experienced a notable shift in their workload and responsibilities because of AB109. With the influx of people now under their supervision, probation departments have had to expand their capacity to provide adequate monitoring, support, and rehabilitation services. This includes managing caseloads, conducting risk assessments, ensuring compliance with court-ordered conditions, and facilitating access to community-based programs and services. The increased workload has required probation departments to adapt their practices, develop new strategies, and collaborate with various community partners to effectively address the needs of the inmates under their supervision.
Since the 1940’s, incarceration included three models according to Cole, Smith, and De Jong (2014). Incarceration is based upon the custodial model, the rehabilitation model, and the reintegration model. The custodial model presumes that every inmate is incarcerated because of the idea of deterrence, retribution and incapacitation. Within the model order, discipline, and security are accentuated all throughout incarceration. During the 1950’s, the rehabilitation model was developed to highlight and design treatment programs for offenders.
Over the past 40 years U.S. incarceration has grown at an extraordinary rate, with the United States’ prison population increasing from 320,000 inmates in 1980 to nearly 2.3 million inmates in 2013. The growth in prison population is in part due to society’s shift toward tough on crime policies including determinate sentencing, truth-in-sentencing laws, and mandatory minimums. These tough on crime policies resulted in more individuals committing less serious crimes being sentenced to serve time and longer prison sentences. The 1970s-1980s: The War on Drugs and Changes in Sentencing Policy Incarceration rates did rise above 140 persons imprisoned per 100,000 of the population until the mid 1970s.
Although people in favor of centralized probation argue that decentralizing probation has its flaws such as local probation following outdated practices, I believe with the proper training given to local law enforcement they will be better able to train staff with the updated procedures and possibly make a change in a person’s
Tennessee has 759 probation and parole officers who are responsible for supervising 13,546 parolees and 57,234 probationers (Malcolm, 2014.) These demonstrate how unmanageable caseloads they have and how because of that can limit their abilities to effectively supervise offenders (Malcolm, 2014.) One way to achieve the goal of more probation and parole officers is to encourage the job and giving an incentive in receiving the job. Having more will allow lower caseloads and more opportunities to monitor and help the probationer and paroles to achieve outside of prison and hopefully not return to the
In this paper I will be talking about risk assessment, supervision standards, and that while community supervision is a viable sanction for many offenders, it is not appropriate for all cases. We have the case of Ethan Couch the 16-year-old involved in the now infamous “affluenza” case. Whom as I say on April 14, 2016 was sentenced to only two years of incarceration from the crime committed in which four people were killed. In June 2013, Couch drove his pickup into a group of pedestrians and like mentioned killed four people. Couch was under the influence at the time and was reportedly fleeing the scene of a beer run with several friends in the truck.
No-frills efforts may have a variety of intended and unintended effects including impacts on recidivism, corrections costs and workload, security, and inmate management (Finn, 1996, pg. 35-44). However, some correctional staff agree that allowing incentives take away inmates urge to fight or argue with other inmates and lessens opportunity for inmates to become cruel and combative towards the staff. This week’s text revealed that offenders spending more than six years in a supermax prison, will suffer from mental illness. Long term solitary confinement promotes anger, confusion, and depression within inmates (Schmalleger & Smykia, 2015).
With the high level of incarceration and offenders on corrections supervision, there is a need to be able to identify those who have a greater chance to return back into the system. It has been shown that at least two-thirds of these offenders will re-offend the other one-third will not. It is extremely important to identify those offenders who are at a high risk to recidivate and devote services and resources to those individuals and cases (Baird, 2009). The RNR model is the ideal approach to risk management and rehabilitation since it addresses all three components: 1) whom to target for correctional intervention, 2) what needs to address, and 3) how to remove barriers to successful implementation of a supervision and treatment plan (Desmarais & Singh, 2013; Administrative Office of the United States Courts & Office of Probation and Pretrial Services, 2011).
Local probation departments can impose their rules quicker and more flexible than larger probation departments such as state and federal departments (Siegel & Bartollas, 2014). However, a larger probation department has more resources in acquiring funds for their objectives than smaller departments (Virlee, 2015). The problem associated with larger probation departments are guidelines that are created and implemented among the probationers are sometimes unrealistic due to the negligence it has with a variety of offenders and the guidelines don't meet the requirements for each
The program focuses on higher-risk offenders and the goal is to make sure the offenders are participating in specific treatment programs. For example, a person involved in a drug cartel could be forced into intensive supervision probation to ensure they are succeeding in their community and avoiding crime. Although research has shown in specific cases that intensive supervision can be slightly more cost effective compared to regular probation, it has also displayed the offenders are more likely to break their regulations because of how intensely they are being
After completion of this intensive intermediate probation alternative, participant will then enter traditional probation supervision. (Massachusetts Court System, 2017). This has been helping the state save money, reducing the issue of prison overcrowding and have lowered the recidivism
Technical revocations are more common in probation and parole agencies. This type of probation violation can result in offender relapse in supervision. In the article “Technical revocations of probation in one jurisdiction: Uncovering the hidden realities by Stevens-Martin, Kelli; Oyewole, Olusegun; Hipolito, Cynthia, focused on the increase of technical violation. There was a case study conducted that compared offenders who violated their supervision and offenders who completed their supervision (Stevens-Martin, Kelli, Oyewole, Olusegun, Hipolito & Cynthia, 2014). Background information was obtained from several different sources that examined demographic information, probation offense and criminal history (Stevens-Martin et al, 2014).
Community corrections were introduced in the 1970’s and provide sanction programs designed to decrease on jail or prison incarceration rates. It is a range of alternative punishments for nonviolent offenders. This program was referred to as front end sentencing because they allowed judges to sentence offenders to a community based punishment rather than jail or prison. Community corrections are starting to affect our prisons and jail houses in many ways. One of the ways community corrections affects the prison population is by decreasing overcrowding and provides less expensive alternatives to prisons and jails.
In order to do this they need to make new centers to help prisoners inside better themselves. In Alabama prisons may soon shut down 14 of its prisons for overcrowding, neglect, and violence in the state’s correction systems. In the prison St. Clair Holman in Alabama the prison system makes prisoners act different. There is no safety, security or supervision. “We have people being killed, sexually assaulted, raped, stabbed on daily basis at St. Clair, Holman, and multiple facilities; it’s a systemwide problem,” said Charlotte Morrison, a senior attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), which represents Alabama prisoner.”
