|
Distance Learning for Rural Probation and Parole Agencies and Practitioners The Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded a 12-month grant to the American Probation and Parole Association to provide training to probation and parole practitioners, especially those working in rural areas. Recognizing that officers in rural agencies often do not have access to traditional classroom events, this project has produced training using distance-learning methodologies. Four audio teleconferences/webcasts on probation and parole issues and recommended strategies for effective offender supervision have been presented. The recordings of these training programs are now available for viewing:
Access the recorded Audio Teleconference/Webcast Presentations National Youth Court Center
Contracting Agency:
Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention The National Youth Court Center (NYCC) at the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) provided training and technical assistance and served as an information clearinghouse to youth court programs in the United States. The Center was created by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and funded by OJJDP’s Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant Program, in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. The NYCC aims to assist communities in developing and operating effective youth court program models that strengthen the ability of the juvenile justice system to hold youths accountable for their behavior, while enhancing public safety through active youth participation in the juvenile justice system. View more information about services and products offered by the National Youth Court Center, or visit their website at www.youthcourt.net. Elder Abuse Project Contracting Agency:
Office for Victims of Crime The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) awarded a $200,000, 18-month Cooperative Agreement to the American Probation and Parole Association. The project was conducted in collaboration with Justice Solutions and the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging and developed a training curriculum to provide probation and parole officers with knowledge and skills to identify and respond to elder abuse victims. Abuse is a significant problem for America’s growing older population. Probation and parole officers may identify elder abuse in families of offenders on their caseloads and be able to intervene proactively for the benefit of these elderly. This three-phase project first conducted a training analysis through a survey of the field, review of current literature, and examination of existing curricula. In Phase 2, the training curriculum developed and accredited. The curriculum was then pilot tested in four one-day training programs during Phase 3. APPA also introduced a resolution on elder abuse for adoption by its membership. Evaluation of the Rhode Island Probation Specialized Domestic Violence Supervision Unit Contracting Agency:
National Institute of Justice The American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) was awarded a grant by the National Institute of Justice within the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct an evaluation of the Rhode Island Probation and Parole Department’s specialized domestic violence supervision unit. Joining APPA in this endeavor was BOTEC Analysis Corporation and the Adult Probation and Parole Department within Rhode Island’s Department of Corrections. Rhode Island provided a unique opportunity to examine the effectiveness of specialized domestic violence probation supervision. The Rhode Island program replicated the Quincy, Massachusetts model domestic violence probation program, a national VAWO training site. The research tested the ability of a specialized program to maintain offender accountability and reduce domestic abuse and provided information on the administration and content of effective probation standards that should be part of domestic violence probation programs. The Rhode Island Department of Corrections administers probation for domestic violence offenders in two programs. Probation officers with special domestic violence training administer the replicated Quincy, Massachusetts program in some areas. Offenders in these areas with two or more domestic violence convictions are held accountable to more stringent probation standards, such as more frequent office and field contacts by probation officers with offenders and their victims. Offenders in other areas of the state, while they have the same mix of characteristics as in the specialized program, are subject to the general probation program in which the probation officers do not have specialized domestic violence training. The courts require offenders in both programs to attend a batterer counseling program. The evaluation collected a random sample of file data on the probation standards applied to probationers and the resultant behavior of a sample of active probationers in the two programs. Interviews also were conducted with probation personnel and with domestic violence victims. Researchers analyzed both quantitative and qualitative data collected to determine the effects of the specialized supervision program. Promising Victim-Related Practices in Probation and Parole Contracting Agency:
Office for Victims of Crime Description: This project sought to provide training and information to community corrections practitioners on promising victim-related practices in probation and parole. Major product deliverables included the development of a compendium titled Promising Victim-Related Practices and Strategies in Probation and Parole , the delivery of three Victim Assistance in Community Corrections training seminars (i.e., Nashville, Tennessee; San Diego, California; Lake Ozark, Missouri), the production of a satellite video conference on promising victim-related practices in probation and parole during APPA’s Winter Institute in Phoenix, AZ on January 11, 1999, and the broadcast of an audio teleconferences on “Responding to Workplace Violence” and “Managing Monetary Restitution.” The project also convened a focus group on the role of victims in the offender reentry process and developed The Victim’s Role in Offender Reentry: A Community Response Manual. Juvenile Holdover Programs Contracting Agency:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Description: The goal of this project was to develop An Implementation Guide for Juvenile Holdover Programs and provide training and technical assistance to assist community coalitions in developing and enhancing juvenile holdover programs. Juvenile holdover facilities can provide jurisdictions with limited resources a means for encouraging the enforcement of underage drinking laws and other delinquent behaviors of youth. To be effective, however, juvenile holdover programs need to be cost-effective, easily accessible, and staffed by trained attendants. Document: An Implementation Guide for Juvenile Holdover Programs Information System Planning for the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision and Electronic Information Sharing Planning for the Interstate Compact for Adult Offend
Contracting Agency: Bureau of Justice
Assistance Description: The goal of this project was to assist in planning an information system for the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision (Interstate Compact). The new Interstate Compact replaced the antiquated Interstate Compact for the Transfer of Probationers and Parolees. The first phase of the project was to define the functional requirements for the Interstate Compact information management system. During the second phase the functional requirements were used to inform development of technical requirements, issue a Request for Information/Proof of Concept, and to select a vendor. With those deliverable completed, the project was adjusted to provide education to community corrections agencies and personnel about electronic information exchange technology. Three audio teleconferences/webcasts were produced, aired, recorded, and placed on the APPA website. For more information about those events and to access them select audio teleconferences/webcasts During the final phase of this project, APPA staff assembled a working group of subject matter experts and convened two meetings during which the group identified community corrections information exchange points (IEPs) and modeled the domains of four IEPs. The working group was facilitated by technical experts from the National Law Enforcement and Technology Center Northeast (NLECTC-NE) who used the group’s input to create NIEM-conformant IEP reference documents including artifacts, schemas, and associated documentation for Pre-Sentence Investigations, Violation of Probation reports, Interstate Compact Transfer Requests, and Intrastate Transfer Requests. With BJA approval, these will be posted to the IEPD Clearinghouse on the Office of Justice Programs Web site. Understanding and Implementing Effective Offender Supervision Practices and Programmingg Contracting Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance Description: The goal of this project was to increase the availability of training and information on understanding and implementing effective offender supervision practices and programming to probation and parole professionals, especially those working in rural areas. Recognizing that officers in rural agencies often do not have access to traditional training events, this project offered training through distance learning methodologies. Eleven audio teleconferences, seven audio teleconferences/webcasts, and one web-based curriculum were developed and delivered. .. A Family-Support Model for Community Supervision of Reentering Offenders Contracting Agency:
Bureau of Justice Assistance Gender-Responsive Strategies for Women Offenders in Community Corrections Contracting Agency:
National Institute of Corrections Functional Standards Development for Automated Case Management Systems for Probation Contracting Agency:
Bureau of Justice Assistance Description: Resources of this project were used to develop a document defining functional standards to assist probation agencies in implementing effective automated case management systems. Project staff identified adult probation agencies that employed effective case management practices or had automated case management systems and obtained written specifications from ten to fifteen agencies with exemplary systems. Then in partnership with the National Center for State Courts, staff analyzed the specifications to distill the common elements that composed the functional requirements of automated case management systems for probation agencies and drafted a document outlining recommended standards and functional requirements. The document was reviewed and edited by a team of probation professionals with expertise in automated case management systems and was e-published for public comment. The document is available in print, on compact disk, or for download from the APPA website. Training and Technical
Assistance for Implementation of Substance Abuse Testing within the Juvenile
Justice System
Contracting
Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention This project developed materials and procedures to provide effective assistance to States and juvenile justice agencies for developing or enhancing programs to test youth for substance use. Among the services provided and products developed by the project were:
Implementing Effective Crime Prevention Practices and Programming Contracting
Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance The goal of this project was to assist probation, parole, community corrections professionals, and agencies in exploring and embracing their place in primary crime prevention activities through training and participation in community justice focused crime prevention efforts. The primary product of this project was the development of a crime prevention curriculum that introduces the overarching concept of community justice and explores how crime prevention activities are a natural fit in this proactive agenda. Implementing and Enhancing Teen Court Programs Contracting Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) The American Probation and Parole Association's Teen Courts Initiative was designed to provide information to jurisdictions on the development and enhancement of teen court programs as a response to underage drinking, drug use, and other problem behaviors of youth. A major product of this project was the development of Peer Justice and Youth Empowerment: An Implementation Guide for Teen Court Programs. Other project activities included conducting regional training seminars and delivering technical assistance on developing and enhancing teen court programs. Promising Practices for Restitution
Contracting
Agency: Office for Victims of Crime The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), U. S. Department of Justice, awarded funding to support the Promising Practices in Restitution Project. The American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) and the Victims’ Assistance Legal Organization (VALOR) studied obstacles inherent in the assessment, ordering, collection, and disbursement of restitution, and identified promising practices used throughout the justice system to implement effective restitution programs. Using data from a written survey and telephone interviews, a compendium was developed to illustrate the range of successful approaches to restitution management. This document has been submitted for review, and publication is pending. National Narcotics Intervention Training and Technical Assistance Program
Contracting Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance This project called for the development of training curriculum for a program to provide effective direction as well as a paradigm for action for probation and parole administrators, supervisors and line officers. The training program assisted jurisdictions interested in incorporating state-of-the-art knowledge and a fresh approach toward the daily tasks of supervising drug-involved offenders. Technical assistance to selected sites and follow-up evaluations were also a major component of the project. Drug Identification Program for Juvenile Probation and Parole (Drug Recognition Techniques) Contracting Agency:
Contracting Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention This project involved the development of curriculum to deliver an intensive, specialized training program to juvenile probation officers. The drug recognition techniques process provides a standardized, systematic method of examining a person to determine whether or not the individual has ingested drugs, and which category may have been ingested. Drug Testing Guidelines and Practices for Adult Probation and Parole Agencies
Contracting Agency:
Bureau of Justice Assistance Considerable research was conducted through this project to develop guidelines to assist probation and parole agencies in the organization and implementation of legally and scientifically sound, practical, and cost-efficient drug testing programs. The publication produced through this project, APPA's Drug Testing Guidelines and Practices for Probation and Parole Agencies, examines the fundamental program issues that must be addressed by agencies considering drug testing. Drug Testing Guidelines and Practices for Juvenile Probation and Parole Agencies Contracting Agency:
Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention Similar to the adult project described above, this research project explored drug testing and developed guidelines to assist juvenile probation and parole administrators, managers and field staff. This is a guide containing the "best practices" recommended to the field. The document, APPA's Drug Testing Guidelines and Practices for Juvenile Probation and Parole Agencies, will help agencies to develop and operate the most effective, defensible and credible drug testing programs possible. Coordinated Interagency Drug Training and Technical Assistance Project Contracting Agency:
Bureau of Justice
Assistance This project involved research, and the development of curriculum and a training program in cooperation with the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD). The purpose of the project is to coordinate and enhance the parallel efforts of probation/parole officers and drug treatment practitioners through cross-training. A training curriculum was developed and activities implemented in order to expand networks and improve community management of the drug-involved offender. Training and Technical Assistance Curriculum for Drug Identification, Screening, and Testing in the Juvenile Justice System
Contracting Agency:
Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention This program was designed to build upon the drug testing guidelines for juvenile probation and parole agencies and the drug recognition techniques training curriculum. Based on comprehensive research, the project entailed the development of curriculum and a training program that describes three methods of identifying drug involvement (i.e., assessment, drug recognition, and chemical testing). The curriculum also emphasizes policy and program development issues relevant in identifying and intervening with drug-involved youth, including legal considerations and evaluation strategies. Offender Supervision and Victim Restitution Project Contracting Agency:
Office for Victims of Crime This project involved research and the development of resources to assist court officials, legislators and criminal justice personnel to improve the manner in which probation and parole agencies respond to the needs and concerns of crime victims. A Guide to Enhancing Victim Services Within Probation and Parole was developed and training and technical assistance was delivered. Drug Testing Throughout the Criminal Justice System Program: Probation and Parole Component Contracting Agency:
Bureau of Justice Assistance This program expands upon the drug testing guidelines project for adult probation and parole agencies. Drug testing training curriculum was developed and administered to several regions of the country through the initial funding period. Short and long-term technical assistance was then provided to selected probation and parole agencies; a follow-up evaluation component was included to track results. This program was designed to assist state corrections divisions and local agencies with developing and implementing effective drug testing programs for offenders on probation and parole. The program incorporates offender management tools such as the need for additional sanctions or the imposition of user fees. Intermediate Sanctions/User Accountability Technical Assistance and Training for Intensive Supervision Programs (Probation/Parole)
Contracting Agency:
Bureau of Justice
Assistance This project called for extensive research, and subsequent curriculum development, training and technical assistance activities on intensive supervision programs (ISP). An extensive, national survey was conducted of ISP programs through this project. The two-pronged survey provided data from both the administrative and practitioner perspectives. The overall project involved assessment of the current state of ISPs and development of a prototypical ISP based upon effective correctional research to be used for training and technical assistance activities. Drug Testing Technical Training and Assistance Contracting Agency:
Bureau of Justice Assistance Administered in cooperation with Pretrial Services Resource Center, this project involved the training of judges, court administrators, pretrial service administrators, probation and parole agencies, and treatment providers. The training and technical assistance provided by this project was designed to facilitate a system-wide approach to drug testing within criminal justice. During the project's first eight months, an assessment of drug testing programs and practices throughout the criminal justice system was conducted, and a draft and final report on comprehensive drug testing programs was prepared. The project also designed a systems approach to drug testing for the criminal justice system and completed the delivery of four training seminars. A draft of four prototypes of comprehensive criminal justice drug testing programs also was produced. Finally, a Program Guide for assisting agencies in developing comprehensive and credible system wide drug testing program was developed. Alternative Outcome Measures for the Evaluation of Intermediate Sanctions Contracting Agency:
National Institute of Justice The primary purpose of this project was to develop alternative outcome measures for the evaluation of intermediate sanctions. Traditionally, recidivism rates have been used as the primary, and often the sole, measure of success of intermediate sanctions. These sanctions have enormous potential to benefit both the offender and the community, and many potential indicators of success have been ignored or neglected. Results-Driven Management: Implementing Performance-Based Measures in Community Corrections resents an opportunity to redefine the research community's methodology for examining the criminal justice system. Community Involvement: A Strategy for Enhancing Correctional Options Contracting Agency:
Bureau of Justice Assistance The primary goal of this project was to facilitate community involvement in correctional options through the development and dissemination of a Restoring Hope through Community Partnerships: The Real Deal in Crime Control which includes practical implementation steps for involving the community in probation and parole and a compendium of model programs. Intervening in Family Violence: A Resource Manual for Community Corrections Professionals Contracting Agency:
Bureau of Justice Assistance The goal of this project was to enhance the ability of community corrections professionals to intervene effectively with perpetrators of family violence (including child, partner and elder abuse). The primary products of the project were: a Resource Manual; an intensive session at APPA's annual institute; two training sessions; one article; and project reports. Training and Technical Assistance for Expanding and Improving Correctional Options in Community Corrections Contracting Agency:
Bureau of Justice Assistance This project was designed to assist local and state jurisdictions to enhance or expand correctional options. This was accomplished by providing agency-specific training and technical assistance in the following areas: community involvement; intervening in family and domestic violence; coordinated interagency drug treatment; drug testing; intensive supervision programs; field officer safety; performance-based measurements; and restitution and economic sanctions. Additional technical assistance was provided for enhancing options with community justice and a monograph of promising practices in community justice was published (i.e., Community Justice: Concepts and Strategies). Test, Modify and Retest: An Agenda for Evaluating ISPs Contracting Agency:
National Institute of Justice This project sought to evaluate a prototypical ISP model that had been developed under BJA funding. The premise of this new model is that ISPs can effectively promote behavioral change in offenders by focusing on the provision of intense services rather than exclusive surveillance and incapacitative measures and thereby achieve the goals of reduced recidivism and enhanced public safety. At three of the BJA sites an experimental process and impact evaluation of this model was conducted. The implementation processes was examined as well as outcome measures such as referrals, absconder rates, employment and education. Capacity Building in the Juvenile Justice System: Addressing the Need for Substance Abuse Treatment Contracting Agency:
Office of Juvenile Justice &
Delinquency Prevention This program was conducted under an Interagency Agreement between OJJDP and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), HHS. Each federal agency contributed one-half of the funding for this project. The project was designed to expand the juvenile justice system's ability to provide treatment for drug-involved youth. The project's activities included a six-month planning and development phase to identify and explore program models and develop a training and TA curriculum. The program implementation phase included provision of two training programs for interdisciplinary teams of professionals from local and statewide jurisdictions who developed actions plans for more effective and comprehensive services for juvenile substance abusers; three training programs for juvenile justice practitioners to increase their skills in working with substance abusing youth; two train-the-trainer programs to prepare local agency trainers to replicated the skills development training; and technical assistance provided on-site in two jurisdictions. Electronic Monitoring
Contracting Agency:
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) The American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) received funds from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to develop and disseminate information to assist users of electronic monitoring to develop or enhance their use of technology for effective community-based supervision. Specifically, APPA and NIJ assembled a working group of manufacturers, service providers, and product and service users to accomplish the following project tasks:
This
project developed the document, |
