From Data to Change: Building a Supervision Culture That Works

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Becca Ford is an Evidence-Based Solutions Consultant with Empower Community Care and a former classroom teacher, academic associate, and school counselor with over 15 years of experience in education and behavior change. Her work focuses on helping probation and parole professionals apply evidence-based practices by translating assessment data into actionable, skill-based interventions. With a strong foundation in instructional design and data-informed teaching, Becca brings a unique “teacher mindset” to community supervision, equipping practitioners to move beyond compliance-driven approaches by developing targeted learning objectives, reinforcing cognitive-behavioral skills, and supporting long-term behavior change. She is passionate about offering solutions that provide meaningful outcomes for justice-involved individuals.

Rick Parsons joined Carey Group in 2022 as deputy director after 30+ years of probation and parole experience in two Pennsylvania counties. In addition to his leadership roles at the county level, he served on the Governor’s Advisory Board of Probation, the executive board of the County Chief Adult Probation and Parole Officers Association of Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania Evidence-Based Practices Implementation Team. He is a founder and past president of the Mid-Atlantic Region Chapter of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. He specializes in identifying organizational roadblocks and facilitating needed organizational changes. Rick’s career began in the Adult Probation and Parole Department of Montgomery County near Philadelphia. As an officer, he developed expertise in supervising people who sexually offend and treatment courts operations. He co-founded a consulting firm to offer training primarily focusing on the management and treatment of individuals who sexually offend and retired as deputy chief. He was then hired by Carbon County as the chief of Adult Probation and Parole. He facilitated rapid organizational modernization to upgrade departmental supervision practices through continuous training and technological innovation.

David Robinson has more than 40 years of experience conducting research, developing assessments, and carrying out program evaluations in youth and adult justice. A founder of Orbis Partners (2001), he is currently Director of Assessment and CEO. He holds a doctorate in forensic psychology (1990) and a Master’s in Sociology (1982) from Carleton University. He participated in early validation work on tools like LS/CMI and YLS/CMI. After a research career in Canadian federal corrections, Dr. Robinson returned to focusing on developing and implementing innovative risk, needs and strength assessment tools. He directed program evaluations on, substance abuse treatment, cognitive skills, drug courts, boot camps, programs for females, case management models, gang interventions and juvenile diversion. He has particular expertise in youth assessment and led state-wide implementations of the Youth Assessment and Screening Instrument (YASI) in fifteen jurisdictions. This work involved planning, training, quality assurance, and validation of assessment tools developed and implemented with Orbis Partners. He is immersed with an IT team developing and enhancing web-based applications for assessment and case planning. With academic colleagues, Dr. Robinson has been engaged in advancing research on the contribution of strength assessment in predicting outcomes and helping practitioners develop collaborative success plans for justice-involved clients.