At the Intersection of Probation and Jail Reduction: Lessons from Expanding Transitional Housing Support for People on Probation in Pima County, Arizona

SESSION INFO

Monday, February 26, 2024
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM
Session Type: Workshop

Probation violations are a significant contributor to jail populations in many jurisdictions and people on probation experiencing housing instability are at higher risk of violating probation conditions and consequently being incarcerated in jail. This workshop will therefore focus on Pima County’s efforts to expand its transitional housing support program as a strategy to reduce jail incarceration among people serving probation, as part of broader efforts to limit the County’s jail population through its participation in the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge. The Urban Institute team will provide an overview of findings from its research study focusing on overall probation and jail trends in Pima County and the effects of transitional housing support for people on probation. Partners from Pima County Adult Probation Department will present on challenges faced and successes achieved as they have expanded transitional housing support amidst broader efforts to limit jail use for people on probation.

SESSION PRESENTERS

Matt Anderson
Unit Supervisor, Pima County Adult Probation


Matt Anderson is a Unit Supervisor for the Field Services Division of the Pima County Adult Probation Department. He supervises a team of ten officers, both Probation and Surveillance Officers. Within his probation team are multiple intensive probation caseloads, two standard caseloads, and the Transferred Youth program, which he is the coordinator for. He is currently involved in a number of social justice related projects, including providing cell phones to indigent clients, providing housing in the form of paid halfway house stays for clients, and sits on the county’s Jail Population Reduction Committee. Matt has been with Pima County Adult Probation since 2011, and has worked as a Surveillance Officer, Probation Officer, Lead Probation Officer, and Unit Supervisor. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, and a master’s degree in criminal justice management from National American University.


Ammar Khalid
Policy Associate, Urban Institute


Ammar Khalid is a policy associate in the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center, where his work focuses on community supervision and jails as well as drug policy reforms. He serves as the project coordinator for a seven-site network of probation sites working to limit jail use for people on probation; he has served as a co-principal investigator on a research study evaluating the impact of transitional housing support for people on probation, esp. in terms of jail use as well as the analysis lead on a study evaluating the effects of using time-limited custodial sanctions on outcomes for people on probation. Before joining Urban, Ammar was a consultant for the Urban Institute’s Center on International Development and Governance, He has also worked with multiple practices in the World Bank Group and the International Finance Corporation. He holds an MA in international economics and international development from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Lahore University of Management Sciences.