An Evaluation of Gender-Responsive Caseloads on Parole Agent Supervisory Style with Female Offenders

• In Event: Evaluations of Prisoner Reentry Programs

Abstract

Female offenders have unique needs and different pathways to offending compared to male offenders. There is growing awareness among correctional agencies that female parolees require a trauma-focused, gender-responsive approach in order to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes. The Division of Adult Parole Operations has implemented a range of gender-responsive policies, such as gender-responsive agent training and female-only caseloads. In collaboration with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Office of Research, UC Irvine’s Center for Evidence-Based Corrections conducted a workload study to evaluate the effectiveness of gender-responsive caseloads. Over a 5-week period in Spring 2016, 15 GR-trained parole agents supervising female-only caseloads and 31 agents supervising parole-as-usual caseloads documented their daily contacts with parolees in a Daily Activity Log, noting such details as the length of contact, location, topics reviewed, and the services discussed. We discuss findings and the impact of these gender-responsive caseloads on supervisory style, in terms of the nature of the contacts and the specific agent behaviors that demonstrated responsivity toward female offenders.

Authors

• Holly Westfall, University of California, Irvine

• Helen Braithwaite, University of California, Irvine

• Theresa Lavery, University of California, Irvine

• Susan Turner, University of California, Irvine