Maybe Somewhere, but Not Here: Implications of Relative Need Profiles on Community Supervision Practice

• In Event: Where are we going, and where have we been? Program Quality and Matching Services

Abstract

Community supervision agencies nationwide are embarking on new supervision methods rooted in the science of human behavior change. However, an oft heard comment is that while these methods may work in certain agencies, “they can’t work in our agency”. Officers in large urban agencies note the larger scale social issues and concentrated disadvantage of many clients and wonder at their ability to counter weight such powerful forces. Officers in rural areas decry the lack of resources available and wonder how they are supposed to provide appropriate interventions without treatment options and in the face of transportation issues. This paper uses data from the Assess an Individual tool to examine the needs of people on community supervision in three jurisdictions: one large urban city, one rural city, and one semi-rural border town. Looking at sample size of N=32,500 we compare the relative needs of the populations to examine if in fact the profiles of those justice-involved populations differ in significant ways. The analysis also compares several subgroups across regions including emerging adults (19-25 years old), men, and women. We discuss the implications for case planning and supervision practices.

Authors

• Heather Toronjo, George Mason University

• Faye Taxman, George Mason University