Innovations in Corrections: Findings and Lessons Learned from Using Technology in the Field

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

The corrections field faces significant challenges and resource-constrained correctional agencies are exploring new ways to support and supervise justice-impacted individuals. Mass incarceration and prison overcrowding are fueled by the lack of treatment uptake among community supervision populations, traditional deficit-based reentry planning, and static risk assessment tools to determine an individual’s level of supervision in the community. The use of innovative technology and assessment to address these challenges, at least in part, has expanded greatly in the past decade. This panel brings together experts to describe innovative technology proposed to assist justice-involved individuals and the correctional practitioners who serve them. We will present initial findings from three National Institute of Justice-funded projects that investigate the effectiveness of innovations in corrections. We also explore the considerations of using these tools and the obstacles that hinder their implementation in the field.

Sub Unit

• Area VI. The Criminal Justice System / 49. Community Corrections

Individual Presentations

• Initial Findings from an Automated Appointment Reminder System for Probationers - Samuel Scaggs, RTI International; Pamela K. Lattimore, RTI International; Debbie Dawes, RTI International

• Initial Findings from a Study on a Web-based Reentry Planning App in Prisons - Debbie Dawes, RTI International; Megan Nyce, RTI International; Christine Lindquist, RTI International; Samuel Scaggs, RTI International

• Incorporating Dynamic Measures of Risk and Desistence into Risk Assessment Instruments for Community Supervision in Georgia - Christopher Inkpen, RTI International; Pamela K. Lattimore, RTI International; Sharon Johnson, Applied Research Services, Inc.; Emily Burtch, RTI International

Discussant

• Pamela K. Lattimore, RTI International