Implementing the Coaching Model for Change: Evidence from the Field

• In Event: Organizational Change and Policy Reform in Community Corrections

Abstract

Recent efforts to improve probation officer practices and retention rates have centered on a shift from a referee model, which focuses on monitoring and compliance, to a coaching model that instead emphasizes client support and desistance. The coaching model draws from risk-need-responsivity, effective community supervision practices, organizational design, and implementation science to create cultures that support both officers and people under supervision. The model works to restructure probation officers’ roles and transform the agencies where they work. At the same time, it requires the agencies to adopt a more flexible and adaptable culture that supports officers in their changed roles. It is hypothesized that adopting the coaching model will improve employee satisfaction and client outcomes. The 5 year NIJ funded project will implement and study the effectiveness of this model in three community corrections agencies across the U.S.. The study is currently in the implementation phase. Results from focus groups, surveys, and implementation meetings suggest a clear need to focus on organizational change prior to undertaking initiatives to implement evidence based practices with officers.

Authors

• Shelley Johnson, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

• Debi Koetzle, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• Lori Lovins, Bowling Green State University

• Rachel Goldstein, Justice System Partners

• Brian Lovins, Justice System Partners