At CJI, we work collaboratively with community supervision and reentry partners to address real-world challenges and support sustainable efforts that build lasting change within agencies and organizations across the country. CJI’s community supervision and reentry team is committed to meeting partners “where they are at” and understanding the difficulties that surround translating research into practice.
Areas of Work
System Assessment & Policy Enhancement
State and local agencies are often aware of the areas that need improvement within their organizations but may not be able to recognize the causes driving these issues. CJI provides partners with comprehensive system assessment through analysis of local and state statutes, agency policies and procedures, and relevant data to identify factors driving a particular issue and collaboratively develop sustainable solutions.
Training & Implementation Support
CJI bridges the gap between research and practice by providing partners with robust training and implementation support. The CJI team helps stakeholders assess the policy or procedure changes necessary for successful and sustainable program implementation. In conjunction with traditional curriculum support, CJI also offers a train-the-trainer program to ensure stakeholders can continue advancing skill development when technical support ends.
Risk & Needs Assessment Validation
CJI’s team of experienced data specialists provide validation support to agencies to ensure their risk and need assessments are working as intended for their respective populations. Our specialists analyze agency data and work collaboratively with agency staff to ensure assessments are being employed in an accurate and consistent manner for those they serve.
Continuous Quality Assurance & Fidelity
When implementing evidence-based practices, simply training staff and assuming proficiency often falls short of sustaining desired outcomes. Staff need to practice skills in real interactions and receive developmental feedback to continue to learn and grow. CJI’s team assists agencies with implementing fidelity measures to reach desired results and create a culture of continuous improvement.
Project Highlights
Supported by Arnold Ventures
Across the U.S., over four million people are under community supervision, such as probation or parole. With support from Arnold Ventures, a philanthropic organization, CJI set out to uncover the driving forces behind high rates of revocation in four different states: Colorado, Florida, Mississippi, and Montana.
Over the course of 18 months, CJI worked with supervision agencies in each state to understand the factors impacting supervision outcomes, the way current policies align with best practices, and the opportunities to produce better results. This effort included interviews with correctional officers, judges, parole board members, and other stakeholders; comprehensive data analysis; surveys of correctional officers; and statutory and policy reviews conducted for each state.
Additionally, CJI identified challenges and gaps specific to each state, and provided a broad array of state-specific recommendations intended to help policymakers, agency officials, and other local stakeholders in implementing effective supervision practices.
Explore thematic findings across all four states or review state-specific publications below:
- Promoting Success on Community Supervision: Strategies for Improving Outcomes and Reducing Revocations
- Improving Outcomes and Safely Reducing Revocations from Parole Supervision in Colorado
- Improving Outcomes and Safely Reducing Revocations from Community Supervision in Florida
- Improving Outcomes and Safely Reducing Revocations from Community Supervision in Mississippi
- Improving Outcomes and Safely Reducing Revocations from Community Supervision in Montana
Supported by Arnold Ventures
Based on the findings and recommendations from the revocation analysis (above), CJI is working with agency partners in each state to implement desired changes to supervision and revocation policies and practices. The goals of this project are to share the findings and recommendations from the previous engagement with the field and state policymakers to influence policy change, and to support each of the four states in safely reducing revocations and improving outcomes on community supervision. In addition, CJI plans to conduct a deeper analysis into the factors driving absconding.
To learn more about the work of CJI’s Revocations Team, visit the links below:
- Key Takeaways: Improving Outcomes and Safely Reducing Revocations from Community Supervision in Florida
- Lessons Learned: Association of Paroling Authorities International 2023 Training Conference
- CJI Highlights Strategies to Improve Success on Community Supervision at 2023 APPA Conference
- CJI Shares Strategies for Improving Supervision Success at Florida Association of Community Corrections Conference
- CJI Highlights Opportunities to Increase Equity on Community Supervision at ICJA Conference
- CJI Promotes Successful Community Supervision Strategies at Association of Paroling Authorities International
Supported by the National Institute of Corrections for the American Probation and Parole Association
In 2023, CJI was awarded the National Black Letter Standards for Community Supervision project with funding from the National Institute of Corrections. In collaboration with the American Probation and Parole Association and a workgroup of supervision experts from across the country, CJI aims to develop national standards for adult community supervision to promote evidence-based supervision practices. These standards will provide definitive guidance for policy across probation and parole agencies nationwide.
Supported by the National Institute of Corrections
In 2022, CJI was awarded the SDMF Implementation and Revision Project from the National Institute of Corrections. The Structured Decision-Making Framework is designed to help parole authorities make consistent and transparent decisions. Through this cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Corrections, subject matter experts help parole authorities prepare for, learn how to use, and successfully implement the structured decision-making framework.
Nevada passed AB 236 in 2019, requiring training in case management, behavioral health, and trauma informed care. In partnership with Nevada Parole and Probation (NPP), CJI developed a comprehensive, evidence-based training for community supervision staff.
These trainings and technical supports serve to:
- Assist NPP staff in implementing strategies to build and sustain train-the-trainer programs.
- Provide direct-service staff with skills, techniques, processes, and tools for developing client-centered case planning.
- Increase the quality of staff interactions through core correctional practices and principles of effective intervention.
- Provide NPP direct-service staff, supervisors, managers, and administrators a pathway for cross-system collaborations, empowering client-focused partnerships, and wraparound services to maintain a multidisciplinary approach that achieves and improves upon NPP’s desired outcome(s).
In 2017, CJI began providing Justice Reinvestment Initiative technical assistance to Louisiana. Since then, CJI has worked with the state to expand and improve upon the educational and cognitive behavioral therapy programming offered in Louisiana’s institutions. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPS&C) has been working in recent years to ensure access to high-quality reentry services, including supporting its transition specialists, corrections officers, peer mentors and tutors, and community partners in delivering interventions aimed at enhancing long-term behavior change. As follow-up to these initiatives, DPS&C has requested assistance expanding access to skills training for additional staff and partners who are integral to the reentry process. Additionally, CJI will work with DPS&C to create a set of performance measures to monitor and enhance the effectiveness of the above coaching initiatives.
CJI has been supporting the Utah Department of Corrections (UDC) in their efforts to improve outcomes and implement evidence-based practices since 2015. In May 2021, CJI and UDC leadership met to plan for additional technical assistance to support UDC’s implementation efforts and update existing training curricula.
In addition, CJI will train a group of UDC staff to coach officers on their use of Core Correctional Practices and provide feedback to further enhance officers’ skill development.
Since 2020, CJI has been in partnership with Alaska’s Department of Corrections (DOC) to improve the administration fidelity of their risk and needs assessment and expand access to quality case planning for people on community supervision. Through this effort, CJI and DOC conducted an in-person workshop which included a review of the principles of Effective Case Management and Fidelity and resulted in the generation of materials to assist the agency in measuring fidelity.
Supported by the Gardiner Howland Shaw Foundation
The Directory is a compilation of services in Greater Boston available to individuals who were previously incarcerated. The Directory presents important information for returning individuals, corrections practitioners, and policymakers, as well as those with an interest in accessing services for returning citizens, including their loved ones, volunteers, and other service providers.
With support from the Gardiner Howland Shaw Foundation, CJI maintains the Coming Home Directory Website, and publishes an updated version the Coming Home Directory on an annual basis to ensure information about support services is as relevant and up-to-date as possible for our readers.
