Innovations in Supervision

This grant program provides funding for states, units of local government, and federally recognized tribal governments to develop and test innovative strategies and implement evidence-based probation and parole approaches that effectively address people’s criminogenic risk and needs and reduce recidivism. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) administers the awards.

Objectives and Deliverables

Grantees of this program are supported in the improvement of the capacity and effectiveness of their community supervision programs, with the goal of reducing the number of crimes committed by those under probation and parole supervision. The Innovations in Supervision program (formerly known as Smart Supervision and Smart Probation) is part of BJA’s Innovations in Public Safety suite of programs, which invest in the development of practitioner-researcher partnerships that use data, evidence, and innovation to assess problems and create strategies and interventions that are both effective and economical. A required deliverable of the Innovations in Supervision program is an action plan, envisioned as a product of collaboration among the supervision agency, research partner (if applicable), and technical assistance provider. The action plan should consist of a problem analysis, program and evaluation model, summary of strategies and intended outcomes, and research base for proposed strategies.

The objectives of this program are to:

• Reduce recidivism and crime, particularly violent crime;
• Implement effective community supervision practices, including incorporating incentives and sanctions into the supervision process to encourage positive behavior changes;
• Position supervision officers to be agents of behavior change, including training them to promote intrinsic motivation for positive change as well as to understand and respond to the needs of people with mental illnesses;
• Implement continuous quality improvement plans that measure outcomes and promote accountability, such as collecting data on short-term outcomes; and
• Promote increased collaboration among community supervision agencies, treatment providers, reentry agencies, and law enforcement.

For more information, see the most recent BJA grant solicitation and webinar.

Current and Past Grantees

BJA has awarded 49 grants through this program:

• 9 grants in 2012
• 6 grants in 2013
• 7 grants in 2014
• 7 grants in 2015
• 8 grants in 2016
• 7 grants in 2017
• 5 grants in 2018