The American Probation and Parole Association has released an online course designed in partnership with the National Reentry Resource Center. Based on The Council of State Governments Justice Center publication A Ten-Step Guide to Transforming Probation Departments to Reduce Recidivism, the course provides a ten-step action plan to help a probation department visualize transformation of its practices from beginning to end, and to align it with the four practices of recidivism reduction.
This course is meant for managers at probation departments who are leading change efforts and already committed to recidivism reduction. It is designed to help leaders gain a better understanding of how to move their agencies through the transformation process more effectively. By the conclusion of the lessons, course-takers should be able to:
- List the ten steps of the transformation process
- Identify key stakeholders in the probation department’s transformation process
- Discuss the importance of reviewing and evaluating departmental policies and practices at the beginning of the transformation process
- Explain how subcommittees can assist in moving the transformation process forward
- Identify issues to examine related to the department’s use of screening and assessment
- Describe how to align supervision plans with screening and assessment results
- Discuss key aspects related to redesigning the incentive and sanctioning process to address compliance with probation requirements
- List recommended topics for staff recidivism reduction training
- Differentiate between process and outcome measures for the transformation process
- Describe how to retool the personnel evaluation system to reinforce agency-wide recidivism reduction efforts
- Plan for ongoing evaluation for continuous improvement
