Statement from community supervision executives on the importance of using best practices during the COVID-19 crisis
In this time of national concern over the spread of COVID-19, the undersigned probation and parole executives and associations offer the following guidance and recommendations to (1) utilize social distancing to reduce the unnecessary and inadvertent spread of the coronavirus through community supervision, while (2) continuing to support persons under supervision and assure public safety.
People under correctional control are especially medically vulnerable. They disproportionately suffer from heart conditions, tuberculosis, HIV and diabetes, among other medical vulnerabilities. Further, outbreaks of contagious diseases in correctional facilities could lead to the infection of staff, incarcerated people and family members and could negatively impact staffing patterns, rendering such facilities more difficult to operate in a safe and healthy manner. Since approximately 11 million people churn through prisons and jails every year, if infectious diseases are spread inside correctional facilities, they have an elevated potential to affect community health. Finally, the millions of people visiting probation and parole offices are similarly medically vulnerable, putting our staff and one another at heightened risk of becoming infected.
With 4.5 million people on probation and parole nationally, there are more people under supervision than is necessary from a public safety standpoint. Too many people are placed under supervision who pose little public safety risk and are supervised for excessive supervision periods beyond what is indicated by best practices. This stretches probation and parole resources; hampers our ability to assist and supervise those most in need; and ultimately contributes to the revocation and incarceration of people for technical, non-criminal violations, like missing appointments and substance use.
This would be concerning under any circumstances. But it is especially problematic with the current COVID-19 emergency. As such, the undersigned probation and parole executives and associations offer the following guidance and recommendations for elected and appointed officials that comport with best practices and will help reduce the impact of community supervision on the spread of the coronavirus. Many of these recommendations can and should be enacted quickly before there is any inadvertent contagion:
1. Immediately limit office visits for people on parole and probation. In order to avoid unnecessary travel and congregating in waiting rooms where the virus may spread, probation and parole departments should forgo reporting altogether for those who pose lower risk and/or have people under supervision report via telephone, on-line or by postcards. Research on, and experience with, computerized reporting has found that lower-risk individuals in particular perform well on computerized reporting.
2. Suspend or severely limit technical violations for the duration of the coronavirus crisis. Research has not found an association between technical violations and favorable public safety or rehabilitative outcomes. Further, probation and parole revocations for technical violations are a significant contributor to jail and prison churn. Incarceration for technical violations should be immediately suspended or drastically curtailed legislatively or administratively to reduce the possibility of unnecessarily carrying the virus into correctional facilities or from such facilities into the community. Given the limited research support for reincarceration for technical violations, the public safety and rehabilitation outcomes of reducing violations should then be carefully evaluated before technical violations are reinstated to pre-crisis levels.
3. Reduce intake onto probation and parole to only those who absolutely need to be under supervision. We urge courts and paroling authorities to limit placing people under supervision to only those who need, and can benefit from, community supervision. Courts and paroling authorities should release people from supervision as soon as possible who are low risk or who have shown through their performance on probation or parole that they no longer need to be under supervision. Persons currently on probation or parole for more than two years who are in compliance should be considered for immediate discharge from supervision.
4. Reduce the terms of probation and parole to only as long as necessary to achieve the goals of supervision. Most reoffending occurs in the first 18-24 months of supervision, suggesting that probation and parole terms longer than that engender costs with diminishing benefits. Legislatures, courts and paroling authorities should limit supervision terms to 18-24 months and allow people to further earn time off for compliance with conditions.
The above two recommendations would focus probation and parole resources on those who can truly benefit from community supervision, while limiting the travel, office visits and incarceration that increase COVID-19 exposure of persons under supervision.
5. Train staff to provide clear, accurate and understandable information to probation and parole clients. Supervision staff should inform their clients of proper precautions, recommended by public health officials, against virus spread such as staying home when sick, covering coughs and sneezes, frequently washing hands with soap and water and cleaning frequently touched surfaces.
Community supervision executives
Tyler Bouma, Executive Director, Marion County (IN) Community Corrections
Linda Brady, Chief Probation Officer, Monroe (IN) Circuit Court Probation Department; and Probation Officers Professional Association of Indiana (POPAI) Past-president
Corinne Briscoe, Director, Macoupin/Greene/Scott Probation District, IL
Barbara Broderick, EXiT Co-Chair; and former Chief Probation Officer, Maricopa County (AZ) Adult Probation
Susan Burke, Executive Director, The Carey Group; Past President, American Probation and Parole Association; and former Director (Ret.), Utah Division of Juvenile Justice Services
William Burrell, Corrections Management Consultant; and former Chief, Adult Probation Services, New Jersey State Court System
William Carbone, Senior Lecturer and Executive Director, Criminal Justice Programs and the Tow Youth Justice Institute, University of New Haven; and former Executive Director, State of Connecticut Judicial Branch, Court Support Services Division
Jason Cash, Chief Probation Officer, Navajo County, AZ
Michael Cimino, Chief Probation Officer, Maricopa County (AZ) Adult Probation
Ron Corbett, Faculty, UMass Lowell, and former Acting Commissioner, Massachusetts Probation Service
Dale Crook, Director of Field Services, Vermont Department of Corrections
Edward J. Dolan, Commissioner, Massachusetts Probation Service
Sarah Douthit, Chief Probation Officer, Coconino County (AZ) Adult Probation
Molly Gauntner, President, Ohio Chief Probation Officers Association
Andria Geigle, Chief Probation Officer, Montgomery County, IN
Adolfo Gonzales, EXiT Steering Committee member; and Chief Probation Officer, San Diego County, CA
Kele Griffone, Division Director, Salt Lake County (UT) Criminal Justice Services
Billie Grobe, Associate, Justice System Partners; and former Chief Probation Officer, Yavapai County, AZ
Norris Henderson, EXiT Steering Committee Member; and Executive Director, Voice of the Experienced (VOTE)
Thomas J. Herzog, Public Safety Consultant, Former Deputy Commissioner of Community Supervision, New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
Gary Hinzman, Past President, American Probation and Parole Association (APPA); and former Director, Sixth District Department of Correctional Services, IA
Marcus Hodges, EXiT Steering Committee member; and Associate Director, Washington DC Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA)
Martin Horn, Distinguished Lecturer, John Jay College of Criminal Justice; former Commissioner, New York City Department of Probation; and former Executive Director, New York State Division of Parole
Michael Jacobson, EXiT Steering Committee member; Executive Director, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance; and former Commissioner, New York City Corrections and Department of Probation
Mack Jenkins, Criminal Justice Consultant, and former Chief Probation Officer, San Diego County, California
David Johnson, Director, Division of Adult Parole, Colorado Department of Corrections
Sally Kreamer, Deputy Director, Iowa Department of Corrections
Steven Lessard, Chief Probation Officer, Gila County, AZ
Brian Lovins, EXiT Steering Committee member; Principal, Justice System Partners; and former Assistant Director, Harris County (TX) Community Supervision and Corrections Department
Scott MacDonald, Justice Consultant, Justsolve Inc.; and former Chief Probation Officer, Santa Cruz County, CA
Joseph Mancini, Director of Operations, SEAT Center; Associate Commissioner, Office of Community Partnerships, New York State Office of Children and Family Services; and former Director of Probation, Schenectady County, NY
Terri McDonald, EXiT Steering Committee member; and former Chief Probation Officer, Los Angeles County, CA
Rod McKone, Chief Adult Probation Officer, Pinal County, AZ
John Morris, Chief Adult Probation Officer, Yavapai County, AZ
David Muhammad, EXiT Steering Committee member; Executive Director, National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR); and former Chief Probation Officer, Alameda County, CA
Mario Paparozzi, Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of North Carolina at Pembroke; and former Chairman, New Jersey State Parole Board
Francine Perretta, Executive Director, Association of Women Executives in Correction (AWEC); former Deputy Probation Commissioner, Westchester County, NY; and former Director of Probation, St. Lawrence County, NY
Veronica Perry, Chief Probation Officer, Medina County, OH
Susan Rice, Chief Probation Officer, Miami County (IN) Probation
Gary A. Roberge, Executive Director, Connecticut Judicial Branch, Court Support Services Division
Vincent N. Schiraldi, EXiT Co-Chair; Co-Director, Columbia Justice Lab; and former Commissioner, New York City Department of Probation
John Schow, Director, DuPage County (IL) Probation and Court Services
Curtis Shanklin, Deputy Commissioner, Minnesota Corrections and Community Services Division
Beth Skinner, Director, Iowa Department of Corrections
Wendy Still, EXiT Steering Committee member; and Chief Probation Officer, Alameda County, CA
Tom Stotts, Chief Probation Officer, Marion Municipal Court, Marion, Ohio
Scott Taylor, Consultant, JustUs; and former Director, Multnomah County (OR) Department of Community Justice
Aswad Thomas, EXiT Steering Committee member; and Managing Director, Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, Alliance for Safety and Justice
Ray Wahl, Consultant, JustUs; and former Deputy State Court Administrator, Utah State Courts
Kathy Waters, Director, Adult Probation Services, Arizona Supreme Court
Community supervision associations
American Probation and Parole Association (APPA)
National Association of Probation Executives (NAPE)
To add your name as a signatory to this statement, please email Clarice Robinson at cr2992@columbia.edu.