Reducing Revocations Challenge

Challenge:

Growing consensus among practitioners, policymakers, and the public suggests far too many people are under correctional control in the United States. Consider: In 1980, 1.8 million adults were in prison, jail, or under community supervision; by 2018, that number had grown to over 6.4 million. While many large-scale initiatives have targeted the reduction of jail and prison populations, there remains a significant gap in reform related to community supervision—ironically, by far the most common type of correctional control. Currently, one in 55 adults is under supervision, representing roughly 2 percent of the US adult population and nearly two-thirds of the total correctional population.

Community supervision is designed as an incarceration alternative, yet revocation rates among people on probation are alarmingly high, with revocations a significant driver of jail and prison admissions. To counter these trends, evidence-based supervision strategies—such as risk- and needs-based supervision and graduated responses—have emerged over the years, along with efforts in some jurisdictions to reduce the length of supervision terms. While these strategies have effected change in many places, success rates remain far too low. We lack knowledge about the factors, circumstances, and behaviors that drive revocations to jail or prison, and how to respond to clients in a way that prevents new criminal activity without over-punishing less harmful behaviors. This knowledge could inform practices that reduce revocations and maximizes supervision success, while at the same time protecting public safety.

Approach:

To fill these critical knowledge gaps and support fundamental transformation of the approach to probation, ISLG partnered with Arnold Ventures to launch the Reducing Revocations Challenge. The first phase of the Challenge supported action research in 10 jurisdictions across the country, to explore in-depth the drivers of unsuccessful exits from probation and use that information to identify new policy and practice solutions. This innovative research was undertaken by each site’s Action Research Team (ART), composed of a research organization and a local probation agency who were selected through a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process. The second phase of the Challenge will support planning and implementation for a subset of ARTs’ proposed strategies and will be guided by the findings described in the research brief “Pathways to Success on Probation: Findings from the First Phase of the Reducing Revocations Challenge.”

ARTs have now released in-depth research reports laying out the drivers they have identified and how they might be addressed through targeted solutions:

• Cook County, IL: Loyola University and the Cook County Adult Probation Department

• Denver, CO: University of Wyoming and Denver Adult Probation

• Harris County, TX: Justice System Partners and the Harris County Community Supervision & Corrections Department

• Monroe County, IN: Indiana University and the Monroe Circuit Court Probation Department

• Niagara County, NY: Niagara University and the Niagara County Probation Department

• Pima County, AZ: Urban Institute and the Adult Probation Department of the Superior Court in Pima County

• Pulaski County, AR: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Community Corrections

• Ramsey County, MN: Robina Institute and Ramsey County Community Corrections

• Santa Cruz County, CA: Resource Development Associates and the Santa Cruz County Probation Department

• Spokane County, WA: ideas42 and the Spokane Municipal Probation Department

Progress:

Since the start of the RRC, we’ve overseen the ARTs and provided technical assistance and support, including peer learning events that culminated in an early 2021 cross-site summit where we shared findings and discussed policy and practice implications. Since that time, ARTs have developed targeted policy and practice interventions designed to reduce the footprint of probation and improve client outcomes. A subset of these interventions will be funded in a second phase of the initiative slated to begin in the fall of 2021.

For more information on the Reducing Revocations Challenge, please contact Reagan Daly, Research Director, at Reagan.Daly@islg.cuny.edu.