10 Treatment For Offenders Under Community Supervision

In Florida, where there are no regulations on the industry, Troy Charles, who had a history of substance abuse and jail time, decided to start his own halfway house in 2011. It turned out that Charles used most of the money to purchase drugs, and the house folded just a year later, after Charles shot a resident. Cross-training of probation and parole officers, case managers, and substance abuse counselors is vital for the delivery of coordinated services. Initiatives such as cross-training, coordinated and comprehensive planning, and followup interdisciplinary meetings can help justice and treatment system partners to develop a shared, client-centered mission and a coordinated response. Figure 10-2 provides an example of how the goals of the treatment and criminal justice systems can be viewed as similar, although on the surface they appear disparate. Nearly 80 percent of prisoners returning to the community are released on parole under conditional release . A successful transition from offender to citizen often depends on successful treatment.

These can be coordinated on an individual basis through case management and collaboration among system practitioners. All across the country, stories like these play out in poorly regulated halfway houses, and so far, very little has been done to improve the industry. Despite those staggering statistics, very few of those escapes are Shawshank-esque, and very few escapees are like Matt and Sweat.

At the same time, self-esteem is not always a useful treatment target or goal with offenders. Feelings of shame and stigma are sometimes missing, especially in those having antisocial traits and psychopathy. Targeting self-esteem without also increasing sense of personal responsibility and empathy for others may only result in a more confident criminal.

This section builds on the material in chapter 3 to provide information specific to offenders under community supervision. Placement will depend on a number of factors, including the duration and severity of the offender’s substance use as well as the crimes committed.

Dallas County Judicial Treatment Center: A Sample Community

As with parolees, in order to be effective treatment must necessarily focus on changing ingrained patterns of behavior and thinking and avoiding the people, places, and things that the offender associates with drug or alcohol use. Unlike people on parole, however, the issue is not so much to reintegrate into society, but rather to learn new ways to live in that society. Much of the information presented in chapter 7 is also applicable to probationers, since many probationers Sober living houses have been sentenced through drug courts. Increasingly, vocational training, GED programs, and job readiness training are being added to treatment. If programs do not offer these services, they can link to community agencies that can provide them. Offenders need specific preparation for responding to a prospective employer’s questions about their past. Lying is often a first choice, given the prospect that admitting to a criminal history will likely bar them from the job.

• These can be coordinated on an individual basis through case management and collaboration among system practitioners.
• However, the parolee does not exist in a discrete, well-coordinated system, but rather in a cluster of independent agencies and entities with separate justice responsibilities.
• He also explained that, because the house’s staff was untrained—the clinical director lacked a college degree and barely made more than minimum wage—they were unable to address illnesses among the home’s more than one hundred residents.
• Model programs described at the end of this chapter include comprehensive services to address a range of issues.
• Studies show, for example, that the most effective treatment lasts a minimum of 3–6 months, and outcomes improve with additional time in treatment.
• The program targets high-risk offenders and excludes people with psychotic disorders and excessive criminal or violent histories.

Those working with probationers and parolees need training to address each of these barriers. It is important for professionals working with offenders under community supervision to learn that offenders often do not realize that the goal of community corrections is to prevent them from being reincarcerated.

Intermediate Supervision

While public safety is always a priority, training for probation and parole officers should emphasize that the offender’s long-term treatment will bring sustained improvements in public safety. Ideally, cross-system integration for offender transitional services contributes to cost benefits as a result of reduced recidivism (Inciardi 1996; National Institute of Justice 1995; Swartz et al. 1996). However, the parolee does not exist in a discrete, well-coordinated system, but rather in a cluster of independent agencies and entities with separate justice responsibilities. Most operate under separate funding streams, with differing organizational missions that may or may not share philosophical orientations toward public safety and offender rehabilitation. TIP 30, Continuity of Offender Treatment for Substance Use Disorders From Institution to Community , discusses this topic in depth. An intensive probation program in San Diego County, California, Probationers in Recovery requires offenders to participate in intensive drug treatment and drug testing.

Foremost among needs for ancillary services are drug-free housing or other living arrangements, employment, family support, transportation, education, and primary health care. Others include literacy training, HIV/AIDS education, and prosocial support networks (Belenko and Peugh 1998; Hiller et al. 1999b).

Family members should be involved whenever possible, and participation in self-help groups should be encouraged. The offender’s home environment often is not helpful for encouraging adherence to treatment. Treatment providers should explore the family’s dynamics promptly during a home visit and make alternative living arrangements if the environment threatens to undermine treatment progress. The offender may be the scapegoat for family problems, making his or her return to the home counterproductive. Also, other family members may be actively using drugs or involved in criminal activities. While both probationers and parolees are under community supervision, the level of supervision varies according to individual circumstances. The kinds of changes community corrections professionals ask drug offenders to undertake are extraordinarily challenging and difficult to contemplate on a personal level.

The program includes an aftercare stage, where clients are under community supervision. Data from a 3-year followup indicate that the group in aftercare shows the most powerful effects of the earlier treatment (Martin et al. 1999). While some States do not require licensing for treatment providers, it is undesirable to have unaccredited, unlicensed people providing treatment. The consensus panel feels strongly that individuals providing treatment to offender populations should meet minimum standards of recognized accrediting authorities in addition to receiving specialized training in substance use disorders and relapse prevention. Special attention needs to be paid to the training of recovering staff who are essential counseling resources for therapeutic communities and other programming. Their credibility with clients and role modeling potential cannot be underestimated. Programs that include opportunities for clients to begin counselor training while in custody enrich programs and offer increased hope for participants.

Often the breakdowns in communication between probation, parole, and treatment professionals are the result of a lack of understanding of each other’s roles. Both parole and probation officers need to be attuned to treatment needs, halfway house activity the dynamics of substance use disorders, and the changes required to maximize an offender-client’s chance to succeed. Training needs to be provided to them on how to craft requirements that support a client’s potential for success.

Adherence To Supervision Conditions

Community service serves to reconnect the offender with the community and allows for retribution. This section highlights the panel’s recommended treatment options for both populations.

They may be able to simulate motivation but lack any real emotional investment in changing behavior. Clear, consistent, and uniform messages promote recovery and prevent the two halfway house activity systems from being used against one another. If the word “on the street” is that staff can be manipulated, treatment providers will face an uphill battle with many clients.

Probationers In Recovery

Revocations because of technical violations of probation or parole requirements are a major barrier to completion of successful treatment. For example, the consensus panel suggests that training for probation officers working with drug offenders could include education on what treatment is and is not. Similarly, treatment professionals working with drug offenders should be trained on the role of parole and probation in the criminal justice system. Probation and parole are frequently the most misunderstood element of the system, considered to be “law enforcement” by treatment professionals and “social work” by law enforcement.

Of the 74 percent of probationers and parolees identified as having drug and/or alcohol problems, 11.4 percent were also identified as having mental illness . The prevalence of co-occurring disorders among these populations means that many offenders will need assistance with their mental illness as well as their drug or alcohol problems. Treatment for co-occurring mental disorders should be tailored to the particular treatment plan, and revised according to ongoing assessment. An example of one model for treating offenders with mental illness is highlighted below. It serves high-risk/high-need offenders who abuse substances and who have had technical violations or committed new offenses while on probation or parole.

Treatment Issues Specific To People On Parole

Not only have arrests and imprisonment removed many young men and increasing numbers of young women from their communities and families, the majority have no financial resources to cushion their return. Their halfway house activity length of time away from the job world and lack of skills or experience to enter the marketplace leave many offenders low on the job ladder and further unable to support families or meet social expectations.

Author: Timothy Legg