Building Bridges to Facilitate Offender Supervision

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Building Bridges to Facilitate Offender
Supervision
KANSAS RISK REDUCTION Partners Building
Bridges to Facilitate Successful Offender
Re-entry

• Keven Pellant, Deputy Secretary
• Community Field Services
• Kansas Department of Corrections

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KANSAS RISK REDUCTION Partners Building
Bridges to Facilitate Successful Offender
Re-entry
Kansas Department of Corrections Mission
Statement

• The Department of Corrections, as part of the
  criminal justice system, contributes to the
  public safety and supports victims of crime by
  exercising safe and effective containment and
  supervision of inmates, by managing offenders in
  the community, and by actively encouraging and
  assisting offenders to become law-abiding
  citizens.

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KANSAS RISK REDUCTION Partners Building
Bridges to Facilitate Successful Offender
Re-entry
Kansas Parole Board Mission Statement
Consistent with the principles of evidence based
practices, parole privilege shall be extended to
those offenders who demonstrate suitability by
having served incarceration time set forth by the
courts and who have demonstrated a reduction in
risk to re-offend such that re-victimization is
minimized and rehabilitation and successful
reentry are maximized similarly, parole
suitability shall be rescinded in cases where an
offender demonstrates increasing risk in the
community.
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Kansas Sentencing Structure Determinate
Sentences
KANSAS RISK REDUCTION Partners Building
Bridges to Facilitate Successful Offender
Re-entry

• Offenders sentenced under the determinate
  sentencing structure are not released under
  the Parole Boards discretion, therefore, they
  rarely meet with the Parole Board prior to
  release from a prison setting. Indeterminate
  sentenced persons still require Board action.
• Prior to an offenders release, the Parole Board
  establishes special conditions of supervision by
  conducting a file review and assessing
• offenders risk areas and needs
• programmatic accomplishments
• institutional behavior
• pattern of crime
• input from victims
• This review process commences six months prior to
  an offenders projected guidelines release date
  and may be revisited several times within that
  six month time frame as new and/or amended
  information becomes available.

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Risk Reduction Work as a Partnership
KANSAS RISK REDUCTION Partners Building
Bridges to Facilitate Successful Offender
Re-entry

• Setting conditions based on use of risk
  needs assessment instrument (LSI- R) AND facility
  staff recommendations
• The Board has recently rewritten the standard
  conditions and the language for special
  conditions to cater to the needs of offenders
  and allow flexibility for the supervision of the
  offender (Responsivity)
• Culture Change Skill building for both
  Parole Board Members and Supervision Staff

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How Does it Work?
KANSAS RISK REDUCTION Partners Building
Bridges to Facilitate Successful Offender
Re-entry

• Risk Needs Assessment (LSI-R) is done in the
  field, at facility intake, and at follow up
  intervals
• Specific treatment assessment by providers
  elicits recommended treatment

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(continued)
KANSAS RISK REDUCTION Partners Building
Bridges to Facilitate Successful Offender
Re-entry

• Parole Board wording of conditions of
  supervision allow supervision staff to use the
  providers treatment recommendation
• Do not need to return to Board to change
  wording of conditions
• Use treatment recommendations conditions to
  respond to violations as an intervention in
  behavior

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Culture and Skill Building means
KANSAS RISK REDUCTION Partners Building
Bridges to Facilitate Successful Offender
Re-entry

• Strengths based case management skills
• Advanced Communication/Motivational Skills
• LSI-R (overview of the instrument)
• Cognitive skills (T4C)
• Celebrate successes /hold the offenders
  accountable for relapses
• Development Use of Graduated Sanctions

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KANSAS RISK REDUCTION Partners Building
Bridges to Facilitate Successful Offender
Re-entry
The Bridge with Victim Services
The Kansas Parole Board works closely with the
Kansas Department of Corrections Office of Victim
Services to facilitate notification processes,
enhance confidential communication of victims
concerns, implement conditions to promote victim
safety, and continuously identify opportunities
that improve policies and procedures to include
the victims in the parole process.  
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How Did We Get Here, well.
KANSAS RISK REDUCTION Partners Building
Bridges to Facilitate Successful Offender
Re-entry

• Literature Review on Evidence Based Practices
• Choosing a Risk Assessment Tool
• Managing Culture Change
• Balancing Risk Management
• Developing/Piloting/Exploring
• Ceasing What Does Not Work
• Doing What Does Work
• Measuring/Evaluation of Every Step

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