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Justice System Practices That WorkTravis
County Community Corrections and Supervision
Department (CSCD) Conference

• June 29, 2006
• Stephen F. Austin Hotel
• Austin, Texas

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Welcome and Introduction

• Dr. Geraldine Nagy
• Director of Travis CSCD since January 2005
• Former Deputy Director for the Community Justice
  Assistance Division (CJAD) of the TDCJ
• Prior with the Federal Bureau of Prisons Deputy
  Director of Bastrop County CSCD
• Ph.D. in Psychology, Kansas State University

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Purpose of Conference

• Bring together Travis justice community to
• Learn about the Travis Community Impact
  Supervision initiative of the department
• Hear from national experts about evidence of what
  works and the challenges of implementing
  successful policies
• Explore how to be more innovative and get
  feedback from participants

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Challenges Facing Probation
Demands for probation systems to become more
effective in reducing recidivism and divert
offenders from prison while protecting public
safety
Evidence Based Practices (EBP) model as a
strategy to enhance the effectiveness of probation
EBP are practices in which there is general
evidence of effectiveness in reducing recidivism
Organizational practices
Testing in Travis County Probation
Department Austin, Texas
Diagnosis and supervision strategies
Program intervention and accountability
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Department Assessment Promising for EBP
Travis department has qualified personnel, strong
processes, supportive judiciary and active
Community Justice Council to provide foundation
for EBP
Department needs to improve assessment and field
supervision strategies, program monitoring, and
training, and needs to bring balance to a culture
in which process is main focus
Travis Community Impact Supervision Model (TCIS)
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Step One Improve Assessments of Offenders
Effective Assessments to Classify Population
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First Steps in a at Least a Two Year Project
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First Incubator Report Published an Overview
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Second Report on Diagnosis Available Today
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Overview of the Day

• Dr. Tony Fabelo
• Former Director of the Texas Criminal Justice
  Policy Council
• Served under five governors and ten regular
  biennial legislative sessions
• Now Senior Associate in Austin of The JFA
  Institute, Washington
• Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in
  Government

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Improving the Effectiveness of Probation

• 930 am to 1045 am
• Dr. Edward Latessa
• Director, Division of Criminal Justice at the
  University of Cincinnati
• Ph.D. from Ohio State University
• Among many studies, two recent studies for Ohio
  involving over 26,000 probationers and the review
  of over 100 programs

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Justice Mapping Thinking About Location

• 1100 am to 1145 am
• Eric Cadora
• Directs The JFA Mapping Center working with the
  Spatial Information Design Lab, Columbia
  University
• Expert in spatial visualization studies
• Works in many states and United Kingdom helping
  visualize Justice Reinvestment Strategies

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Better Diagnosis Practices as Key to Success

• 1145 am to 115 pm Lunch
• 115 pm to 230 pm
• Dr. Nagy and Dr. Fabelo
• Review development of new diagnosis practices for
  probationers in Travis
• 230 pm to 245 pm Break

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Proficient Justice

• 245 pm to 400 pm
• Mark Carey
• President, The Carey Group, consulting and
  training for justice system
• Prior Deputy Commissioner, Community and Juvenile
  Services, Minnesota DOC
• President this year of American Probation and
  Parole Association

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Bottom Line

• Dr. Latessa
• Successful probation programs depend on effective
  assessment of offenders
• Treatment programs work but they have to be
  effectively implemented
• Cadora
• Geographical concentration of justice populations
  should be considered in creating more effective
  probation supervision strategies

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Bottom Line (continued)

• Dr. Nagy and Dr. Fabelo
• Travis is implementing a new offender diagnosis
  process for probationers relying on
  evidence-based assessment tools
• Carey
• Research shows what is effective for proficient
  justice but this requires some culture and
  organizational changes

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Transition
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Present Assessment and Intake Process..
.requires offenders to show up in different
places makes them submit duplicative
information.
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And Involve Many Duplicative Forms
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We Are Creating a Central Diagnosis Process
.that provides one stop for offenders .uses
one set of diagnosis forms .is backed by an
assessment process that uses scientifically
validated tools .and is administered by expert
officers subject to centralized quality control
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Creating a Diagnosis Report a Key Change
Present
PSI A biography collected using inconsistent
interview protocols, with the story telling
affected by different writing styles and
utilizing no proven diagnosis tools to assess
offenders
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Central Diagnosis Report
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Two Main Assessment Tools Key to Diagnosis
Risk Assessment Instrument Identify factors
related to re-arrests and revocations Scientifical
ly validated for Travis probation population
Supervision Case Strategies (SCS) Interview/assess
ment protocol Identify most effective
supervision strategy for type of
offender Validated in research studies and
endorsed by CJAD
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Risk Assessment
Risk Assessment Factors
1. Address Changes Last 12 Months
2. Percent of Time Employed
3. Alcohol Usage
4. Other Drug Usage
5. Attitude
6. Age at First Adjudication of Guilt
7. Number of Prior Probation/Parole Supervision
8. Number of Prior Probation/Parole Revocations
9. Number of Adjudications of Guilt
10. Adjudications for
Burglary, theft. auto theft, or robbery
Worthless checks or forgery
Both groups of offenses
11. Adjudication for Assaultive Offense within last five years
High Risk Group
Medium Risk Group
Low Risk Group
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Risk Assessment Instrument
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Offenders in Travis Tracked for Two Years to
Validate Risk Assessment Instrument
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Instrument Differentiate Well for Felons
Felony Offenders Percent Arrested/Incarcerated
Two Years after Assessment by Risk Level
26 of felons were incarcerated after two
years 43 of revocations were for administrative
reasons
1, 760 felons tracked
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Differentiate Also for Misdemeanants
Misdemeanor Offenders Percent
Arrested/Incarcerated Two Years after Assessment
by Risk Level
12 of misdemeanants were incarcerated after two
years 49 of those revoked were for
administrative reasons
5,527 misdemeanants tracked
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Risk Distribution of the Travis Population
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SCS Interview/Assessment Protocol

• Semi structured Interview protocol
• Funnel approach to systematically identify key
  behavioral factors
• Rating of 70 items
• Cross-validation and other integrity techniques
  for scoring
• Classification of offenders in one of five groups

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Protocol Examines All Relevant Areas
Objective Background
Legal
Medical
School
Family
Offense Pattern
Family Attitude
Attitudes about offense
Feelings
Employment
School Adjustment
Mental Health
Residential
Inter-Personal
Substance/Alcohol Abuse
Plans and Problems
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Example of One Section of Questionnaire
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Assessment Leads to SCS Classification
SIS Pro-social, stable lifestyle offenders who
need to get back on track through Selective
Intervention
SIT Pro-social but with skill deficit and/or
substance abuse offenders who need to get back
on track through Selective Intervention with
Treatment (like outpatient programs)
ES Impulsive, lacks skills, easily led
offenders who need Environmental Structure
(like job skill classes, role model type of
interventions)
CC Destructive thinking, low self esteem and
emotional problems offenders who need Case
Control (like residential programs and cognitive
programs)
LS Criminal thinking, seeks power, thrills,
money offenders who need Limit Setting (like
electronic monitoring, field contacts)
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Matrix to Present Results of Diagnosis
X
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Supervision Strategies Related to Matrix
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Minimize Contacts for Some, Max for Others
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Distribution of Felony Offenders
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SI-S SI-T ES CC LS
Minimum 7.1 7.1 .4 .9 .9
Medium 9.7 14.5 2.6 7.9 3.5
Maximum 4.0 7.1 3.5 21.1 9.7
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Report of 4/13/06
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Distribution of Misdemeanor Offenders
468 misdemeanants placed on probation
Study Group
Jan. 16, 2006 to February 28, 2006
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SI-S SI-T ES CC LS
Minimum 25.4 13.6 0 .6 0
Medium 16.5 14.1 1.3 2.8 .9
Maximum 4.1 6.2 1.5 9.8 3.2
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Report of 4/13/06
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Report to the Court
Identifiers/Case Processing
Offense/Criminal History
Victim Information
Narrative of Assessment Highlights
Diagnosis Matrix
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Important Difference in Culture
Probation department will not make
arecommendation for or against probation
Probation department will say this is a low,
medium or high risk yellow, blue or
redoffender to be supervised under the
strategiesand conditions set for that group
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Thank You