NCJ Number
223742
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 35 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2008 Pages: 832-847
Date Published
July 2008
Length
16 pages
Annotation
In order to determine the policies and practices of probation agencies in managing probationers with mental illness (PMIs), this study surveyed 54 probation agencies with specialty programs for PMIs as well as 20 probation agencies with traditional programs.
Abstract
The survey found that most agencies, whether specialty agencies or traditional agencies, lacked formal policies on the supervision of PMIs; however, relative to probation officers who used traditional case-management practices with probationers whether or not they have mental illness, officers who tailored their case-management practices to PMIs met with PMIs more often than under traditional case management practices. Specialty officers were also more likely than traditional officers to meet with mental health professionals and case managers as part of a treatment team; and they used more positive tactics, particularly problem solving, in addressing PMIs noncompliance with probation requirements compared with traditional officers. In addition, although both agency types used graduated sanctions, traditional officers generally responded to PMIs noncompliance with more punitive sanctions than specialty officers. The sampling strategy was designed to identify and represent most specialty agencies across the Nation and contrast them with a relatively small sample of traditional agencies in similar locations. The mail and interview-based questionnaires addressed time allocations for various case-management tasks, the number and type of case contacts, and strategies for addressing noncompliance and violations. 2 tables, 2 figures, and 29 references