Swift, Certain, and Fair Principles of Intervention in Hamilton County, OH

The Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Adult Probation Department proposes to develop and implement SCF principles of intervention in Hamilton County, Ohio. The purpose is to develop a comprehensive research informed behavior management system to support probation officers in reducing recidivism and improving outcomes for people under Common Pleas Court supervision by using the SCF principles of intervention when faced with managing noncompliance and/or probationer misconduct, in addition to rewarding and incentivizing pro-social client behaviors. Project activities include establishing a project management team; developing a research informed behavior management system; training Risk Reduction Probation Officers in the use of the system; piloting the system and revising as needed; and scaling up the implementation of the behavior management system to the entire Common Pleas Court Adult Probation Department.

Expected outcomes of implementing supervision strategies based on best practices in community supervision that incorporate key SCF principles include a reduction of revocations, lessening of the backlog in Common Pleas Court dockets, and a reduction of noncompliant behaviors by probationers that require sanctions. The University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute will partner to provide the required training, technical assistance, and evaluation services.