Hillsborough County New Hope Program

The Swift and Certain Sanctions(SAC)/Replicating the Concepts Behind Project HOPE program provides funding to states, units of local government, territories, and federally recognized Indian tribes (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior) in an effort to enhance public safety, foster collaboration, and to improve the outcomes of individuals under the supervision of community corrections.

The goals of Swift and Certain Sanctions (SAC)/Replicating the Concepts Behind Project HOPE program, funded by Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, Pub. L. No. 113-76, 128 Stat. 5, 63, §§ 22 and 29, are to develop and enhance SAC initiatives and implement the SAC model with fidelity, resulting in reduced recidivism and better outcomes for program participants. SAC approaches are intended to: (a) improve supervision strategies that reduce recidivism; (b) promote and increase collaboration among agencies and officials who work in community corrections and related fields; (c) enhance the offenders perception that the supervision decisions are fair, consistently applied and consequences are transparent; and (d) improve the outcomes of individuals participating in these initiatives.

The grant recipient will use the grant to bring enhanced supervision and reentry services to high-medium risk high-need probationers. The base target population will include 334 probationers currently under supervision. The project team will be trained on the program protocols and they will monitor the offenders closely, while acting swiftly and certainly when a violation occurs. The team will couple the swift sanctions and frequent random drug testing protocols with other reentry services, including employment assistance, education and housing assistance, family counseling, drug and alcohol treatment, community pro-social resources and monthly treatment plan reviews. Mandatory evidence-based practices will be employed with a focus on female probationers and trauma informed care. The goal is to reduce recidivism among probationers while collecting and analyzing the data to demonstrate the efficacy of the program.

CA/NCF