Smarter Supervision with Statewide Impact

The Second Chance Act signed into law on April 9, 2008, provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of people who are released from prison and jail and returning to communities, including resources to address the myriad needs of these offenders to achieve a successful return to their communities. As a complement to the Second Chance Act programs, the FY 2014 Smart Supervision Program (SSP) seeks to improve probation and parole success rates, which would in turn improve public safety, reduce admissions to prisons and jails, and save taxpayer dollars. The goal of this program is to develop and test innovative strategies to implement evidence-based probation and parole approaches that increase community safety, and reduce violent crime by effectively addressing individuals' risk and needs, and reducing recidivism.

The Washington State Department of Corrections will use grant funds to train community corrections staff in the use of the STRONG-R tool and responsivity-driven case management; to provide quality assurance monitoring activities to ensure fidelity; and to contract with researchers for independent evaluation of processes and outcomes related to this significant transition. With the full implementation of the STRONG-R, the department will have a significantly greater capacity both to accurately assess offender risk and to provide targeted, real-time interventions that will reduce recidivism and increase community safety.
CA/NCF