Key program features and evaluation findings are presented for grantees under the federal Innovations in Supervision Initiative (ISI), which provides grants and technical assistance to states, local communities, and tribal governments for the development, testing, and implementation of research-based and innovative community supervision strategies.
Six strategies are identified as being common among the grantees. One strategy is to use evidence-based practices and principles of effective supervision and service delivery that help probationers and parolees understand and change their problem behaviors. A second strategy is to increase collaboration among criminal justice partners and community-based treatment services. A third prominent strategy among ISI grantees is the focusing of supervision resources on those probationers and parolees who are most likely to reoffend, based on validated risk assessments. A fourth common strategy among grantees is to incorporate evaluation and action research into a continuous effort to improve the quality and effectiveness of services and resources. A fifth common strategy is to adopt technology that improves operations, including the monitoring and improvement of probation/parole officer practices and decision-making. The sixth common strategy is to improve staff training in implementing proven recidivism-reduction interventions and supervision activities. Program evaluations are included for ISI grantees who have completed them. The other grantees are in varying stages of program implementation and evaluation.