Pray

Spread the Word

Hold the Government Accountable

Change the Law

Pray

• Pray for community-based groups to effectively provide people on probation and parole the services they need to be successful.

• Pray for perseverance and diligence for ex-offenders on supervision who are trying to complete their terms successfully.

• Pray for loving mentors to help these offenders navigate the challenges of reentry.

• Ask God to give probation and parole officers attentiveness to the unique needs and challenges of people in their caseload and focus on equipping them for success.

• Pray that policy-makers would chose just and effective ways to hold offenders on probation and parole accountable

Spread the Word

Talk with your friends and family about how we can better supervise offenders to keep our communities safe.

• One out of every 45 adults in the United States is on probation or parole. (One in 31:  The Long Reach of American Corrections, Pew Center on the States, 2009)

• Probation and parole failures have significantly contributed the size of our prison population.  More than one third of all prison admissions in 2005 were parole violations. (When Offenders Break the Rules: Smart Responses to Probation and Parole Violations, Pew Center on the States, 2007)

• Many offenders on probation and parole who end up back in prison do so because of breaking some technical rule of their supervision rather than committing a new crime.  In some states, over half of violators returned to prison did not commit a new offense. (When Offenders Break the Rules: Smart Responses to Probation and Parole Violations, Pew Center on the States, 2007)

• In 2006, nearly a fifth of people leaving probation were sent back to prison, with over half of these returning for rule violations rather than a new crime. (Probation and Parole in the United States, 2006,  Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2008)

• In 2006, roughly 40% of people exiting parole were sent back to prison for violating their supervision rules or committing a new crime. (Probation and Parole in the United States, 2006, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2008)

• Offenders are often placed on supervision with little thought to their risk level.  This means that those who pose little danger are over-supervised and suck resources away from those who pose greater danger.  Just like using the same leash for a Chihuahua and a tiger makes little sense, so, too, does treating low risk and high risk offenders the same way.  We need to wisely divide our resources so that the most are available for those offenders with the greatest risk of committing new crimes.  Filling our prisons with people who are only noncompliant crowds out room and resources for those who are truly dangerous. (Maximum Impact:  Targeting Supervision on Higher Risk People, Places, and Times, Pew Center on the States, 2009)

• Over-supervising offenders on probation and parole can harm their chances of successfully completing their terms of supervision. (A Guide for Probation and Parole: Motivating Offenders to Change, National Institute of Corrections, 2007)

• Delays in responding to probation and parole violations limit the deterrent power of these sanctions. (When Offenders Break the Rules: Smart Responses to Probation and Parole Violations, Pew Center on the States, 2007)

• Alternative sanctions, which are punishments other new prison terms, delivered swiftly after a rule violation have proven to enforce positive behavior in offenders. (HOPE in Hawaii: Swift and Sure Changes in Probation, National Institute of Justice, 2008)

• It also costs thousands of extra dollars per person to lock in prison rather than to supervise in the community.  Prison costs are staggeringly higher than probation and parole costs. (One in 31:  The Long Reach of American Corrections, Pew Center on the States, 2009)

• Offenders need to be provided with positive incentives to motivate them to comply with the rules of their supervision. (A Guide for Probation and Parole: Motivating Offenders to Change, National Institute of Corrections, 2007)

• Probation and parole officers need to have manageable caseloads.  Too often, they are overwhelmed with so many charges that the quality of their work is placed at risk. (From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Reentry, The Urban Institute, 2001)

• Probation and parole officers need to connect their charges with resources to help them change behavior – a trail, nail and jail approach doesn’t set offenders up for success as they reenter society. (Implementing Evidence-Based Practice in Community Corrections: The Principles of Effective Intervention, Crime and Justice Institute, 2004)

Hold our Government Accountable

Write a letter to your newspaper about what must change in our corrections system.

Dear Editor,

If our probation and parole system’s success was measured by, well, failures, then we would be doing a laudable job.  More than one third of prison admissions are for parole failures, and half of the people in U.S. jails are there because they violated their community supervision.

For many people, the violation that sent them back to prison was not an illegal act but rather a breach of the rules of their supervision—like keeping a curfew and reporting to their officer.

Locking up rule breakers clogs our prisons with people who make us mad, not threaten us.  This drains precious resources away from those who truly pose a danger to society.

Thankfully, there are better ways than new prison terms to hold offenders accountable.  Swift, consistent punishments can compel offenders to comply with their supervision.  Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) program, for example, uses short jail stays immediately after dirty drug tests to keep offenders in line.  HOPE participants are three times less likely to be arrested than a comparison group of people on probation.

Responding to offenders according to their risk and with proportional punishments can keep them following the rules without wiping out the progress they have made reentering society.  And, without take the prison space and money our states need to keep our communities peaceful and safe.

Change the Law

Write to your government representatives to ask them to support wise probation and parole policies.

Dear Senator ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­______________,

Please support legislation that requires probation and parole systems to use methods proven to keep our communities safe.  One in 45 American adults is under supervision in the United States.  Yet many of these people are sent back to prison before they ever finish their terms.  Over half of parolees and more than 40% of probationers fail.

Many of them are sent back to prison for breaking the rules of their supervision - not committing new crimes.  Locking up rule breakers clogs our prisons with people who make us mad, not threaten us.  This drains precious resources away from those who truly pose a danger to society.

Thankfully, there are ways proven to hold offenders accountable while using resources wisely and protecting our communities.  We must tailor conditions of supervision to match offenders’ specific risks and needs.  This allows us to direct more services and supervision towards high risk offenders while empowering low-risk offenders to succeed.

We must also respond to technical violations with swift and certain sanctions that are proportional to the offense.  Relying on prison sentences as the sole punishment for breaking the rules makes about as much sense as throwing a grenade at a house fly.

Please support the wellbeing of our communities by pushing for smart probation and parole, and encourage your colleagues to do the same.

Dear Representative ______________,

Please support legislation that requires probation and parole systems to use methods proven to keep our communities safe.  One in 45 American adults is under supervision in the United States.  Yet many of these people are sent back to prison before they ever finish their terms.  Over half of parolees and more than 40% of probationers fail.

Many of them are sent back to prison for breaking the rules of their supervision - not committing new crimes.  Locking up rule breakers clogs our prisons with people who make us mad, not threaten us.  This drains precious resources away from those who truly pose a danger to society.

Thankfully, there are ways proven to hold offenders accountable while using resources wisely and protecting our communities.  We must tailor conditions of supervision to match offenders’ specific risks and needs.  This allows us to direct more services and supervision towards high risk offenders while empowering low-risk offenders to succeed.

We must also respond to technical violations with swift and certain sanctions that are proportional to the offense.  Relying on prison sentences as the sole punishment for breaking the rules makes about as much sense as throwing a grenade at a house fly.

Please support the wellbeing of our communities by pushing for smart probation and parole, and encourage your colleagues to do the same.