EVALUATION OF THE SPECIALIZED UNITS PROJECT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA BOARD OF PROBATION AND PAROLE

• NCJ Number: 26204
• Author(s): M V LEWIS; B J CLARK
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 58 pages
• Grant Number(s): DS-364-73E
• Sponsoring Agency: Pennsylvania Governor's Justice Cmssn
• Corporate Author: Pennsylvania State University
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

AN ASSESSMENT OF THIS PROJECT WHICH TESTED THE EFFECTS OF LOWER CASE LOADS ON THE SUPERVISION AND SERVICES PROVIDED TO BOARD CLIENTS.

Abstract

THE ASSUMPTION UNDERLYING THIS PROJECT WAS THAT AN AGENT WITH FEWER CLIENTS TO SUPERVISE CAN DO A BETTER JOB. THE INTENSIVE SUPERVISION UNITS WERE DESIGNED TO REDUCE CASE LOADS OF AGENTS TO APPROXIMATELY 35 CLIENTS EACH. EVALUATION ACTIVITIES CONSISTED OF A SURVEY OF AGENTS AND CLIENTS IN THE SPECIALIZED UNITS AND IN REGULAR CASE LOADS, ON-SITE VISITS AND INTERVIEWS WITH SUPERVISORS AND AGENTS, AND A TIME SERIES ANALYSIS WHICH COMPARED PAROLE AND PROBATION RESULTS BEFORE AND AFTER THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SPECIALIZED UNITS. FROM THE EVIDENCE GATHERED IN THE EVALUATION, THERE WAS NO INDICATION THAT THE SPECIALIZED UNIT PRODUCED LESS RECIDIVISM AND MORE EFFICIENT AGENT INTERVENTION AT CRITICAL POINTS. ATTEMPTS WERE MADE TO RELATE THE SIZE OF CASE LOADS PER AGENT TO THE FAILURE RATES OF CLIENTS, BUT NO RELATIONSHIPS WERE FOUND FOR ANY OF THE AREAS. THE SURVEY OF CLIENTS AND AGENTS FAILED TO YIELD ANY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN THE LEVEL OF SUPERVISION OR TYPES OF SERVICES PROVIDED TO CLIENTS IN THE SPECIALIZED UNITS FROM THOSE IN THE REGULAR CASE LOADS. METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS IN THE EVALUATION ANALYSES ARE ALSO DISCUSSED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)