NCJ Number
225189
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 72 Issue: 2 Dated: September 2008 Pages: 29-37
Date Published
September 2008
Length
9 pages
Annotation
The Chief U.S. Probation Officer for the Northern District of Iowa describes the principles and practices under which his agency has managed change to evidence-based practice (EBP) that emphasizes positive outcomes for those supervised as well as increased public protection.
Abstract
In presenting his vision for designing and implementing change toward EBP in the agency, the author outlines five leadership strategies for the future. The strategies address communication and recognition, vision-driven action, changeability, a culture of independence, and managing intelligently. The strategic initiative for organizational change involved applying for grant funds from the Federal Office of Probation and Pretrial Services under a pilot project called Research to Results, which was designed to fund EBP efforts in selected Federal probation districts. Funding was approved in each of 2 years for the Northern District of Iowa. In using grant funds, the district followed “An Integrated Model for Implementing Effective Correctional Management of Offenders in the Community.” This model emphasizes an equal focus on evidence-based principles (content), organization development (internal strategy), and collaboration (external strategy). After nearly 18 months into the grant implementation, the district has just recently reached the threshold of being able to implement evidence-based principles of supervision into professional practice. Among the changes achieved was the freeing of supervision officers from some of the bureaucracy of their workload by using grant funds to hire technicians to perform mundane administrative tasks. This enabled supervision officers to spend more time with clients in the field, concentrating on helping clients to change their behavior and meet their commitments. The performance measurement of staff has been altered to ensure officers are using the risk/needs assessment tool in developing strategies and goals with the case plan. The Performance Appraisal System has been modified to include critical elements of evidence-based delivery provisions. 2 tables and 18 references