Promising Practices in

Criminal Justice Reform

Council of State Government
June 2017

Presentation by Steve Allen, CSG

 Most people in the justice system have
multiple risks and needs

Objective Public Safety Public Health

• Recidivism • Relapse
Risk • Violence • Decompensation

• Criminal Thinking*
• Associates • Substance Abuse
• Drugs & Alcohol • Mental Illness
Needs • Family & Relationships • Co-occurring
• Work/School • Physical health
• Lifestyle

*Most predictive
Council of State Governments Justice Center 3
 People with behavioral health conditions are over-represented
in criminal justice systems
In the U.S. General Population: In the U.S. State Prison Population:

9% 53%
Meet criteria Meet criteria
for substance
use disorders for Substance
56% Abuse
16% Meet criteria
Meet criteria Disorders
For mental illness for Mental
Health
Problem
5%
Meet criteria for
serious mental illness 17%
Meet criteria for
serious mental illness

On average, female inmates have a higher prevalence

Source: Doris James and Lauren Glaze. “Mental Health Problems of Prison
and Jail Inmates”. September 2006. Office of Justice Programs
of MH and SU Disorders than male offenders
http://gainscenter.samhsa.gov/pdfs/disorders/gainsjailprev.pdf
Properly assessing risks and needs helps
appropriately match people to the right types of
interventions
Risk and Treatment Assessment

Risk, need and responsivity

principles work by individually
MOD/
matching an individual’s LOW HIGH
risk of recidivism and RISK RISK
criminogenic need factors to
programs and treatment.

When tailored programs Low to High Low to High

Treatment Needs Treatment Needs
and treatment are combined
with community supervision,
Standard Enhanced
they are effective in reducing Supervision Supervision
recidivism.
Standard Enhanced
Treatment Treatment

Jordan M. Hyatt, JD PhD and Geoffrey C. Barnes, PhD, Evidence Based Practices (EBP) &
Workload Analysis: Survey Results, April 2015 Council of State Governments Justice Center | 5
To reduce recidivism, approaches must address
the need areas that drive criminal behavior
Addressing just one need Programs must be based on
Programs must have
is insufficient to change proven curricula or
high integrity
behavior principles of effective
intervention
Addressing only one criminogenic factor Evidenced-based practices significantly Program integrity is how closely a program
has significantly less of an impact than reduce recidivism, while outdated punitive aligns with best practice standards (fidelity
addressing multiple factors approaches can increase negative results to the model).

Cognitive-
behavioral with Increased 22% Reduced
Targeting 1 Targeting 3+ Recidivism
Need Needs graduated +8%
Recidivism
skills practice
10%
Punishment
oriented +8%
14%
0-30 31-59 60-69 70+
22% - Program integrity
51% score
Level of Recidivism Reduced Increased
Reduction -26% Recidivism -19% Recidivism

 Andrews and Bonta, The Psychology of Criminal Conduct, 5th ed. (New Providence, NJ: Mathew and Bender & Company,
Inc., 2010); Lowenkamp, Latessa, and Holsinger, “The Risk Principle in Action: What Have We Learned from 13,676
Offenders and 97 Correctional Programs?” Crime and Delinquency 52, no. 1 (2006): 77-93. Council of State Governments Justice Center | 6
Adherence to RNR principles is especially important to the
effectiveness of community supervision as a recidivism
reduction strategy
EFFECT SIZE OF DIFFERENT SUPERVISION PROGRAMS ON
RECIDIVISM REDUCTION AS DETERMINED BY INVENTORY
 Characteristics of Intensive
OF EVIDENCE-BASED AND RESEARCH-BASED PROGRAMS Supervision Programs
FOR ADULT CORRECTIONS AS OF DECEMBER 2013  Surveillance focus
 One size fits all approach
 Contact frequency as a key performance
($7,646) Intensive measure for officers
Benefits
0.016 Supervision  Use of incarceration as primary sanction
Minus Cost Program Only  Proportionality of sanctions not
prioritized
 Little consideration of criminogenic
“needs”
Intensive
$3,728
Supervision
Benefits -0.205 Characteristics of RNR Supervision
Program +
Minus Cost
Treatment Assessing risk/needs
Focusing on higher risk parolees
Balancing supervision and treatment
$12,121 Risk Needs Using incentives and rewards
Benefits -0.267 Responsivity
Minus Cost Supervision Involving offenders in process
Responding to violations in swift and
consistent manner
-0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 High quality CBI programming
Increased Recidivism
Reduction
 Washington State Institute for Public Policy. Benefit Cost Results: Adult Criminal Justice System.
June 2016. http://wsipp.wa.gov/BenefitCost?topicId=2 Council of State Governments Justice Center | 7
Providing funding and engaging community providers in
collaborative and evidence-based interventions can reduce
incarceration for people with behavioral health needs
More
ARRAY OF COMMUNITY INTERVENTIONS AND SUPPORTS
diversions from
incarceration
Outpatient Intensive
Treatment Outpatient
Funding Treatment
Certified
Aftercare Peer
Supports

Correctional Case Fewer

Programming Management supervision
failures
Network of
Providers Self-Help Specialized
Groups Supervision
Supported
Housing

Council of State Governments Justice Center | 8

For more promising practices from
around the country, visit the CSG
website:

https://csgjusticecenter.org/jr/