Effective Practices in Community Supervision model: Staff perceptions of the model and implementation
| Author | Lily Gleicher |
| DOI | 10.1177/2066220320981175 |
| Published date | 01 December 2020 |
| Date | 01 December 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Original Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/2066220320981175
European Journal of Probation
2020, Vol. 12(3) 157 –181
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/2066220320981175
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Effective Practices in
Community Supervision model:
Staff perceptions of the model
and implementation
Lily Gleicher
Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, USA
Abstract
Staff who provide service to individuals under correctional supervision are critical
to organizational change, implementation, and sustainability of policies and practices.
The training on evidence-based practices demonstrates a movement toward effective
interactions with community supervision officers and their clients, specifically to the
Risk–Need–Responsivity model and core correctional practices. Research over the past
several decades provides that fidelity to Risk–Need–Responsivity and core correctional
practice can reduce recidivism among the community correctional population. However,
the correctional field has a history of training staff, but limited success in implementing
and sustaining these practices. The current qualitative study analyzes the feedback from
307 community supervision officers who responded to open-ended questions regarding
the implementation of Effective Practices in Community Supervision model, a curriculum
that incorporates the Risk–Need–Responsivity model and core correctional practices.
Qualitative responses indicate key themes that help and hinder the implementation of
evidence-based practices: individual attitudes and beliefs, organizational elements, and
leadership.
Keywords
Community supervision, core correctional practices, corrections, EPICS,
implementation
Introduction
Across the American criminal legal system, practitioners and policymakers alike tout the
use of evidence-based practices (EBPs). The emphasis on EBPs has had significant
Corresponding author:
Lily Gleicher, Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 300 W Adams, Ste. 200, Chicago, IL 60654,
USA.
Email: lgleicher3@gmail.com
981175EJP0010.1177/2066220320981175European Journal of ProbationGleicher
2020
Original Article
158 European Journal of Probation 12(3)
challenges and barriers in real-world application, implementation, and sustainability
within and across community correctional agencies, particularly when it comes to fidel-
ity and adherence to these EBPs (Lowenkamp et al., 2006, 2013; Porporino, 2018;
Taxman and Belenko, 2012; Viglione et al., 2018). An understudied, yet important area
of community corrections are the frontline workers (hereafter referred to as POs for pro-
bation and parole officers) tasked with using, implementing, sustaining, supervising,
overseeing, and maintaining the quality of these practices (Viglione et al., 2015b) and
overall processes that help or hinder implementation, sustainability, and fidelity to these
EBPs (Elliott and Mihalic, 2004; Taxman and Belenko, 2012). With approximately 4.4
million adults under community correctional supervision in the United States as of 2018
(Kaeble and Alper, 2020), it is vital to understand not just what works but how EBPs can
be best translated into the real world.
Research indicates that human services can be ineffective, inefficient, and potentially
harmful to clients if not implemented with quality, consideration, and support for those
staff who are tasked with carrying out EBPs (Fixsen et al., 2009; Institute of Medicine,
2001). Furthermore, EBPs delivered by staff who are not competent in the given EBP can
result in null or negative outcomes (e.g. increases in recidivism); high-quality implemen-
tation and fidelity can result in greater recidivism reductions even when controlling for
other moderating variables (Barnoski and Aos, 2004; Lipsey and Cullen, 2007; Lipsey
et al., 2007; Salisbury et al., 2019; Wilson and Davis, 2006).
To better understand what helps and hinders implementation and sustainability of
EBPs in community corrections, specifically among POs, the current qualitative study
attempts to gain better insight into aspects that help or hinder the use and implementation
of the Effective Practices in Community Supervision (EPICS) model, developed by the
University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute (UCCI).1 The EPICS model integrates the
Risk–Need–Responsivity (RNR) model of assessment and supervision and core correc-
tional practices (CCPs) for POs to engage in more effective one-on-one meetings with
the clients they supervise. Using the three open-ended questions from a larger survey of
correctional personnel, I gleaned information from EPICS end-users (those who received
the training that also supervised clients) regarding their own use and their agency’s sup-
port (or lack thereof) in implementing EPICS.
Background
Overall, research, including meta-analyses and systematic reviews, indicates the “get-
tough” approaches to community supervision of the 1980s and 1990s such as boot camps,
intensive supervision, shock incarceration, electronic monitoring, scared straight, and
house arrest, among others, are ineffective at reducing recidivism and restoring clients as
prosocial, contributing members of society (Belur et al., 2017; Bonta and Andrews,
2017; Bonta et al., 2000; Fulton et al., 1997; Latessa et al., 2020; Meade and Steiner,
2010; Petersilia and Turner, 1993; Petrosino et al., 2004; Welsh and Rocque, 2014). The
heightened focus on surveillance, management, and compliance for clients under proba-
tion or parole supervision is generally ineffective or potentially creates worse outcomes
than more rehabilitation-oriented strategies that balance accountability with a treatment-
oriented approach (Bonta et al., 2008; Andrews et al., 1990; MacKenzie, 2000; Petersilia,
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