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Community corrections

Changing the Behavior of Drug-Involved Offenders: Supervision That Works

December 2012
Series
Research for the Real World

A small number of those who commit crimes are heavily involved in drugs commit a large portion of the crime in this country. An evaluation of a "smart supervision" effort in Hawaii that uses swift and certain sanctioning showed that individuals committing crimes who are heavily involved in drug use can indeed change their behavior when the supervision is properly implemented.

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Addiction, the Brain, and Evidence-Based Treatment

March 2012
Series
Research for the Real World

The criminal justice system encounters and supervises a large number of drug abusing persons. Punishment alone is a futile and ineffective response to the problem of drug abuse. Addiction is a chronic brain disease with a strong genetic component that in most instances requires treatment. Involvement in the criminal justice system provides a unique opportunity to treat drug abuse disorders and related health conditions, thereby improving public health and safety.

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Homicide in the United States

June 2009

The 2009 NIJ Conference kicked off with a blue-ribbon panel of leaders with expertise in urban issues as they relate to homicide. These experts will discuss promising approaches that have resulted in reduced violence and community empowerment.

Transcript
Homicide in the United States
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1 of 6: Homicide in the United States, Kristina Rose, Acting Director, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 6: Homicide in the United States, Laurie Robinson, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs , 3 of 6: Homicide in the United States, James Alan Fox, The Lipman Family Professor of Criminology, Law and Public Policy, Northeastern University , 4 of 6: Homicide in the United States, Gary Slutkin, Executive Director, The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention , 5 of 6: Homicide in the United States, M. Kim Ward, Baltimore County Police Department , 6 of 6: Homicide in the United States, Question and Answer Session

Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders

June 2009

The panel presentations from the 2009 NIJ Conference are based on an NIJ-sponsored evaluation of the effectiveness of Kansas Senate Bill 123, which mandates community-based drug abuse treatment for drug possession by nonviolent offenders in lieu of prison. 

Transcript
Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders
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1 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Linda Truitt, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Roger Werholtz, Secretary of Corrections, Kansas Department of Corrections , 3 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Don Stemen, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminal Justice, Loyola University Chicago , 4 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Andres F. Rengifo, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis , 5 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Question and Answer Session

Discussing the Future of Justice-Involved Young Adults

September 2015

New science in brain development is transforming young adult involvement with the justice system. On Tuesday, September 8, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Assistant Attorney General Karol Mason, and experts from NIJ and the Harvard Kennedy School Program in Criminal Justice who serve on the Executive Session on Community Corrections discussed the future of justice-involved young adults.

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An Examination of Justice Reinvestment and Its Impact on Two States

June 2010

Funded in part by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Pew Center on the States, the justice reinvestment project is a data-driven strategy aimed at policymakers to "reduce spending on corrections, increase public safety and improve conditions in the neighborhoods to which most people released from prison return." Representatives from two states where the justice reinvestment strategy is currently being implemented will discuss how it is being used to reduce the rate of incarceration and how states can reinvest in local communities.

Transcript
An Examination of Justice Reinvestment and Its Impact on Two States
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1 of 5: An Examination of Justice Reinvestment and Its Impact on Two States, Marie Garcia, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 5: An Examination of Justice Reinvestment and Its Impact on Two States, Jake Horowitz, Project Manager, Public Safety Performance Project, Pew Center on the States , 3 of 5: An Examination of Justice Reinvestment and Its Impact on Two States, John Lazet, Chief of Staff, The Office of Senator Alan Cropsey, Lansing, Mich. , 4 of 5: An Examination of Justice Reinvestment and Its Impact on Two States, Anne Rice, Associate Attorney General, New Hampshire Office of Attorney General , 5 of 5: An Examination of Justice Reinvestment and Its Impact on Two States, Marshall Clement, Project Director, Justice Center, The Council of State Governments

What Works in Probation and Parole

June 2009

How can we prevent reoffending and reduce costs? Research points to a number of solutions. At the Tuesday plenary, Judge Steven Alm from Hawaii will describe his successes with hard-core drug offenders. “Swift and sure” is his motto. West Virginia Cabinet Secretary James W. Spears will discuss the issues from his state's perspective, and Adam Gelb, Director of the Pew Charitable Trust's Public Safety Performance Project, will lend a national overview.

Transcript
What Works in Probation and Parole
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1 of 7: What Works in Probation and Parole, Kristina Rose, Acting Director, and Thomas Feucht, Executive Senior Science Advisor, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 7: What Works in Probation and Parole, Adam Gelb, Director, Public Safety Performance Project, Pew Center on the States , 3 of 7: What Works in Probation and Parole, James W. Spears, Cabinet Secretary, West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety , 4 of 7: What Works in Probation and Parole, Honorable Steven S. Alm, Judge, First Circuit Court, Honolulu, Hawaii , 5 of 7: What Works in Probation and Parole, Tom Williams, Associate Director, Court Services and Offender Supervision, Washington, D.C. , 6 of 7: What Works in Probation and Parole, Pamela Lattimore, Principal Scientist, RTI International , 7 of 7: What Works in Probation and Parole, Question and Answer Session

What Works in Offender Supervision

June 2009

This NIJ Conference Panel highlights findings from NIJ projects that evaluated strategies to enhance the supervision of offenders in the community. Researchers discuss the effectiveness of fair, swift and certain sanctions for high-risk probationers in the Hawaii HOPE program. Panelists also provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of electronic monitoring — including the use of GPS tracking — for medium- and high-risk offenders on supervision and upon completion of their supervision sentence.

Transcript
What Works in Offender Supervision
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1 of 4: Marlene Beckman, Senior Policy Advisor to the Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. , 2 of 4: Bill Bales, Associate Professor, College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University , 3 of 4: The Honorable Steven S. Alm, Judge, First Circuit Court, Honolulu, Hawaii , 4 of 4: Angela Hawken, Assistant Professor of Economics and Policy Analysis, School of Public Policy, Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif.

Community Corrections

Community corrections programs oversee persons convicted of a crime outside of jail or prison, and are administered by agencies or courts with the legal authority to enforce sanctions.

Community corrections include probation — correctional su​pervision within the community rather than jail or prison — and parole — a period of conditional, supervised release from prison.

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