We corrections professionals love to drop the r-bomb. I’m not talking about responsivity, although it is a critical component of EBP that is often neglected if not outright ignored. I’m talking about RISK, that four-letter word that precedes need every time we talk about supervising justice-involved individuals. Assessing criminogenic risk is fundamental to our mission; that’s a given. But what message do we send when we say someone is high risk? Are we poisoning the well, compounding the stigma, and adding barriers to achieving those other coveted “r-words” - rehabilitation, reintegration, and recidivism reduction?

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When you hear the words Community Corrections what is the first thing you think of?

As a Community Corrections veteran of a residential program in Colorado, when someone asks me what community corrections is…my first response is, you may have heard it called a “halfway house”. And very egocentrically, I assumed that’s what it meant for everyone who said, “community corrections”. While I worked alongside probation and parole previously, when I started to work for CorrectTech I learned much more about what community corrections first means to others in the field and some minor differences and similarities in all the different shapes, sizes, and flavors of community corrections. I found it very interesting…maybe you will too.

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As more states fire up debate on the legalization of marijuana for recreational and medical use, the practice of drug testing in Community Corrections is coming under closer scrutiny.  In February, the Philadelphia City Council convened for a hearing on bias and the ethical and practical implications of testing parolees and probationers for a substance that is fast-becoming decriminalized in many jurisdictions. Not long after that, the New York City Council passed bills prohibiting testing most job applicants for marijuana and, (hold on to your test cups) banning the testing of probationers for the substance as well.   

The Philly debate questioned the legitimacy and fairness of testing for a legal substance, and punishing those who obtain it through illegal means, while giving a pass to persons who have the means to obtain a physician’s legal prescription.  The dividing line between these two groups?  Race and class. If marijuana is legal, why test for it at all?  Eliminating testing for a legal substance might be a partial solution to ending bias and discrimination, but is it the best response?   Read More

You might wonder if going paperless is all it’s cracked up to be. Can your agency truly go paperless? Is anything really paperless? The answer is yes and no. Yes, there are plenty of companies who now go paperless every day. However, in the world of community corrections we know the truth. Into everyone’s life a little paper must fall.

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The first three questions of The Coaching Habit:  Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever that are discussed Kickstarting a Coaching Session, Coaching with the AWE Question, and The Coaching Habit of Creating Focus, work together to create focus and define what the client sees as the central problem.  As we have discussed earlier, it is tempting to believe that your work is primarily done once the problem is solved.  The Advice Monster will see a clear definition of the problem as an opportunity to solve it, look brilliant and move on to the next problem.  No patience, process or angst required.  Most of us went into this field due to our passion to help others.  Somehow along the way, we learned that helping others means attempting to solve problems for them.  Well intentioned but well off the mark.  “What is the real challenge here for you?” isn’t the beginning of the end, it is the end of the beginning.  The first half of the coaching process is defining the problem.  The second half is identifying the solution.  That process begins with a simple (but not easy) question?

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