A Randomized Controlled Trial of Community Health Specialists Within Gender-Responsive Probation Supervision

• Published date: 01 December 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/15570851231194662
• Author: Emily J. Salisbury,Linsey A. Belisle,Mariah Cowell Mercier,Kort Prince
• Date: 01 December 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Feminist Criminology

2023, Vol. 18(5) 406–434

© The Author(s) 2023

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DOI: 10.1177/15570851231194662

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A Randomized Controlled

Trial of Community Health

Specialists Within

Gender-Responsive Probation

Supervision

Emily J. Salisbury

1

, Linsey A. Belisle

2

,

Mariah Cowell Mercier

1

, and Kort Prince

1

Abstract

A randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the experiences of women

probationers engaged in gender-responsive supervision with community health sup-

ports versus ‘gender-responsive supervision as usual.’Treatment group participants

engaged in a new supervision model in a large metropolitan county in a Western state

which was created to improve their specif‌ic responsivity needs and public health

supports. The Women’s Reentry Assessment, Programming, and Services (WRAPS)

model included enhanced wraparound, gender-responsive, and trauma-informed su-

pervision that incorporated Community Health Specialists (CHSs) working alongside

probation off‌icers. Although the WRAPS intervention did not reduce recidivism

relative to the control group, there is evidence that gender-responsive probati on

supervision does reduce recidivism overall when compared to baseline. Findings from

interview data indicate strong support for gender-responsive probation in general and

the WRAPS model in particular. Clients and staff viewed the CHS role as highly

impactful in addressing women’s specif‌ic responsivity needs and supporting women’s

success. Recommendations surrounding gender-responsive probation and integration

of public health staff are discussed.

1

Utah Criminal Justice Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

2

Department of Criminal Justice, Boise State University, Boise, ID, USA

Corresponding Author:

Emily J. Salisbury, UCJC, College of Social Work, University of Utah, 395 1500 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112,

USA.

Email: emily.salisbury@utah.edu

Keywords

community corrections, gender-responsive probation, women, Women’s reentry,

probation, community health

Signif‌icant reform efforts are underway to rein in mass probation as a form of social

control (Harding et al., 2022;Phelps, 2020). Some even call for the outright abolition of

community supervision as it is currently implemented, arguing its focus on control and

surveillance has neither diversionary nor rehabilitative effects (Harding et al., 2022;

Lopoo et al., 2023). These are notable ideas in the discourse of reimagining carceral

systems. However, probation as a practice is not likely to be abandoned in the near

future, and evidence does point towards supervision resulting in lower levels of re-

cidivism when staff are trained on evidence based practices (Labrecque et al., 2022).

Nevertheless, there is a strong argument that traditional supervision strategies need to

be reconceptualized; gender-responsive probation is one such model.

Similar to the signif‌icant increase in the number of women incarcerated in the U.S.,

the number of women under community supervision has doubled since the early 1990s

(Pew Charitable Trusts, 2018). Women account for approximately one-quarter of the

3.9 million adults under supervision in the U.S. (Kaeble, 2021), and probation includes

the largest proportion of women under the control of the U.S. legal system (Morash &

Hoskins, 2022). The exponential growth of women in the system has not resulted in a

similar exponential growth in the study of women among criminal justice researchers.

However, there has been signif‌icant inquiry in several areas. What has been dem-

onstrated is compelling evidence for gender-responsive supervision practices that start

with women’s lived experiences, needs, risks, and strengths in mind (Berg & Cobbina,

2017;Bloom et al., 2003;Brennan et al., 2012;DeHart et al., 2014;Owen et al., 2017;

Salisbury & Van Voorhis, 2009;Stone et al., 2018;Van Voorhis et al., 2010).

Research in the gender-resp onsive space emphasizes th e importance of ac-

knowledging that gender matters in women’s lives and pathways into, and out of, the

system (Bloom et al., 2003;VanVoorhis, 2012). As community correctional staff o ften

connect clients and services, they have an ethical responsibility to implement “what

works best”for the population they serve. The site in which the research was con-

ductedisanoff‌ice focused on women and families within a large, metropolitan county

probation department in a Western state. This off‌ice ref‌lects a model program im-

plementing gender- and culturally-responsive practices to improve the outcomes of

women on supervision. The curr ent study utilized a randomized controlled trial (R CT)

design to evaluate an innovative, new gender-responsive supervision model, the

Wom en ’s Reentry Assessment, Programming, and Services (WRAPS) program,

which was developed and implemented by probation staff for their women-specif‌ic

caseloads. Because women are often considered a high need population, the WRAPS

program paired probation off‌icers with community health specialists, entry-level

paraprofessionals from public health, to assist with the many specif‌ic responsivity

Salisbury et al. 407