The Effects of Connecticut's Probation Transition Program on Reducing Technical Violations

• DOI: 10.3818/JRP.10.1.2008.1
• Author: Thomas Roscoe,Stephen M. Cox,Brian Hill,Kathleen Bantley
• Date: 01 June 2008
• Published date: 01 June 2008
• Subject Matter: Article



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TheEffectsofConnecticut’sProbationTransition

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ProgramonReducingTechnicalViolations

Stephen M. Cox

Kathleen Bantley

Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Central Connecticut State University

Thomas Roscoe

Department of Criminal Justice

Westf‌ield State College

Brian Hill

Court Support Services Division

Connecticut Judicial Branch

* Abstract

A dramatic increase in Connecticut’s prison population and concern over the num-

ber of probation technical violators being sentenced to prison led to the piloting of a

specialized probation program targeting high risk offenders. The present study used

a quasi-experimental design with a one-year study period to evaluate the Probation

Transition Program’s (PTP) effect on probation technical violations and new arrests.

Findings indicate the program signif‌icantly decreased technical violations in the partici-

pation group while the rate of new arrests remained stable. An analysis of PTP partici-

pants who received a technical violation or were arrested found that male probationers

with high LSI-R risk scores were most likely to receive technical violations and younger

male probationers who were African-American, unmarried, with a high number of

convictions and high LSI-R risk scores were most likely to be arrested during the one-

year follow-up period.

The initial results of this paper were presented at the 2006 annual meeting of the Academy

of Criminal Justice Sciences, Seattle, Washington, March 14, 2006. The authors would like

to thank Jennifer Hedlund, Damon Mitchell, and JRP’s reviewers for their helpful com-

ments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

JUSTICE RESEARCH AND POLICY, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2008

© 2008 Justice Research and Statistics Association

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The increase in prison populations across the United States has led many states to

assess its causes and develop strategies to slow it. One focus has been on reduc-

ing the number of people sent to prison for probation violations. Nationally, the

number of offenders incarcerated for violating parole, probation, or other release

conditions increased more than sevenfold from 1980–1998, from 17% to 35%

of all prison admissions (Petersilia, 2003). An estimated 6% of state prisoners in

1991 were there for a technical violation of probation. From 1975 to 1991, the

number of parole and other conditional release violators entering state prisons

increased at twice the rate of prison growth in general (Cohen, 1995). While there

are little data available to gain a clear indication of the percent of revocations due

to technical violations as opposed to new offenses, this percent has been estimated

to be as high as 80% (Gray, Fields, & Maxwell, 2001).

Connecticut’s prison population increased 82% between 1992 and 2003

(Prison and Jail Overcrowding Commission, 2003). This increase was believed to

be partially due to the high number of probation technical violations resulting in

prison sentences. In fact, 25% of Connecticut inmates were probation violators,

with the average sentence for probation violations increasing from 18 months in

1992 to 30 months in 2000 (Program Review and Investigations Committee, 2000).

Since the early 1990s, Connecticut has followed the national trend by making pro-

bation requirements increasingly stringent (Taxman & Cherkos, 1995). Ironically,

the expansion of probation requirements necessitated by the intent to develop al-

ternatives to incarceration has had the unintended consequence of expanding the

numbers of probationers and parolees going to jail or prison on violations.

In Connecticut, the sharp rise in the prison population led to several legisla-

tive funding initiatives aimed at decreasing the number of released inmates being

sent back to prison for new arrests and technical violations. A signif‌icant amount

of funding was earmarked for the development and implementation of specialized

probation programs targeting technical violations. In response to the legislative

funding, several probation organizational policies and two specialized probation

programs were initiated. The organizational philosophy promoted addressing crim-

inogenic needs and prosocial attitudes while relying less on control and supervision

methods. One of the specialized programs was the Probation Transition Program

(PTP). The goal of the PTP was to enhance probation off‌icers’ ability to successfully

reintegrate released inmates back into their communities. The purpose of the pres-

ent study was to evaluate the Probation Transition Program in regard to lowering

the rate of technical violations. We begin with an overview of relevant literature on

probation followed by a description of the Probation Transition Program.

* Review of Probation Literature

The guiding principles of Connecticut’s Probation Transition Program focused on

probationer needs rather than relying on control and supervision methods. Prior