Public Safety

Probation Officers Get Offenders to “Buy In” to Rehabilitation

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A man on probation shifts uncomfortably in his chair in a small conference room at the Hall of Justice. In his 20s, he is dressed casually but he sits respectfully for the meeting. Across the table, San Diego County Probation Officer Ruben Hernandez tells him that although he has just tested clean, another recent drug test came back dirty. 

Hernandez tells him that he was surprised at the negative result, because the probationer had been doing so well otherwise. Hernandez asks him what happened, then listens as the man tells him about the slip. He next asks the man what led to his actions that day, and tries to get him to talk about the triggering mechanism that led to the prohibited behavior.

The probationer is now angry with himself and appears embarrassed. He expects to be returned to jail. Hernandez takes a somewhat understanding but stern stance with the offender.

He tells him that since he had a history of testing clean and complying with his conditions, Hernandez will not order him back to jail. Instead, the man must register for outpatient drug treatment which the man is resistant to doing. Hernandez tells him if he does not do the outpatient program, he will have to send him back to jail. Hernandez encourages him, saying this is a way to turn a negative into a positive. He wants the man to keep an open mind about treatment, in hopes he can learn something about himself and get back on the path toward his goals.

County Probation officers like Hernandez use what are called Integrated Behavioral Intervention Strategies (IBIS) to help the roughly 11,350 adult and 1,900 juvenile offenders under the Probation Department’s supervision. Hernandez and other Probation Officers are trained in this method in which they use specific types of interviewing techniques to help the probationer find motivation to achieve success.

“We know from studies around the country on community corrections populations, that effective engagement between a deputy probation officer and individuals under probation supervision is linked to recidivism reduction,” said San Diego County Chief Probation Officer Mack Jenkins. “IBIS is just that, an engagement model. It is designed to help officers build rapport, and intervene in a constructive way with individuals under the supervision.” 

Jenkins further explained, “IBIS is a combination of motivational interviewing techniques and cognitive behavioral interventions. In other words officers learn how to listen more effectively, and then help the probationer examine and hopefully change their thinking process.”

The goal is to engage the probationer in developing and succeeding at his or her own rehabilitation plan. San Diego County Probation has seen improvement in its probationer success rate after training all staff over the past five years in what are known as evidence-based practices such as IBIS, which emphasizes rehabilitation of probationers and prevents them from reoffending.

Although it is difficult to attribute changes to any one factor, Probation data shows that the overall success rate is moving in the right direction – those on probation had a 67 percent success rate in the first quarter of this fiscal year compared to  a 65 percent success rate last fiscal year. 

Previously, probation officers simply prescribed a plan to an offender and made sure he or she followed through with it. IBIS creators Christopher Lowencamp, a criminal justice specialist who works with the Office of U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services and Dr. Igor Koutsenok, Director of the University of California San Diego, Center for Criminality and Addiction Research, Training and Application, noted that directives usually lead to only temporary positive outcomes while the probationer remains under supervision. IBIS attempts to forge long-term behavioral changes that will ultimately redirect the offender toward positive goals.

San Diego County was one of the first large probation departments in California to train its staff on a department-wide scale in a modified version of Lowencamp and Koutsenok’s technique. Now, many other departments are also implementing the technique. Supervising Probation Officer Christine White, who works in the San Diego County Probation training unit, said nearly all of the department is now trained in the technique and is evaluated on its use in their everyday duties. Probation officers practice the techniques and document them — even tape recording interactions at times for review by coaches, peers and mentors, said White.

Hernandez, who works in the Hall of Justice and meets with Probationers on a daily basis, said most offenders he supervises apply themselves to their probation plans, and are successful in completing their probation and accomplishing goals.  

He has worked for 21 years with the Probation Department, so IBIS was a new technique when first implemented in 2011 and initially he had some reservations and wondered if it would truly work. Still, he kept an open mind about it and became convinced it was a better technique and could achieve improved results. 

“Once the offender is released from custody, we meet with him or her to discuss the conditions of supervision and overall expectations while being supervised,” Hernandez said. “Based on an initial case plan, they are linked to services in the community to assist with their re-entry.”   

Services may include enrolling in drug treatment, establishing housing or employment and pursuing educational opportunities to put them in a stabilizing environment. Once the most immediate needs have been addressed, Probation Officers work with offenders to look at making changes in their lives. First, do the probationers want to change? Do they know they have a problem or are they resistant to help? Assuming they are willing to change, Hernandez works with offenders to  begin to carve out longer-term goals such as maintaining sobriety and getting a job if they didn’t have one or continuing with their education or training and anything more specific to the offender. Then they meet with them frequently to discuss their progress or address any problems.

“Each offender is different and brings along with them different challenges, but use of IBIS definitely assists us in doing our job of protecting community safety, reducing crime, and assisting victims through offender accountability and rehabilitation,” said Hernandez.

During another recent meeting Hernandez had with an adult probationer, whose name is also not being used, the man reported that he was doing well with his plan. Hernandez listened to the details, asked a few questions, then nodded his approval and encouraged him to keep doing what he was doing. He also told him it was noted in his file that his bus pass might be up. He asked him if he was able to renew it on his own, then the man told him it had been really helpful in allowing him to get to work on time and make appointments because he didn’t have a car. Hernandez told him he’d renew it again for him but told him eventually, he would need to budget for it. The man nodded and thanked him.

In reviewing his history, the man said he’d been under parole supervision once before many years ago but he didn’t have the same kind of support from his parole officer and that made him feel less inclined to do well.

“Now, we have more resources,” the probationer said. “Now I think Probation is focused more on helping rather than hindering.”

 

 

 

Yvette Urrea Moe is a communications specialist with the County of San Diego Communications Office. Contact