Newsroom
SCF Incentives
Incentives and rewards are an essential complement to sanctions in SCF supervision.
An Empirical Approach to a Standard Practice: Drug Testing
Considers whether frequent, random drug testing in SCF supervision is an effective deterrent.
24/7 Sobriety
24/7 Sobriety, an SCF approach to supervising repeat DUI offenders, is growing nationally.
Promoting Success on Community Supervision: Strategies for Improving Outcomes and Reducing Revocations
Compares supervision practices, including SCF, in four states.
Hawaiʻi HOPE news
Challenges for HOPE probation in Hawaiʻi and bills to address them.
Pennsylvania SCF news
Proposed and recommended changes to make probation in Pennsylvania more SCF.
Desistance-Focused Criminal Justice Practice
SCF in the context of deterrence-based and procedural-justice-based approaches.
Community Supervision & Public Safety
A review of the literature on SCF for substance use in community corrections, with policy recommendations.
Michigan Swift & Sure news
Michigan’s statewide SCF probation program annual report and local news.
UK white paper: Swift, Certain, Tough: New Consequences for Drug Possession
The UK government proposes swift and certain police and sentencing responses to drug offenses.
Correlates of Post-Traumatic Stress among Victimized Women on Probation and Parole
A paper calls for careful consideration of alternative SCF sanctions for women with histories of victimization.
Reimagining Probation Reform: Applying a Coaching Model to Probation Departments
A book chapter contends that SCF is in tension with a behavioral-change model of supervision.
Does the Involvement of Family and Friends Improve Probation and Parole Outcomes? A Quantitative Evaluation of Triple-S: Social Supports in Supervision
A study argues for SCF as a component of a holistic approach to supervision.
Sorting Through the Evidence: A Step Toward Prioritization of Evidence-Based Community Supervision Practices
A paper notes that excessive conditions of supervision may complicate SCF compliance.
Custodial Versus Non-Custodial Sentences: Long-Run Evidence from an Anticipated Reform
A study argues that swift responses do not reduce recidivism.
Louisiana’s Justice Reinvestment Reforms: 2020 Annual Performance Report
A report finds that SCF has reduced the numbers and average length of jail sanctions in Louisiana.
The Impact of SCF Sanctions for Probation and Parole Violators in Shelby Co. (Tenn.)
A study finds that SCF sanctions had different effects on revocations from probation versus parole in Shelby Co. (Tenn).
How Defund the Police backfired
An article contends that SCF responses have a role in reducing crime.
Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles lagging on new plan for incarcerating parole violators
A new Alabama law reduces the use of jails and prisons for supervision violations.
Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles receives $700,000 for rehabilitation program
The Alabama probation and parole agency receives a BJA SCF grant.
Rethinking Prosecution: Innovative Approaches to Safety, Crime, and Justice (video)
The founder of HOPE probation speaks on prosecution reform.
States Are Prioritizing Community Supervision Reform
Many states are enacting statutes that reduce incarceration for supervision violations.
Five Evidence-Based Policies Can Improve Community Supervision
A report promotes SCF responses, including incentives and noncustodial sanctions, to improve supervision outcomes.
The Impact of Incarceration on the Desistance Process Among Individuals Who Chronically Engage in Criminal Activity
A paper argues that SCF sanctions are less disruptive to desistance than are long custodial sanctions, for people who chronically engage in criminal activity.
Low-level parole violations clog Nevada prisons, derail parolee progress. Can reforms help?
A bill proposes SCF responses to supervision violations in Nevada.
The Perils of Probation: How Supervision Contributes to Jail Populations
Report contends that SCF jail sanctions may increase jail population, but alternative sanctions may be as effective.
Michigan Swift and Sure Probation news
An annual statewide report and local news items on SCF probation in Michigan.
ACLU takes on Wyoming’s 24/7 Sobriety program
The ACLU contends that Wyoming’s SCF 24/7 Sobriety may be unconstitutional.
Cuyahoga Co. (Ohio) Gun Court
A court in Cleveland uses SCF supervision with nonviolent gun defendants.
A Georgia SCF Sanctions Pilot Program Involving High/Risk Needs Probationers Needs to Be Assessed
Presentations on an evaluation of SCF in accountability courts in Georgia.
Law Enforcement Based Responses to Violence
SCF responses are key to deterring and reducing gun violence.
Probation Officer Discretion in Monitoring and Violating Supervision Conditions
Reviews concerns about discretion versus consistency in SCF responses.
Still Asking “What Works”: A Punishment Question for the Ages or an Aging Punishment Question?
The evidence on whether SCF responses deter recidivism is mixed and challenging to sort out.
Random Drug Testing in Prisons: Does a Little Testing Go a Long Way?
Random drug testing, shown effective in SCF in some community-supervision studies, isn’t well understood in prisons.