MI County Offers Intensive Probation Program
A new program implemented by the Isabella County Trial Court could turn around the lives of repeat offenders and reduce costs of housing inmates. Reported in The Morning Sun.
An intensive probation program, outlined by Chief Judge Paul Chamberlain to members of the county’s community corrections advisory board, is geared toward encouraging probationers for good behavior and swiftly punishing them for bad conduct.
Goals of the program include cutting down on recidivism through rehabilitation of defendants with immediate response to probation violations, Chamberlain said.
Currently, there are three probationers in the program, and it is being paid for by court money, Chamberlain said.
In order to pay for the program, Chamberlain is reprioritizing resources and said that defendants who have violated their probation are eligible.
Like drug court, intensive probation involves hands-on, weekly meetings between judge and the probationer, in the courtroom and on the record.
In intensive probation, Chamberlain meets with the defendants in the program, giving them positive reinforcement when they stay on track.
When they don’t, sanctions are swift, he said.
Punishment is meted out as soon as possible, with Chamberlain recently going to court on a weekend to deal with a defendant in the program who violated probation.
“So far, we’re doing well,” Chamberlain said. “When sanctions have been needed, they’re immediate.
“That’s why I was here on a Saturday for an arraignment.
In cases of probation violation in Isabella County, it typically takes six to eight weeks for the defendant to go from violating to being sentenced, Chamberlain said.
Studies have shown that the sooner a probationer is punished for a violation, the less likely that person will reoffend, Chamberlain said.
Quick punishment has been shown to be extremely effective in behavior modification, the judge said.
Modeled loosely after “Project Hope,” a program initiated by Judge Steven S. Alm in Hawaii, Isabella County’s version focuses more on positive reinforcement in an effort to deter the behavior that leads to probation violations, Chamberlain said.
It also relies on community sentencing, which is geared toward keeping offenders out of prison by using jail time, tethers, global positioning systems and community service.
“We have ways to monitor them in the community,” he said.
When a defendant enters the program, he or she is immediately given a risk needs assessment to determine what programs would be of the most benefit, the judge said.
The program is also team-based, with a case plan being formed as soon as a defendant enters to determine what resources, including mental health, housing, transportation and employment, will benefit the participant, Chamberlain said.
“It can be that elemental or as advanced as inpatient or outpatient substance abuse treatment,” he said. “It is tailored to the offender.”
Chamberlain expects that the program will result in defendants in the program being diverted from prison to jail, and some from jail to probation, which will save the county money because defendants who would have had a longer jail sentence will be released sooner.
The program will also benefit the community because intensive probation has a high rehabilitation rate, Chamberlain said.
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