Intensive Probation Supervision

The Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Intensive Probation Supervision (IPS) program provides intensive supervision and treatment services to serious felony juvenile offenders. The supervision components consist of 1) a 30-day period of house arrest, 2) strict curfews, 3) hourly school reports on attendance and behavior, and 4) compliance with all program rules. The basic treatment service model is provided through service brokerage, whereby community resources are used to treat youth. In addition, the program uses a team structure approach for the supervision and treatment of each youth. Each team consists of three surveillance officers, one senior probation counselor, and one probation manager. The senior probation counselor plays a critical role, providing administrative supervision of the team members and coordinating the services the client receives. A comprehensive needs assessment instrument determines the services provided to each probationer. Both the probation officer and the youth develop a behavioral contract that stipulates the objectives to be accomplished during the probation period. This contract is signed by the officer, the youth, and (if possible) the youth’s parent or guardian. Youths remain in IPS anywhere from 8 to 14½ months.

The goal of this program is to reduce recidivism rates for serious felony juvenile offenders.

The program was evaluated using a quasi-experimental comparison group design with a nonequivalent comparison group. The evaluation results suggest that the IPS program produced a large reduction in recidivism. In probation, comparison youths reoffended at a rate of 65.2 percent, whereas youths placed in the IPS program had a 46.5 percent recidivism rate, which resulted in a recidivism reduction of 28.7 percent after the implementation of the IPS program.