Policy Statement 26, Research Highlight 3
Few probation and parole officers are based in the neighborhood where the majority of their clients lives.
Caseloads for probation and parole officers are rarely allocated based on geography. Analysis of high-risk probation caseloads in neighborhoods in Brooklyn, New York, found that 218 high-risk probationers in a single police precinct were spread across 43 probation officers, even though the average caseload for probation officers was 76 probationers, and three officers could have covered all 218 cases. [1] Many parole administrators have called for a "reinventing" of parole that may include the development of a community-centered approach to supervision. [2]
- Eric Cadora, "Criminal Justice and Health and Human Services: An Exploration of Overlapping Needs, Resources, and Interests in Brooklyn Neighborhoods" (paper presented at the Urban Institute's From Prisons to Home conference, Washington, DC, January 30-31, 2002). back
- Joan Petersilia, When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003). back

