< Previous60 PERSPECTIVES VOLUME 44, NUMBER 4 THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS Respondents were asked to rate compliance for the month prior to COVID-19 (“pre- COVID”) and for the first month following the onset of COVID-19 (“post-COVID”). Supervision practices consisted of multiple measures. As with compliance, respondents were asked to report on the pre- COVID month and the post-COVID month. Contact frequency was measured on a six- point scale ranging from less than monthly to more than weekly for a variety of contact types (e.g., text, phone, video). Four subscales of the Probation Practices Assessment Survey (PPAS; Schwalbe & Maschi, 2011) were adapted for the current study to measure interpersonal strategies and case management strategies. Interpersonal strategies included a five-item behavioral scale (e.g., “How often did you offer incentives?” α = .84) and a three-item confrontation subscale (e.g., “How often did you remind the client about the consequences of non-compliance?” α = .84). Case management strategies included a five- item treatment-oriented scale (e.g., “How often did you arrange or monitor mental health services, substance abuse services, family- based services, or other treatment services?” α = .77) and a three-item accountability-oriented scale (e.g. “How often did you impose jail/ detention placement, home detention or electronic monitoring, curfew restrictions, or other restrictive intervention?” α = .62). The frequency of each PPAS item was measured on a six-point scale ranging from “never” to “every contact.” Data were collected between May 27 and June 24, 2020, using Qualtrics, an online survey platform, and analyses were conducted using SPSS and STATA. All procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Boards at Columbia University and John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Findings The majority of respondents in the sample were female (65%), White (77%), in their early 20s (mean=23.8, standard deviation=10.1), and served as probation officers (66%). Seventy percent of the respondents reported having a bachelor’s degree and 27% had a graduate degree. Caseload sizes ranged from one to 3,000 (median=55). Two-thirds of the respondents supervised a general caseload, 31% supervised juveniles, and 85% reported having a mix of cases. Over 40% of the respondents worked in agencies in urban or suburban locations while 26.5% reported working in rural settings. Respondents were also asked to report on the characteristics of the randomly selected index case clients. The majority of these clients were White (55%), male (73%), and had been on community supervision for an average of 12 months (mean=23 months). Well over half were identified as medium- or high-risk (42% and 37%, respectively). The median level of case compliance was 80% (mean=72.6%, standard deviation=26.3). COVID-19 Impacts As illustrated in Table 1, probation and parole officers enjoyed relative stability in the early days of the pandemic. Fewer than 11% of officers reported problems with job loss, housing instability, food insecurity, or having someone move in or out of the home as a result of the pandemic. Like many households across the country, almost half of the respondents reported that they had been impacted by school or daycare closures. Despite the limited direct impact of the pandemic, over a third of the sample reported that they had increased anxiety or mental health problems during this time. Relatively few (9%), however, reported increases in drug 61 AMERICAN PROBATION AND PAROLE ASSOCIATION THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS or alcohol use, and less than 5% reported any type of medical emergency. Only 13% reported having a confirmed or possible COVID-19 diagnosis. Latino/a officers were significantly more likely to report a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection (20%) than White (14%) or Black (7%) officers (χ2 =5.88, p<.05). Table 1. COVID-19 Impacts on Officers and Clients the respondents reported that they had been impacted by school or daycare closures. Despite the limited direct impact of the pandemic, over a third of the sample reported that they had increased anxiety or mental health problems during this time. Relatively few (9%), however, reported increases in drug or alcohol use, and less than 5% reported any type of medical emergency. Only 13% reported having a confirmed or possible COVID-19 diagnosis. Latino/a officers were significantly more likely to report a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection (20%) than White (14%) or Black (7%) officers (χ2 =5.88, p<.05). Supervision Contacts Implicit in the use of remote supervision strategies is the need for technology that allows for remote contact. The majority (97%) of clients were reported to have access to multiple methods of communication. Close to 90% were reported to have a telephone and 70% were reported to have a smartphone. All but 3% had some type of phone access. Eighty-five percent were able to send and receive text messages and almost 70% had email access, although less than half (42%) were reported to have a home computer with internet access. Only 40% were reported to have the ability to engage in videoconferencing. However, since over 75% were reported to have either a smartphone or home computer with internet access, additional research is needed to assess barriers to videoconferencing. Access to communication did not differ by race, gender, or risk level, though juvenile clients were significantly more likely to have access to videoconferencing compared to adult clients (49% and 36%, respectively, χ2 =13.77, p<.001). ImpactOfficer (%)Client (%) Job loss11.439.2 Food insecurity6.125.5 Lost housing0.27.6 Fell behind on rent/ mortgage 4.325.5 School/daycare closure 45.634.5 Change in household members 7.113.7 Increased drug/ alcohol use 8.928.6 Anxiety/mental health concerns 38.350.9 Medical emergency2.57.8 Confirmed/possible COVID-19 13.429.7 As illustrated in Table 1, probation and parole officers enjoyed relative stability in the early days of the pandemic. Fewer than 11% of officers reported problems with job loss, housing instability, food insecurity, or having someone move in or out of the home as a result of the pandemic. Like many households across the country, almost half of 62 PERSPECTIVES VOLUME 44, NUMBER 4 THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS Perceptions of Compliance An important aspect of community supervision is to ensure public safety while facilitating behavioral change. Officers reported less confidence in compliance among index cases following the pandemic onset. As reported in Figure 1, index clients were, on average, 85% compliant with reporting requirements prior to COVID; this decreased to 73% following COVID. On average, officers were 73% confident in the truthfulness of index clients prior to the move to remote supervision and 67% confident following the switch. Finally, officers rated their level of confidence with index clients following the conditions of supervision. Prior to COVID-19, officers were 74% confident; following the onset, officers rated their level of confidence at 65%. There were no significant differences by gender or race. Juveniles had higher rates of missed appointments both pre- and post-COVID compared to adults, and the rate of missed appointments post-COVID increased at a significantly higher rate for juveniles than adults (19% and 13% respectively, F=5.108, p<.05). Similarly, higher risk clients had overall lower rates of compliance both pre- and post-COVID. Missed appointments increased at a greater rate for moderate (15%) and high risk (17%) clients than for low risk clients (7%; F=4.952, p<.01). This pattern held true for compliance with probation conditions, with greater stability for lower risk clients compared to moderate and high-risk clients (4% change, 13%, and 14%, respectively, F=5.700, p<.01). Figure 1. Client Compliance *p<.001 Supervision Practices Of primary interest was whether the pandemic changed the nature of supervision practices. To test this, we examined changes in the nature and frequency of supervision contacts and the type of strategies utilized during contacts. Though the nature of the contacts changed, the frequency remained stable. A summative score indicated an average of 6.4 contacts in the month prior to COVID-19 and 6.7 monthly contacts following the pandemic onset. This type of stability was facilitated by the use of remote strategies (see Table 2). As expected, face-to-face contacts decreased substantially in the early months of the pandemic. In the month prior to COVID-19, officers met with index clients in person an average of two to three times a month. Following the onset of the pandemic, they decreased to less than once per month for both types of contacts. As expected, remote contact strategies increased. In the month prior to the pandemic, officers reported one to two phone calls per month; this increased to two to three calls per month following the pandemic onset. Similarly, text messaging increased from monthly to twice a month. Kiosk reporting was used infrequently both prior to and following the onset of the pandemic. Of particular 63 AMERICAN PROBATION AND PAROLE ASSOCIATION THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS interest is the change with videoconferencing, which was nearly non-existent prior to the pandemic. Pre-COVID, videoconferencing was not used with any degree of regularity whereas respondents reporting using videoconferencing an average of one time a month with index clients during the post-COVID period. Table 2. Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Mean Frequencya of Contact by Type accountability-oriented case management techniques all decreased following COVID whereas behavioral approaches decreased slightly. Prior to COVID, officers favored behavioral approaches to supervision over confrontational approaches; and treatment- oriented case management practices over accountability-oriented case management. These patterns held true following COVID-19. Figure 2. Mean PPAS Scores *p=.001, **p<.000 Further analysis, however, revealed that videoconferencing shifted these patterns. Table 3 presents average levels for each of the post- COVID-19 supervision strategies for clients who were not seen via videoconferencing (N=583) and clients who were seen at least once per month via videoconferencing (N=400). Levels of all supervision strategies were higher when clients were seen in videoconferencing, and all differences were statistically significant (p <.001). Moreover, the use of videoconferencing was also associated with two indicators of compliance: perceptions of client truthfulness (t = 2.49, p <.05) and of condition compliance (t = 3.07, p <.01). In addition to facilitating the use of effective supervision strategies, these findings suggest that videoconferencing is also positively related to important supervision outcomes. a Frequency ranged from 0 to 5, with 0=less than once per month and 5= more than once per week **p<.000 Finally, we examined differences in supervision strategies before and after the onset of COVID-19 using four PPAS subscales. Results indicate the mean frequency for each type of strategy, with higher numbers indicating more frequent use. As illustrated in Figure 2, there were small but significant changes in the nature of supervision practices during the early days of the pandemic. The use of confrontational approaches, treatment-oriented case management, and Contact Type Pre- COVID Post- COVID T-Statistic Office1.98.6029.291** Field1.55.5523.045** Telephone1.772.86-21.652** Text messaging 1.211.95-16.260** Video- conferencing .13.93-17.903** Kiosk.13.101.55764 PERSPECTIVES VOLUME 44, NUMBER 4 THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS Table 3. Mean Supervision Practicesa by Videoconferencing list-serves. Both organizations emphasize the need for evidence-based practices; the sample may represent officers who have had greater exposure to these practices than the general population of probation and parole officers. Second, our measure of supervision practices represents a measure of officers’ perceptions of their self-report practices rather than a direct measure. They may be susceptible to bias as a function of memory and social desirability. Finally, the survey was conducted in the early days of the pandemic shortly after stay-at-home restrictions were imposed, and in some cases, lifted. It is possible that supervision strategies may change in additional ways not captured in the current study. Despite these limitations, the current study demonstrates the resiliency and flexibility of probation and parole officers, and the findings bear witness to the efforts of probation and parole officers to serve clients under difficult circumstances. Many officers shifted away from in-person contacts to remote contacts, essentially holding constant the overall frequency of monthly contacts. Moreover, the stability in supervision strategies over the period measured is striking. Research has accumulated to support an approach to community corrections that blends accountability-based strategies with treatment- oriented, behavioral change strategies. Overall patterns suggest that officers strived to sustain this pattern. The study results also indicated the potential of videoconferencing as a supervisory tool. Videoconferencing appeared to sustain a balanced approach to supervision and was associated with positive outcomes on client compliance. These findings suggest a role for videoconferencing in long-term reform of community corrections systems. Supervision Practice No Video Video T-Statistic Accountability-oriented case management 1.782.285.35** Treatment-oriented case management 2.092.878.12** Confrontational tactics 2.523.023.47* Behavioral tactics 3.183.846.51** a Items were measured on a 6-point scale ranging from 0 to 5, with 0=never and 5=every contact *p<.001, **p<.000 Discussion and Conclusion This study was conducted to explore how probation and parole supervision changed in the period immediately following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not surprisingly, findings of this study affirm the vulnerabilities of community corrections clients to health problems like the pandemic. Overall, this population faces a substantial burden of social impacts and strains. Moreover, the burdens are not experienced equally across this population. Mirroring community research, people of color served in community corrections had higher levels of COVID-19 infections than White clients. The generalizability of these findings must be considered within the context of methodological limitations. First, we utilized a convenience sample of probation and parole officers drawn from APPA and UCCI email 65 AMERICAN PROBATION AND PAROLE ASSOCIATION THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS Current reform efforts aim to increase the use of evidence-based supervision strategies, while at the same time minimizing the footprint of probation and parole in clients’ lives. Ordinarily, this has been explored through an increase in the use of diversion, the use of kiosk reporting for low-risk offenders, and shorter periods of supervision. To this we may be able to add the viability of videoconferencing. Videoconferencing may support a balanced approach to supervision while having the advantage of minimizing the disruption that in-person reporting creates for clients in the form of travel and time in a waiting room. That over three quarters of people under community supervision orders have smartphones or internet-connected computers bodes well for the feasibility of videoconferencing in routine supervision practice. Studies are now underway to explore best practices in the use of videoconferencing as an alternative to in-person reporting. Future research should examine the effectiveness of videoconferencing relative to traditional modes of supervision. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Dr. Nathan Lowe (Program Director, Grants & Research, American Probation and Parole Association), Myrinda Schweitzer Smith (Deputy Director), and Jennifer Scott (Program Director, University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute) for their critical assistance with recruitment efforts. Bios Deborah Koetzle, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at John Jay College. Her scholarship centers on correctional rehabilitation, including problem-solving courts and risk/need assessments. For over 20 years she has served as a consultant to local, state, and federal agencies on the topic of assessment, treatment interventions, and quality assurance, and she is an author of What Works (and Doesn’t) in Reducing Recidivism. She can be reached at Craig Schwalbe, Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Social Work at Columbia University. He has over a decade of experience in direct practice and administration in public and private agencies. His scholarship focuses on minimizing the use of detention and incarceration for justice-involved youth. Dr. Schwalbe is a recipient of the William T. Grant Scholars Award and is a contributing author for the 10th edition of the text Direct Social Work Practice: Theory and Skills. He can be reached References Buchanan, M., Castro, E.D., Kushner, M., & Krohn, M. D. (2020). It’s f**ing chaos: COVID-19’s impact on juvenile delinquency and juvenile justice. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 45, 578-600. Dong E., Du H., Gardner L. An interactive web-based dashboard to track COVID-19 in real time. Lancet Infectious Diseases ; published online Feb 19. Jennings, W. G. & Perez, N. M. (2020). The immediate impact of COVID-19 on law enforcement in the United States. American Journal of Criminal Justice. Advance online Marcum, C. D. (2020). American corrections system response to COVID-19: An examination of the procedures and policies used in spring 66 PERSPECTIVES VOLUME 44, NUMBER 4 THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS 2020. American Journal of Criminal Justice . Maruschak, L. M. & Minton, T. D. (2020). Correctional Populations in the United States, 2017-2018 (NCJ 252157). Bureau of Justice Statistics. Schwalbe, C. S. J. & Koetzle, D. (2020). What the COVID-19 pandemic teaches about the essential practices of community corrections and supervision. [Unpublished manuscript] Schwalbe, C. S., & Maschi, T. (2011). Confronting delinquency: Probation officers’ use of coercion and client- centered tactics to foster youth compliance. Crime and Delinquency , 57, 801-822. doi: APPA Membership Application YES! I WOULD LIKE TO JOIN APPA: REFERRED BY:___________________________ (U.S. currency) Student Membership (1 year) $25 Individual Member (1 year) $50 Individual Member (3 year) $135 Level I Agency Member (800+ staff - 1 year) $1,000 Level II Agency Member (500-799 staff - 1 year) $750 Level III Agency Member (101-499 staff - 1 year) $550 Level IV Agency Member (<100 staff - 1 year) $300 Affiliate Member (1 year) $250 Associate Member (1 year) $1,000 Corporate Member (1 year) $8,000 Educational Institution (1 year) $150 Library Subscription (1 year) $60 Lifetime Member (Lifetime) $300 (Individual must meet qualification criteria. 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