At the Intersection of Probation and Jails: Lessons from the Safety and Justice Challenge Probation Practice to Reduce Jail Populations Network

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Jesse Jannetta is a senior policy fellow in the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where he leads projects on prison and jail reentry, community anti-gang and antiviolence initiatives, police-community relations, parole and probation supervision, and risk prediction. He is the project director for the Safety and Justice Challenge Innovation Fund, the principal investigator for the Evaluation of Procedural Justice in Probation project, and a member of the leadership team for the Prison Research and Innovation Initiative. He was previously project director for the Transition from Jail to Community initiative, the process and fidelity assessment lead for the evaluation of the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice, and coprincipal investigator for evaluations of the Los Angeles Gang Reduction and Youth Development strategy and the Chicago Violence Reduction Strategy. He applies mixed-methods approaches to process and impact evaluations and provides direct technical assistance to jurisdictions improving justice system functioning. Before joining Urban, Jannetta was a research specialist at the Center for Evidence-Based Corrections at the University of California, Irvine. Jannetta holds a BA in political science from the University of Michigan and an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Richard has over 30 years of experience in adult and juvenile community corrections for the State of Missouri. He currently serves as District Administrator for the 8 Central Probation & Parole Office in St Louis County. Richard is responsible for the oversight of supervision of over 1600 individuals on probation or parole in the county. He acts as the division liaison to the St Louis County Court and Jail. Richard is a graduate of the State of Missouri Leadership Academy. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Truman University.

Dr. Maria Stephenson is the Director of Research & Data Services at the Georgia Department of Community Supervision. She manages internal and external research projects, data extraction and collection, and grants for Georgia’s adult felony community supervision population. Previously, she has led several initiatives to enhance community supervision in Georgia, to include consolidating alternatives to incarceration for probationers and parolees and implementing evidence-based programs. Prior to joining the Research & Data Services division, Dr. Stephenson managed one of Georgia’s Day Reporting Centers - a nonresidential substance abuse treatment center for probationers and parolees - supervising certified alcohol and drug counselors, probation and parole officers, and GED instructors while being responsible for hundreds of individuals under community supervision and the daily operations. Dr. Stephenson holds a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Walden University where she studied probation and parole officers' experiences addressing criminogenic needs of adult felony offenders. She also holds a Masters of Science in Social Sciences in Human Services from Capella University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Mercer University.