Beyond Smoke & Mirrors: Probation in the Criminal Justice Reform Era
Plenary Session Speaker: Charles Robinson

Charles Robinson is the Deputy Chief of the Probation & Pretrial Services Office of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Over the course of more than 20 years, he has worked in a variety of positions in both county and federal probation, including supervising a caseload of community supervision clients and serving as a chief probation officer.

Charles has co-authored several widely used client and officer training programs for community and custodial correctional settings. Among these programs are Decision Points, an open-group cognitive-behavioral program that teaches clients to observe and interrupt thinking that leads to trouble; and Effective Practices in Correctional Settings (EPICS) II, a training program for criminal justice professionals based on existing behavioral change strategies found to be effective with criminal justice clients. He has extensive experience as a consultant training agency leaders and staff in both juvenile and adult correctional settings. He has helped leaders and agencies in the U.S. and other countries better align their community supervision systems with practices proven to exert a positive effect on clients and their communities. Charles has also co-authored several articles that contribute to the research literature supporting effective practices in community supervision.

Charles is passionate about the work of probation officers and believes strongly that community supervision officers are uniquely positioned to influence the lives of clients and the community through direct service interactions.