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Digitized by the Internet Archive 2014 in https://archive.org/details/probationbulleti153mass / MASSACHUSETTS TRIAL COURT OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PROBATION / DONALD COCHRAN, COMMISSIONER "RISK\NEED VIA THE WraE" byJoseph Holmes & MarkPrior Commissioner Donald Co- Chief Probation Officer, Assistant Chief Pilot testing of the new CATS chranispleasedtoannouncethatstate- Probation Officer and the Line Probation program began inJune 1990, when pro- wide implementation ofthe Risk/Need Officerall standtobenefitfromitsuse. Itis bationofficesinMarlboro DistrictCourt andDUE. CaseAssignmentandTrack- evident that this program will save time for and Northampton District Court became ingSystem (CATS)hasbeencompleted allconcerned. Ithelpsmeasamanagertodo the first to computerize their Risk/Need inprobationofficesoftheSuperiorand my job more effectively, and it helps the supervisioncases. Testingcontinued until District/BMC Court Departments. office in general and the ProbationOfficers January, 1991, and statewide implemen- inparticulartobettermanage theircaseloads. tation took place between February and The CATS program was de- It certainly is a big step forward." April, 199L veloped by an Advisory Committee of In order to provide technical ChiefProbationOfficersfromMarlboro, CPOWilliamH.Burke, saidofthe support, a CATS telephone hot-line was Northampton, Brighton, Peabody, newautomatedprogram, "Ithinkit'sagreat establishedintheCommissioner'soffice. Somerville, Ware, Spencer, Lynn, and ideathatwillprove to beatremendoushelp AnalystsJoseph Holmes and Mark Prior Wareham District Courts and Bristol toallofusinprobation. Itwillhelptoensure continue to assist the local offices with and Essex Superior Courts, working sound management practices at all levels of programmatic concernsandany dataentry with the Commissioner. OCP System probationwork. It'sagreattool andallows questions that may arise. PArniaolrysmtasnaPgeteedrteGcrheneiclaelydeatanidls.Mark anentireofficetokeepontopofitscaseload." Asecond ChiefProbation Offi- The Risk/Need Case Assignment and cer Advisory Committeehas been estab- The CATS program was de- Tracking (CATS) program allows for the lishedtoreviewtheCATSprogramandto signed to provide management infor- entryofallessential Risk/Needdataintothe develop enhancementsthey feelwill best mation data to local office managers CORI database. Once the data has been serve the local offices. Those Chief andtoaidprobationofficersintracking entered, theChiefProbationOfficermay,at Probation Officers participating on this their individual caseloads. The result any convenient time, access information new committee are from Haverhill, will be more efficientprobation super- pertaining to the caseloads currently super- Marlboro,Northampton,Peabody,Som- visionandeffectivedeliveryofservices visedbyeach probation officer. Risk/Need erville, Westboro, and Wrentham Dis- forthe court, community, and thepro- forms may be displayed on the screen or trict Courts and Suffolk Superior Court. bationer. printed. Management reports may be se- In addition to reviewing the lected firom the on-line Risk/Need Report CPO Michael A. Walsh of Screentoidentifythosecasesdue forreview present CATS system, this Advisory MarlboroDistrictCourtsaidofthenew ortermination, those thatare beyond termi- Committee will work on planning and automated program, "This system can nation,andthenumberofcasesbeingsuper- developing uses for personal computers provetobeagodsend. Itisanexcellent vised by each probation officer. (PC's) in the local offices. management tool for everyone. The JUNE 1991 VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1 EDITOR: RONALD P. CORBETT,JR. ONE ASHBURTON PLACE, ROOM 405 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02IM The benefits ofthe Juvenile Pro- The friends of Charlestown gramwillbeconsiderable: first,itwill DistrictCourtalsosponsoredaLawDay save the courts time by eliminating celebrationatCharlestownDistrictCourt, tedioustyping; itwillalsoprovidean May 2, 1991. The day long celebration automated statewideuniformpool included a series of mock trials. Chief ofjuvenile information that was not Probation OfTicer Barbara Burke in- previouslyavailableelectronically. For vited community residents to sit in as thepurposeofquality controllingthe members of the jury. The day was fol- database, the courtswillnow send to lowed by an awards ceremony. OCPacopyoftheJuvenileComplaint formandwillnolongerhavetosubmit the three part "CPl" forms that are currently in use. Finally, it will gen- erate various reports for probation THE JUVENILE CORI analysis. LITERACY WORKSHOPS AS PROJECT A FORM OF ALTERNATIVE Juvenilerecordsofoffendersbom byEvieSnow beforeMay 21 1974willberetained SENTENCING FOR REPEAT , OFFENDERS? ininactivestatusinthepaperfilesac- cessible by telephone requests. The Juvenile Program of the automated criminal offender record system by Wayne R. Sc. Pierre became operational on April 1, 1991 in That is what is new at the New the Officeofthe CommissionerofPro- bation. OCP has entered the complete BedfordDistrict Court. JudgeRobert Kane, Professor Robert P. Waxier of activejuvenilerecordsthatwerekeptin "LAW DAY SoutheasternMassachusetts University and emnatneuraedl.fiAlens;acotvievre2j0uv,e0n0i0lereicsoorndsewbeorme CELEBRATION" PanOdWiamyplneemeRn.tSetd. Painererxecihtaivnegdneevewloppreod- after5/21/74. graminthewayofanaltemativesentence by ThomasF. Walsh forhighriskrepeatoffenderswhoareable TTie first court to comeon line with to read on at least a high school level. theJuvenileProgramwas PlymouthDis- An article appeared in the tFrriactnkonLuAopnrgiol,1C1,PO19i9n1.PlAycmcoourtdhi,ng"Itt'os wSeuenklTyr)anasdcdrriepstsin(ga LWaiwntDharyopa,tEMasAt catorshavTehrionsuigshtoedutthatthelicteernattuurrieeso,ffeerdsu-a goingquitewell,we'repleasedwiththis Boston Court. Probation Officer powerful, andoftenprofound way to ex- program. It has cut our paperwork in Cheryl Bloomwasamongthosewho plorethehumancondition. Literature, it half." held activities for the 15th Annual hasbeensaid,notonlymirrorslife,butil- Law Day Speakers Program. Training is being provided by OCP luminates it. In an important sense then personnelonsiteinthecourts. Anaver- Students and teachers from othfetrheeapdaitntgeronfsloiftearastoucrieetiys,ananinivneqsutiirgyatiinotno ageof4courtsaweekarebeingtrained; localareaschoolswereinvitedtomeet the behavior ofliterary texts gives us an training began in April and will end in with court personnel. The speakers understanding ofourselves. July. TheJuvenile Courts and the addressedthesignificanceofLawDay, District Courts who have their ownJu- howlawsaremade, theorganization, In this context participants ex- venile Departments thathavenot previ- jurisdictionandoperationofthecourt plore,throughdiscussionofmodemshort otruasilnyinbgeeant OtrCaiPnedd,urwiinlglhthaivset"iimne.house" athnedltehgealroslyestoefmt.hoseprofessionals in csiteortiyesrealnadtendovteolss,ucphattiesrsnuseswiatshivniooluerncseo,- masculinity, individual identity and sub- The AutomatedJuvenileProject isa PresidingJusticeJosephV. stance use/abuse. program designed to mirror the adult FerrinoandthestaffoftheEastBos- Cnminal Offender Record Information ton Districtcourtheld its observance The use of literary workshops (CORI)programatOCP. Thiswillenable on May I, 1991 in the main court- paired with more traditional Probation JuvenileCourtsandDistrictCourtswho room. ChiefAdministrativeJustice methods ofsupervision has shown great arraignjuvenilestoenteroffenderinfor- Arthur M. Mason was the principal promise and we will be watching as the mationintothedatabaseandretrieveitas speaker. program is fine tuned. well. 2 JUNE1991 - PROBATION BULLETIN , . PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT by EdwardP. Dalton TheOfficeoftheCommissionerofProba- Fitchburg, amandatory modelwasused Guidelines were established tioniscurrently involved in several inno- which required an offender to enroll in whereEHScourtinvolvedstudentswere vative pilot projects. The following is a anadult literacyprogramiftheoffender identifiedandaprocess was established briefsummary oftheprogrammodels. If failed to obtain a specific score on a toprovideboththecourtsandtheschool m you are interested in finding out more standardizedliteracytest. Theprobation withmoreflexibility dealmgwithpro- about any of these pilot projects, please officers in both Orleans and Fitchburg bationerswhoarebeingdisruptiveinthe contact Ed Dalton, Director ofProgram District Courts were trained to admini- school setting. Development at 617-727-2010. ster the literacy screening instrument We (WRAT-R2). The six (6) month pilot will meet in late June to AIDSEDUCATION-InJanuary 1991 project will end on June 30th and the evaluate the program model and make this office (OCP) began piloting a man- findings will be available in the Fall. any necessary revisions prior to the datory AIDS Educationprogramforhigh beginningofthenewschoolyearinSep- risksubstanceabuseoffenderswhowere VIOLENCEPREVENTION-Agroup tember 91. placedon probation by thecourt. OCP of probation officers who were inter- in conjunction with the Massachusetts ested in addressmg the problemofvio- This office would like to express it's Department of Public Health and the lence among our offender population, sincereappreciationtothe ChiefPro- Circle, Inc., aprivatenon-profitagency began meeting in 1990 to discuss alter- bation Officersandthe respective staff located in McLean Virginia, developed natives to violence. This officecoordi- ofeachofthecourts whoareinvolved the project. Lyim District Court, East natedanefforttoprovidetraining, tech- in thesepilotprojects. Withouttheir Boston District Court, Boston Munici- nical assistance, and support to those interest and dedication our ability to pal Court and Suffolk Superior Court probation officers in developing local explore these concepts would be se- began pilot programs in January 1991 strategies which attempt to address the verely limited. and they will run through June 30th. needs ofthis particular offender. As a Each offender who is placed on proba- result Wareham,Lynn, BostonJuvenile tionforadrugoffenseisorderedtopar- and Boston Municipal Court have fol- ticipate in a one day AIDS education lowed the lead of Cambridge District AND workshop. Theinformationgainedfrom Court and started programs during late "AIDS ITS this project will provide us with some 1990andearly 1991. Thegroupcontin- IMPACT ON insight into the effectiveness of this ues to meet periodically to exchange PROBATION educational model on at risk offenders. ideas, to discuss their progress and to provide support to each other. OFFICERS" LITERACY - In January, this office began a Literacy Pilot Project in three SCHOOL - PROBATIONPARTNER- by ThomasF. Walsh courts- OrleansDistrictCourt, Fitchburg SHIP - In late 1990 this office began a District Court and Barnstable Superior dialoguewithschoolofficialsatEnglish Court. The purpose of the project is High School (EHS) on a model project The subject of AIDS was fo- twofold, - firstto examineouroffender aimed at better communication and co- cusedupon ina recent article published population, toseeifthereisacorrelation operation between the school system in the Brockton Enterprise. The article between illiteracy and unemployment and the courts. The project focused on focused on a prostitute and intravenous and secondly, to see if offenders who court involved youth who were either drug user named Coimie, who needed wereimdereducatedandunderemployed not regularly attending class or who help but didn't know how to get it. would become involved in an educa- were not observing school rules and Fortimately for her she had a probation tionalprogramiftheyweregivenanop- regulations. Itwasinitiallythoughtthat officer at the Brockton District Court portunity to do so. themajorityofEHS court-involvedyouth who went beyond the call ofduty. Her Two models were developed. who metthiscriteriawouldbeinvolved probationofficerwentto thestreetsand Onemodel usedinOrieansDistrictCourt withWestRoxbury, Dorchester, Roxbury gotheroffthecomerandintoahalfway and Barnstable SuperiorCourt offered and Boston Juvenile Courts therefore, house where she could fight her addic- an "incentive" of a reduced period of these four courts were asked to partici- tionsandeventuallygettestedforAIDS probation upon completion of an adult pateinthismodelschool-probationpart- Connie was tested two years ago and literacy oradulteducation program. In nership. testedpositive. 3 JUNE 1991 - PROBATION BULLETIN mediation sessions range from 70% to asanalternativetotraditionalprobation- 80% depending on the county. These arytreatments. Thegoaloftheprogram figures illustrate that not only are Pro- is forviolentclients to takeresponsibil- bateProbationDepartmentsinvolvedin ity for theirbehavior andto familiarize a significant number of all contested the clients with the use of non-violent matters appearing before the court, but disputeresolutiontechniques. Thepro- they are resolving a high percentage of gramadmitsoffendersconvictedofvio- thesecaseseffectivelybytheirmediation lent offenses with the exception of sex activities. Theimpactofmediationmay offenders, offenderscommittingviolence be even greaterin those counties where forprofit,andoffenderswithsubstantial MEDIATION: THE FO- all contestedmatters fuimel through the substance abuse problems. CUS FOR THE 90'S IS Probate Probation Department for me- MORE CASES diationservices ratherthanselectedcases. Much of the success of this program can be measured through the The extensive volume ofcases educational gains, attitudiaal changes, byRichardE. O'Neil mediated coupled with high success and subsequent behavioral conduct of ratessupportstheconceptthatmediation the client. One way to measure the ProbateProbationOfficershis- is anefficientcourt managementtool in client's subsequent behavior is through torically have provided investigation, the Probate and Family Court. In the recidivism rates for future violent ofmediation and support collection serv- wakeoflean fiscal timeswherejudicial fenses. The Research and Planning ices for the Justices in each Probate resourcesarelimited. ProbateProbation Departmentwith thecooperation ofthe Court. However, recenttrends indicate Departmentsmustbeseenasanintegral CambridgeDistrictCourthascompleted thata largerproportion ofProbate Pro- component in assisting the court in an evaluation of the Alternatives to bation Officers' time is being spent managing its ever-increasing caseload. Violence Group using violent offense mediating contested domestic disputes. recidivismrates as its basis for success. Probate ProbationDepartments The evaluation was conducted by com- The Probate and Family court adopted arecommittedtomediationandexpand- paring the recidivism rates of clients theconceptofmediationinaformalway ingitsusewithintheProbateandFamily whocompletedthe Alternatives to Vio- in the mid 1970's. Hundreds of con- Court. Thatcommitmenthasbeen sup- lence Program (completions) to clients tested domestic relations cases, tradi- ported by the Office of the Commis- whodidnotcompletetheprogram(ter- tionally scheduled for litigation, were sioner of Probation through training minations)andtoaselectedcomparison referred by the Justices of the Probate programs which have assisted Probate group (comparison). and Family Courts to their Probation Probation Officers in refining their al- Departments for mediation services. ready extensive meditation skills. Asummaryoftheresultsshow Endorsementand supportfor mediation a significantly (p=.005) lower recidi- asan acceptablealternative to litigation vism rate for probationers who com- wasexpressedbythelegalcommunityas pletedthealternativestoviolencegroup well as the courts. Consequently, the than for the comparison group or the growth ofmediation was inevitable. termination group. After one year, the ALTERNATIVES TO recidivism rate for program completers According to the Annual Re- is 12%, for program terminations it is VIOLENCE GROUP port of the Massachusetts Trial Court, 26%, andforthecomparisongroupitis 34,222 contested domestic relations CAMBRIDGE DIS- 27%. Thistrendisreinforcedbyanalyz- mattersweredisposedofbytheProbate TRICT COURT ing the two year recidivism rate for Courtsin fiscalyear 1985. Over54,898 which the comparison and termination contesteddomestic relationsmatterswere EVALUATION RE- groups continue to haveviolent offense disposed of in fiscal year 1990 by the SEARCH recidivismratesatleasttwotimeshigher same courts, which represents a 60% than theprogramcompleters. increase. by SandraAdams The evaluation research and During this same period, the subsequentanalysesconfirmthesuccess number of meditations conducted by In October of 1985 at the oftheAlternativestoViolenceProgram Probate Probation Officers rose from Cambridge District Court, the Alter- andsubstantiate theeffortsofits found- 12,744 in 1985 to 27,074 in 1990, a natives to Violence Group was devel- ers and clients. 112% increase. opedbyProbationOfTicerSteveBocko andPsychologistBill Hudgins. Itisan Additionally, success rates for educational andcounseling programused 4 June 1991 - probation bulletin MASSACHUSETTS TRIAL COURT OmCE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PROBATION DONALD COCHRAN, coKimm&Mmmzmm^z CQ>-i-£nTinN COMPUTER EXPANSIO0^\N 26 1995 IN PROBATION^niversity of Massachuset Depnsiiory Copy by Thomas F. WaJsh v/ithin their own offices. During the Fall of1990 Com- additional twenty-five requests. CmihsiseifoPnreorbaDtoinoanlOdffCioccerhrvaolnunatsekeerdsffoorr Afourstageprogramwasdeveloped Ttwhoe-dfaoylltorwaiinngingcosuerstssiocnsomapnldetaerde ptrheesi-r an Automation Advisory Committee. for the distribution of PC's. In February ently using PC's: Thecommitteeworked with the Com- 1992, OCP completed the first two phases of Hampden Superior Court missioner and OCP staff to evaluate the Personal Computer Distribution Project. Suffolk Superior Court and make suggestions regarding the Between October 9, 1991 and February 5, Ayer District Court use of computers in probation. The 1992, twenty-three personal computers were Boston Municipal Court firstproject ledtotheestablishmentof installed in local probation offices of the Cambridge District Court the CATS system (featured in June, Superior, District, Boston Municipal and Ju- Dedham District Court 199rs Bulletin). The second project venileCourt Departments. The remaining25 Fitchburg District Court IlaverhiU District Court was the result ofthe ChiefProbation offices will recieve PC's over the next few Holyoke District Court Officers indicating they had a strong months. Lawrence District Court interestindevelopingameanstoauto- Lynn District Court mate the daily probation operations, Computertrainingwasconductedat Marlboro District Court unique to the local probation office. OCP by Mark Prior, Systems Analyst and Newburyport District Court Anthony DePasquale, Systems Programmer. Northampton District Court Palmer District Court Through the efforts of the Trainingconsisted ofatwo-dayworkshop for Peabody District Court OCPstaff,federalfundswereobtained the Chief Probation Officer and a support Somerville District Court to underwrite an effort to install PC's person on the essentials: Spencer District Court at the local probation offices. The Taunton District Court Chief Probation Officers developed - DOS (Disk Operating System), used to Westborough District Court concepts that were later turned into keep files orgjmized in the computer. Worcester District Court actual operating computer programs. - WP (Word Perfect), software that pro- WWroernctehstaemrDJiusvtreincitleCoCuorutrt The Commissioner asked all Chief vides general word processing capabilities. OPMAN Probation Officers interested in hav- (Operation Manager), a pro- The initial feedback from the ingPC's in their officesto maketheir gram designed to allowChiefProbation Offi- offices using the PC's has been very requests to OCP. Twenty-three CPO's cerstokeep trackof AdministrativeSupervi- positive. Becauseofthesuccess in using madetheinitialrequestfollowedbyan sion cases and supervision related activities PC's,effortsarebeingmadebyOCPstaff to obtain additional federal funding. MARCH 1992 VOLUME 1, NUMBER 3 EDFTOR: THOMAS F. WALSH ONE ASHBITRTON PLACE, ROOM 405 BOSTON, MASSACHLTSETTS 02108 THE VOLUNTEER PROBATON OFFICER PROGRAM \ By Dr. Henry Weinberg Boston University/Brockton District Court Thisyearmarksthetwentieth opment, would therefore reduce the risk through the training program. anniversary of the Volunteer Proba- for future offending behavior. The VPO tion Officer (VPO) Program at the program was developed to provide a Recruitment of applicants for the Brockton (Mass.) District Court. mentoringrelationshipwiththeindividual VPOprogramremainsessentiallybywordot'i Reaching this milestone makes it the offender to help further socialization, i.e., mouth, insuring asteady widening network longest(aswell as the Icirgest) continu- by providing appropriate modeling for ofcommunity involvement. Current and/or ingprogramofitskindintheCommon- learning how to deal positively v/ith the former VPOs recruit their friends, as have wealth of Massachusetts. From its tasks ofsocial adaptation. The volunteer court personnel. In some cases former inception tothe present, approximately was not meant to be a substitute for the clientswho had successfully dealt with their 600 volunteers from the community probation officer who maintained overall own crises have themselves become Volun- havesuccessfullycompletedtheformal supervisory responsibility but rather one teer Probation Officers. training program and gone on to ad- who might function more in the role of dress the needs ofthe individualjuve- oldersibling, friend orevenparentsurro- Followingasetofscreeningproce- nile or adult offender client. gate, personally accepting and showing dures including interviews and record checks, theway. The volunteerhim/herselfmight a class of approximately a dozen recruits, Thecurrentprogram is a good evenhavehadinthepastproblemssimilar undergothetrainingexperience. Thosewhoi example of the desirable "ripple ef- to those of the probationer but had suc- successfullycompletethesix weekprogram fect," notonlyinitsownoriginbutalso cessfullyand appropriatelydealtvWth them. are now sworn in as Volunteer Probation initslatercontributionstothedevelop- Officers. Their commitment is to have ment of spin offs into other volunteer The firststepinthedevelopment contact forat leastan houreach week for a activities. The VPO program was one ofthe VPOprogram consisted oftraining year with their probationer, to submit of of a number of initiatives emanating thosewhoultimatelywouldberesponsible weekly contact sheets and to attend at t fromtheYouthfulOffenderProject,an for the training of the volunteers, i.e., monthly evening VPO meetings. LEAA supported program in the area training the trainers. For this purpose, ofModel Probation. Though the proj- human relationsprofessionalswere brought The "matching" of volunteer and ect (YOP) had as its primary focus the in to carry out the training of selected probationer is done in the following steps. repeat offender aged 17 to 25, it also probationofficerssothattheymightthem- A Probation Officer believes he/she has a had the flexibility to respond to other selves utilize the techniques ofsensitivity probationer who wouldbenefit from having needs ofthe Courtas theywere identi- training through group process. Follow- a volunteer and contacts the VPO director. fied and defined within the broad frame- ingcompletionofthetrainingprogramthe In discussionbetween them, the needsofthe workofProbation. Oneoftheseneeds, original trainers then moved to the side- probationer are identified and feasibility is at both the juvenile and adult levels, lines,butremainedavailable forawhileas determined. When the VPO director ha.s resultedinthedevelopmentoftheVPO consultants should problems arise in the accumulated3 such requests, an apparently program and the formal training ofits early implementation ofprogram. appropriate graduate ofthe program is con- participants. Themovingspirit behind tacted. He/she is given the three files and thisprogramwasaconcerned,commu- Two major written projects came asked tochooseone thatisofmost interest. nity-oriented Presiding Justice. His out of the training program: (1) an This device is intended to maximize the owncommitmentandenthusiasmbrought explicit setofgroup process training pro- opportunity for any resonance between the about the support ofcolleagues at the ceduresandexercisestobeusedwitheach characteristics of the probationer and the court, a necessary feature ofany suc- newclassofvolunteersand (2)amanual, feelings ofthe volunteer. Should the vol- cessfuljudicial innovation. or handbook, for each volunteer. This unteer not choose one ofthe three, another contained orientation information, a his- set will be presented. Given the number of Conceptually, both the basic toryofprobation, selected legal informa- requests for volunteer probation officers, YouthfulOffenderProjectandtheVPO tion, and, most important, examples of there is no dearth ofavailable clieni.s. juve- program viewed an offense as a func- problemsthat mightarise inthe VPO-pro- nile or adult. tion ofthe situation and the offender. bationer relationship along with sugges- This interactive view led to seeking an tions for appropnate handling of them. During the continuing relation.ship understandingofthe individual offender Withminorupdatingboththetrainingpro- the VPO not only report by means of t)- to identify those needs that put him at cedures and the volunteer manual have required contact sheets and monthly met. risk for such offending. Addressing continued inuse to the present. Addition- ingsbutcanalsoseekcounsel from the VPO suchneeds, inmanycasesinadequacies ally, all Probation Officers, veteran or director at any time. In addition the VPO incopingwiththetasksofsocial devel- newly hired, have until recently gone director periodically evaluates the coniinu- 2 MARCH 1992 - PROBATION BULLETIN