Dr. Maja Vlajnic, Senior Data and Policy Specialist at the Crime and Justice Institute (CJI), presented at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) conference on March 20, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois. Her presentation, titled, “Exploring Absconding Behaviors and Barriers to Reporting for Those on Community Supervision,” discusses the reporting barriers experienced by individuals on community supervision in Montana. The presentation outlines the work conducted by Dr. Vlajnic and her team to identify trends related to absconding and / or failure to appear through a quantitative analysis of supervision outcomes, case file review, statute and policy assessment, conversations with stakeholders, and focus groups with individuals currently or previously under supervision. This work will continue through Fall of 2024 when Dr. Vlajnic and the CJI team will publish a final report detailing findings and considerations related to absconding for community supervision agencies.
Dr Vlajnic’s in depth absconding assessment is a continuation and expansion of CJI’s larger community supervision and revocations analysis project conducted across Colorado, Florida, Montana and Mississippi. This analysis, supported by Arnold Ventures, resulted in the dissemination of six reports detailing CJI’s findings and recommendations for improving community supervision outcomes and successfully implementing evidence-based practices.
To learn more about this work or to read CJI’s national and state-specific revocations reports visit the link below.