SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — On March 4th, Lore Joplin and Dave Parilla of the Crime and Justice Institute facilitated a strategic plan update for San Francisco’s Adult Probation Department (APD).
Supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI), Lore and Dave worked with management, supervisors, and administrative staff to gain varying perspectives on the status of their plan. Retiring Chief Adult Probation Officer Wendy Still requested and participated in the work session, with the goals of providing a progress update for the incoming Chief and supporting the seamless continuation of JRI and other key initiatives.
San Francisco’s JRI strategy includes an interagency effort to implement risk-based sentencing for probation terms. To help support and sustain this strategy, the APD’s Strategic Plan focuses on the implementation of evidence-based practices, such as assessment driven case planning and enhanced service referral and access through their Community Assessment and Service Center (CASC).
Shifting to risk-based sentencing is projected to decrease probation case loads and allow the department to focus more on those clients who are assessed as medium and high risk. The increased use of a risk-needs assessment tool and the implementation of the CASC were seen by ADP staff as the major accomplishments of the department over the past two years.