Specialty Behavioral Health Support Positions Alleviate Strain for Probation and Parole Officers Supervising High-Need Clients

Background: The majority of justice-involved individuals are supervised within communities, and probation and parole officers (PPOs) are tasked with creating opportunities for success for these individuals. A significant portion of supervised individuals also face challenges such as housing shortages, limited transportation, and behavioral health needs that outpace resources in communities. Oftentimes officers are not trained to be case managers and discover services for these high-need individuals. This can lead to limited use of resources, disruption in services, and possible technical violations for individuals who are most at-risk. Additional solutions are needed to assist officers in connecting clients to much needed resources in a timely and efficient manner.

Methods: Data from 381 probation and parole officers (PPOs) from one Midwest state are used to identify ways in which regional support officers (RSOs) can assist in identifying and accessing resources for clients with behavioral health needs. This mixed methods study uses survey data as well as content analysis for qualitative interviews (n=10) to detail how these RSOs assist PPOs in serving clients.

Results: 381 PPOs responded to an email survey asking about their interactions with the RSOs. PPOs typically had contacted the RSOs once or twice and mostly contacted the RSOs regarding finding/obtaining resources in the client’s area. Contacts were also about placements (e.g., home, psychiatric services) and conducting behavioral health assessments with clients. PPOs indicated their needs were met “most” (27%) or “all of the time” (39%) after speaking with the RSOs. Overall, PPOs were more satisfied with resolutions after their interactions with the RSOs (85%) than with interactions with community providers directly (33%). Qualitative interviews indicate that PPOs appreciate being able to contact the RSOs about housing, placements, and treatment to get additional support, direction, or validation of the attempts they make to address client needs. RSOs indicate success in connecting to community providers, home planning, and treatment access on behalf of officers for clients who have compounding needs (e.g., sex crime convictions and severe mental illness).

Conclusions: PPOs supervise a large number of clients in the criminal legal system. Many of these clients have behavioral health needs, which officers often do not have the training to fully understand, identify, or assess. With high caseloads, and high-need clients, officers need additional support to alleviate some of the burden of navigating so many systems. The RSOs were one solution to this state’s ever-growing concerns. PPOs found the RSOs to be helpful and able to identify solutions to many of the issues they face, especially with the most challenging clients. As systems look for innovative ways to alleviate strain and pressure on officers, solutions such as specialists within the system, whose sole focus is locating and navigating resources, can bring some relief to officers.