NCJ Number
152137
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 58 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1994) Pages: 23-25
Date Published
1994
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes the characteristics and benefits of the intensive supervision program for occasional drug users instituted by the U.S. probation office in the Southern District of Florida.
Abstract
Under this program, the offender must page the probation officer before every move from one location to another and upon arriving home. The probationer must wait 15 minutes after paging the probation officer. If the officer does not respond within the 15 minutes, the offender is required to call the officer's answering machine and leave a detailed message, including name, time, present location, destination, and estimated time of return. Offenders are also required to report to the probation office twice weekly for drug testing; they are also required to report for a 16- to 20-hour drug abuse education program. Advantages of the program for supervision are officer familiarity with the probationer's lifestyle, extension of supervisory presence in the probationer's life, maintenance of the intensity of reporting even while the officer is off duty, offender awareness of daily activities, and assistance in the cessation of criminal associations. Administrative advantages include increased reporting demands without required action by a releasing authority, saving of treatment funds and the maximizing of treatment resources, and no involvement of an outside contractor. The article concludes with an outline of the personnel and equipment required in intensive supervision.