NCJ Number
53483
Date Published
1978
Length
20 pages
Annotation
TO STANDARDIZE THE MANNER IN WHICH PROBATION AND PAROLE PERSONNEL ASSESS THE NEEDS OF THEIR CLIENTS, WISCONSIN'S DIVISION OF CORRECTIONS DEVELOPED THIS NEEDS ASSESSMENT SCALE. ITS USE IS EXPLAINED.
Abstract
THIS IS ONE OF TWO COMPANION VOLUMES DEVELOPED AS PART OF THE WISCONSIN PROBATION AND PAROLE CASE CLASSIFICATION AND STAFF DEPLOYMENT PROJECT. (SEE NCJ 53482 FOR THE TREATMENT GUIDELINES WHICH ACCOMPANY THIS ANALYSIS.) FOLLOWING AN OVERVIEW OF THE CLASSIFICATION PROJECT, THE METHODOLOGY USED TO DEVELOP THIS SCALE IS EXPLAINED. WEIGHTS WHICH SHOULD BE GIVEN TO EACH FACTOR IN DETERMINING A CLIENT'S CLASSIFICATION AND THE USE OF THIS NEEDS SCALE IN CONJUNCTION WITH A RISK SCALE ARE BOTH DISCUSSED. THESE TWO SCALES, PLUS THE INFORMED JUDGMENT OF THE PROBATION OR PAROLE OFFICER, ARE USED TO DETERMINE THE CLIENT'S NEED FOR SUPERVISION--MINIMUM, MEDIUM, OR MAXIMUM. TABLES PRESENT THE 11 ITEMS ON THE NEEDS SCALE, POSSIBLE WEIGHTINGS WHICH COULD BE GIVEN TO EACH ITEM, AND THE AMOUNT OF SUPERVISION TIME INDICATED BY EACH SCORE RANGE. THE PROCESS USED TO VALIDATE THE SCALE IS THEN DESCRIBED. IT WAS FOUND THAT MILWAUKEE AGENTS WERE GIVING LESS SERIOUS RANKINGS TO CLIENTS THAN AGENTS IN SMALLER COMMUNITIES, EVEN THOUGH MILWAUKEE CLIENTS WERE GENERALLY CONSIDERED MORE DIFFICULT. AN INVESTIGATION CONCLUDED THAT MILWAUKEE AGENTS HAVE SUCH A HIGH CASELOAD THAT THEY ARE ABLE TO SPEND VERY LITTLE TIME WITH EACH CLIENT. AS A RESULT, UNLESS A NEED HAS REACHED CRISIS LEVEL, IT IS NOT SEEN AS SERIOUS. FURTHER ANALYSIS VALIDATED THIS INVERSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CASELOAD AND AWARENESS OF CLIENT NEED. WISCONSIN'S EFFORTS TO EQUALIZE WORKLOADS THROUGHOUT THE STATE HAVE REDUCED THIS DISPARITY IN CLIENT SCORES. FOOTNOTES AND TABLES ARE INCLUDED. (GLR)