Want to reinvent probation? Do it right (correctionsone.com)

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Today, probation is the linchpin of the criminal justice system
The Los Angeles Times article states the present lens of the County of Los Angeles Probation Department.

When Sacramento transferred responsibility for nonviolent felons from state prisons to the counties, it was probation departments that took over supervision of those people. When voters demanded less spending on prisons and more on reentry, recovery and rehabilitation, it was probation departments that stood to receive much of the money. When better ideas and better data produce better programs to prevent crime and recidivism, it is probation departments where they are put to work.

Yet there is no consensus on how probation should be structured or managed. Some counties have two separate departments, one for juveniles, one for adults.

Los Angeles County's department is monitored not just by the board, but also by numerous commissions, committees and councils. Yet the department is currently without a chief probation officer — no surprise, given that the board has moved leaders in and out at a rate of one every other year — so it's the right time to think about mission, structure and oversight.

The board on Tuesday is expected to consider a plan to convene yet another group, this time to evaluate how all the other oversight is working and recommend something that presumably would be more effective. The group would be much like one that met last year to recommend a structure for overseeing the sheriff.

For the entire Los Angeles Times article, please click on;
http://www.correctionsone.com/...obation-Do-it-right/