The Judicial Conference of Indiana Board of Directors voted unanimously at its March 2014 meeting to approve revisions to the Indiana Probation Standards. The revisions mark the first significant changes to the Probation Standards since 2001 and become effective on July 1st.
The Probation Officers Advisory Board worked on the revisions for two years, with an eye toward bringing the standards in line with evidence-based practices. The Judicial Conference Probation Committee approved the work of the Advisory Board and made their own revisions to streamline the Standards.
According to Hendricks Superior Court Judge Mark Smith, chair of the Probation Committee, the revisions are long overdue. “The Standards were last revised in 2001, and the field of probation supervision has changed dramatically in the last 13 years. The Advisory Board did a wonderful job incorporating evidence-based supervision practices into the Standards, and public safety and offender outcomes should improve as a result.”
Judge Smith identified several noteworthy revisions:
- new standards that incorporate risk assessment policies
- requiring development of case plans based on risk assessment results
- requiring that case plans target criminogenic needs
- requiring performance measures to document the outcomes of department initiatives
The Revised Standards are located on the Indiana Judicial Center’s website.