Community Based Corrections

Community based corrections is a program which supervises people who have been convicted or are facing conviction. It is a non-incarcerate system of correction. These offenders have been convicted or are facing conviction. Some offenders have entered these programs before being in jail and some serve a part of their sentence in jail before entering the program. The goals of the community based corrections would be one of providing guidance, program opportunities and support to the offender’s who are returning to the communities. (Goals- Re-entry Initiative) They are to help prevent the offender from recidivism. These programs are designed to help with programs such as employment assistance, continued education, drug classes and counseling. Their goal is to strengthen the offender in a trade and mental being to be able to cope in society and from a re-offense. The goals of the community based corrections in juvenile offenders are to prevent or reduce juvenile offenses, both criminal and non-criminal. Early interventions are designed to deter future misconduct, reduce negative or enhance positive factors in a child’s life. These programs promote improvements in the system to aid family courts, prosecutors and public defenders to provide a justice of due process protections. (Program Goals) These programs help to maintain public safety through a balanced use of secure detention, corrections and community based alternatives because they help to reduce facility crowding. Community Corrections programs are programs designed to divert offenders from incarceration by providing alternatives to prison and help reduce jail overcrowding. They are there to support the offenders to intermingle with the community while being monitored in their activities. Community based corrections consists of probation, intermediate sanction, parole and re-entry programs. (Chapter 5, pg. 114) In New Mexico, we have probation and parole programs. Our community

References: The Rise of Community-Based Correction, Kaplan, Chapter 5 Program Goals, Retrieved from http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/plan98/plan-04.html Probation and Parole Programs – New Mexico correction Department Retrieved from http://correction,state,nm.us/parole/intro.html Goals – Re-Entry Initiative Retrieved from http://www.doc.wa.gov/goals/reentry.asp Washington State Institute for Public Policy, Evidence-Based Adult Corrections Programs: What works and what does Not, Jan2006 Retrieved from http://www.asca.net/publication.html Youth Services Center Retrieved from http://www.berco.gov/live/departments/asp?dept=2337 National Institute of Corrections retrieved from http://www.nicic.gov/library/019342 Interview with Officer Patrick Apodaca, Albuquerque Police Department