2026

Chen, F. (April 2026). Occupational Stress, Burnout, and Professional Fulfillment Among Community Supervision Staff: Findings From a Statewide Survey. Annual Meeting Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.

This study examines how job-related and organizational stress contribute to perceived stress and burnout among Georgia Department of Community Supervision (DCS) personnel and whether self-value and professional fulfillment mitigate these effects. Surveys were sent to 1,480 staff, yielding 529 responses (58% officers, 27% assistant chiefs, 8% chiefs, 7% counselors). Measures included perceived stress, burnout, sleep problems, self-value, and professional fulfillment.

Chiciu, D., Chen, F., Nichols, C. Converging Perspectives: Assessing Relationship Dynamics Through Probation Officer Self-Report and Observational Analysis. Annual Meeting Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.

Supportive relationships between probation and parole officers (PPOs) and clients are linked to supervision success, yet little is known about perceiving these dynamics across measures. This study examines the convergence between self-reported and observational assessments of PPO–client relationships over a six-month period and how patterns vary by relationship length and supervision type.

Finlay AK, Singh S, Yu M, Cross B, Bowden L, Dunn A, Stimmel M, Stewart K, Powell N (2026, June). Military veterans in the Georgia Department of Community Supervision. AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, Seattle, WA.

Military veterans under community supervision face unique healthcare challenges and have potential access to Veterans Health Administration (VHA) services, but little is known about their prevalence or treatment needs. The current study aimed to identify veterans under community supervision in Georgia and examine their experiences with VHA care.

2025

Applegarth, D. M., Rasnake, R., Powell, N., Bowden, L., Cross, B. (2025, November 12-15). Mandatory treatment, specialty caseloads, and parole officer interactions [Paper presentation]. The American Society of Criminology 2025 Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., United States.

Using administrative records of over 25,000 individuals on parole in a southern state from 2018-2023, this study examines the link between felony rearrest and being mandated to receive mental health treatment, being placed on a mental health caseload, and parole officer interactions. Results suggest individuals mandated to receive mental health services are at a higher risk of being rearrested.

Athimuthu, P., Inkpen, C., Kroma, C., Bechtel, K., & Lattimore, P. (2025). Exploring the Impact of “Orphaned Arrests” on Early Probation Termination Petitions in Georgia: An Evaluation of Senate Bill 105. American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Washington, DC.

This study evaluates Georgia's Senate Bills 174 and 105, which allow for early termination of felony probation, but found that between 10,000 and 16,000 people were denied petitions due to prior "orphaned arrests" (arrests without convictions), with Black individuals being disproportionately affected. Despite this, those with orphaned arrests had a lower rearrest rate than those with prior convictions, suggesting the denials may warrant further review.

Bechtel, K., Powell, N., Inkpen, C., Newsome, J., & Cross, B.(2025). Informing the IDRACS Risk-Needs-Responsivity Tool Development: A Meta-Analysis of Community Supervision Risk Assessments. American Probation and Parole Association Summer Training Institute, New York, NY.

The Integrated Dynamic Risk Assessment for Community Supervision (IDRACS) risk-needs-responsivity tool is a comprehensive assessment created through extensive literature review and meta-analysis to capture the needs and strengths of individuals under community supervision. This tool aims to promote person-centered supervision, reduce recidivism, and improve positive outcomes by grounding case planning in empirically associated factors.

Bechtel, K., Athimuthu, P., Inkpen, C., Burtch, E., & Lattimore, P. (2025). An Analysis of the Impact of Georgia’s SB105 on Community Supervision Officer Caseloads. American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Washington, DC.

This presentation summarizes an evaluation of the impact of Georgia's Senate Bill 105 (SB105) on felony or violent misdemeanor rearrest rates for individuals eligible for early probation termination. The analysis compares the post-judicial review rearrest rates of those whose early termination petitions were approved versus those whose petitions were denied, utilizing multiple analytical methods and criminal history data from 2017–2024.

Bechtel, K., Newsome, J., McKay, A., Smith, C.D., & Inkpen, C. (2025). Informing the IDRACS Risk-Needs-Responsivity Tool Development: A Meta-Analysis of Community Supervision Risk Assessments. American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Washington, DC.

The Integrated Dynamic Risk Assessment for Community Supervision (IDRACS) risk-needs-responsivity tool is a comprehensive assessment created through extensive literature review and meta-analysis to capture the needs and strengths of individuals under community supervision. This tool aims to promote person-centered supervision, reduce recidivism, and improve positive outcomes by grounding case planning in empirically associated factors.

Chiciu, D.**, & Chen, F. R. (2025, Nov). Assessing Officer Behavioral Profiles from Officer-Client Interaction in Probation and Parole. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Washington DC.

This study analyzed 1,650 video-recorded interactions from 609 officer-client pairs over 18 months, using latent class analysis to identify distinct officer behavior profiles based on objective ratings of 13 specific behaviors. This research aims to reveal variations in communication styles that influence client responsiveness and compliance, providing insights for targeted officer training and improved supervision outcomes.

Cross, B., Powell, N., Inkpen, C., Newsome, J., Sabol., W. (2025). Person-Centered Supervision: Where Research Meets Practice. The American Society of Criminology 2025 Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., United States.

The PCS model consists of four core elements: (1) Time, (2) Relationships, (3) Dialogue, and (4) Intersections. This thematic panel discusses how each PCS element is being researched and implemented into practice.

Geleto, H.*, & Chen, F. R. (2025, Nov). Evolving Bonds: Investigating How Officer-Client Relationships Transform Over Time. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Washington DC.

This study analyzes 1,650 video-recorded interactions from 609 officer-client pairs over 18 months to understand how the quality of the probation/parole officer-client relationship evolves over time. The findings will advance understanding of these dynamics, offering insights to promote more effective and supportive supervision practices.

Inkpen, C., Powell, N., Crimmins, D., & Garcia, M. (2025). Assessing Rearrest Using Predictive Modeling: The Integration of the Dynamic Risk Assessment for Community Supervision in the Georgia Department of Community Supervision. American Correctional Association Winter Conference, Orlando, FL.

This presentation focuses on predictive modeling in corrections through the development and integration of a dynamic risk assessment tool. First, the presentation discusses predictive modeling in corrections. Second, describe the development and integration of the tool into Georgia’s case management system. Lastly, a discussion providing an overview of the National Institute of Justice corrections research portfolio and discussing the utility of collaboration between practitioners and researchers to evaluate technology. 

Inkpen, C., Lattimore, P., & Powell, N. The Use of AI in Corrections and the Development of the IDRACS Risk Classification Tool. American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Washington, DC.

Artificial intelligence (AI) applications in corrections hold the potential to transform institutional and community corrections by improving efficiency, enhancing decision-making, and reducing costs. The Integrated Dynamic Risk Assessment for Community Supervision (IDRACS) risk classification tool tries to enhance the accuracy of risk predictions for individuals on probation or parole in Georgia. The project developed a series of logistic regression models tailored to different supervision types and periods, incorporating both static and dynamic factors.

Inkpen, C., Powell, N., Cross. B., Kroma, C. & Lattimore, P. Integrating the IDRACS Risk Classification Tool with Georgia DCS's Case Management System. American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Washington, DC.

This presentation details the coordinated effort to integrate the IDRACS risk assessment tool into the Georgia DCS's case management system, a process that included data validation and focus groups with supervision officers. The integration ensures the tool functions seamlessly to provide accurate and actionable risk assessments, including an expanded risk-needs-responsivity feature.

Inkpen, C., Newsome, J., Powell, N., & Bowden, L. (2025) A Mixed Methods Analysis of Virtual Check-ins for Community Supervision in Georgia. American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Washington, DC.

This mixed-methods study evaluates the impact of virtual check-ins versus traditional in-person check-ins on community supervision outcomes, such as rearrest and employment, using administrative data and qualitative insights from officers and clients in Georgia. The goal is to provide valuable recommendations for implementing and optimizing future virtual supervision strategies.

Inkpen, C., Athimuthu, P., Kroma, C., Bechtel, K., & Lattimore, P. (2025). A Multi-method Analysis of the Impact of Georgia’s SB105 on Rearrest. American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Washington, DC.

This presentation evaluates the impact of Georgia's Senate Bill 105 (SB105) on felony and violent misdemeanor rearrest rates by comparing outcomes for individuals whose early probation termination petitions were approved versus denied, using administrative and criminal history data from 2017-2024.

Jackson, J.*, & Chen, F. R. (2025, Nov). How does Officer-Supervisee Relationship in Probation and Parole Alter Over Time? Poster to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Washington DC.

This study examines 1,266 video interactions from 467 officer-supervisee pairs over a 12-month period to characterize how their relationship features and dynamics change over time. The findings offer empirical insight into the temporal nature of these relationships, which is essential for informing training and policy to enhance supervision effectiveness and outcomes.

McCafferty, J., Cross, B., Powell, N., Bowden, L. An Examination of the Georgia Department of Community Supervision’s Use of Risk Assessment Overrides. The American Society of Criminology 2025 Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.

This study examines how overrides are used in community supervision in Georgia and the impact of officers’ discretion on their use.

Waters, A., Powell, N., Harris, C., Van Deinse, T.B. (2025, November). Collaboration Between Mental Health Service Providers and Community Supervision Officers: A Two-state Comparison. American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.

Specialized mental health supervision (SMHS) aims to improve outcomes for people with mental illnesses. One component of SMHS requires community supervision officers (CSOs) to collaborate with mental health service providers to link supervisees to treatment. Given the reliance on cross-agency collaboration and wide variation in mental health services and community supervision systems across states, jurisdictions likely face collaboration challenges that impede implementation of this core component. To assess this variation, we compare cross-agency collaboration challenges in two states that use SMHS.

2024

Applegarth, D. M. (2024, January 10-14). Stopping the revolving door: Understanding the connection between mental illness and recidivism [Paper presentation]. Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., United States.

The U.S. criminal justice system has become the de facto mental health system, with mental illness (MI) prevalence in prisons 3-12 times higher than the general population. To improve public safety, health, and successful reentry, this study addresses the unclear relationship between MI and recidivism (rearrest within three years). Its primary aims are to test if MI increases recidivism and whether criminogenic risk factors have differential impacts on individuals with and without MI.

Chen, F. R. (2024, Mar). Stress profiles of probation and parole officers: incorporating biological measures. Paper presented at the symposium at the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Science, Chicago, IL.

This panel comprises five papers on officer-related factors, namely officer’s stress and the officer-supervisee relationship in probation and parole that influence supervisee outcomes. The focus on the officer-supervisee relationship in understanding supervisee’s outcomes has clear conceptual links with the Age-Graded Theory of Informal Social Control. Community supervision can be an important turning point for former offenders, because they now have new opportunities to “redirect paths”.

French, K. M.* & Chen, F. R. (2024, Mar). The association between officer-supervisee interaction and supervisee recidivism outcomes: preliminary findings. Paper presented at the symposium at the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Science, Chicago, IL.

This study will use both officer self-report and an objective rating of theDRR measure to examine how the officer-supervisee relationship is associated with supervisees’ recidivism outcomes in the subsequent 6 months.

Nowak, M. K.* & Chen, F. R. (2024, Mar). Characterizing officer-supervisee relationship in probation and parole. Paper presented at the symposium at the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Science, Chicago, IL.

Officers are the frontline workers providing the interventions, and the relationship they develop with supervisees forms the cornerstone of the delivery mechanism. Research has only begun to accumulate to characterize officer-supervisee relationships, and this study will add to this literature and examine the associations between.

Sutton, A. L.* & Chen, F. R. (2024, Mar). Probation and parole officer stress and its association with the officer-supervisee relationship. Paper presented at the symposium at the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Science, Chicago, IL.

This study tests whether PPO stress is associated with more punitive and less caring/fair interactions with supervisees.

Bloodworth, S. & Van Deinse, T.B. (2024, June). What is a pre-implementation assessment and how to use findings to enhance program implementation from the outset. Intensive Workshop at the American Probation and Parole Association’s 49th Annual Training Institute, Indianapolis, IN.

Over two-thirds of the 5.5 million people in the correctional system are on community supervision, including nearly one million with a mental illness. Despite the challenges this population faces, less than a third of counties screen for mental health conditions or offer specialized supervision. This intensive workshop, guided by a recent study, will focus on implementing tailored mental health supervision approaches in the North Carolina and Georgia Departments of Community Supervision.

2023

Inkpen, C., Lattimore, P., & Powell, N. (2023). Integrating dynamic measures in community supervision risk assessment. American Probation and Parole Association Winter Training Institute, New Orleans, LA.

The deployment of AI for risk assessments in corrections is crucial but requires careful review to ensure it avoids bias and positively impacts supervision. This presentation describes the development and integration of the Integrated Dynamic Risk Assessment for Community Supervision (IDRACS) tool into the Georgia Department of Community Supervision's (DCS) system. The effort involved coordination across researchers and DCS staff, including focus groups, to create a seamless tool that provides accurate, actionable risk assessments, along with a homegrown Risk-Needs-Responsivity assessment.

Strategic Collaboration: Transforming Theory into Reality when Making Forecasting Decisions in Criminal Justice (2023). Keynote Speaker. International Symposium on Forecasting (ISF). Charlottesville, VA.

Inkpen, C., Lattimore, P., & Powell, N. (2023). Revalidating dynamic risk assessments built in pre-COVID Periods. American Probation and Parole Association Summer Training Institute, New York, NY.

Risk assessments are useful for identifying the potential risk for rearrest that an individual on probation or parole can pose. Early versions of these tools used static measures (e.g., criminal history) while recent innovations incorporate dynamic measures of both risk and success while on supervision. However, many tools in practice were built using data from before the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from the Georgia Department of Community Supervision from 2016 to 2022, this workshop re-examines a dynamic risk assessment constructed and validated using pre-COVID data and seeks to answer the following questions: (1) How does a risk assessment built using pre-COVID-19 data perform in a post-COVID world? (2) Do changes in practice impact the predictive validity of models that were built using historical data before the COVID-19 pandemic? (3) How have the effects of dynamic and static factors changed? Plans to periodically revalidate and revise the risk assessment are discussed.

2022

Person-Centered Supervision: Forecasting Criminal Justice Outcomes While Reducing Negative Consequences. (2022). International Symposium on Forecasting (ISF). Oxford, England.

Effective collaboration between practitioners and researchers can help bridge the persistent gap between evidence and practice in criminal justice settings. Presented at the International Symposium on Forecasting, this presentation examines how the Georgia Department of Community Supervision has used strategic research partnerships to develop and implement a person-centered approach to community supervision. Person-Centered Supervision recognizes that individuals have unique strengths, needs, and goals and emphasizes four elements of effective practice: time, relationships, dialogue, and attention to the intersection of supervision and broader social needs. Using examples from workload analysis, officer-client interactions, performance measurement, and the development of a dynamic risk forecasting tool, the presentation illustrates how forecasting and research can inform operational decisions while remaining responsive to organizational context and practitioner experience. The presentation concludes by identifying considerations for building productive practitioner-researcher partnerships that translate evidence into meaningful, measurable improvements in practice.

Forecasting Criminal Justice Outcomes While Reducing Negative Consequences. The American Society of Criminology (ASC) 2022 Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA.

In 2021, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) held a data challenge, inviting participants to predict recidivism for a group of Georgia parolees. NIJ offered awards for the teams who were most accurate in predicting recidivism overall, for male individuals on parole, for female individuals on parole, and for the predictions with the least amount of racial bias. This session highlights what was learned from this data challenge with speakers from the National Institute of Justice, Georgia Department of Community Supervision, and five of the winning teams.