Research/Document Library

Promising Victim-Related Practices and Strategies in Probation and Parole

Historically, probation and parole practices have been offender-directed and have ignored or passively responded to the concerns of crime victims. While offender supervision strategies are aimed at protecting the public as a whole from further victimization, the interests of individual victims often are lost under the mass of paperwork and growing caseloads of offenders. This document addresses ways probation and parole can change from simply offender-directed to a balanced approach, addressing the unique needs of each of the key players, including victims. There is a need for probation and parole to look at victims as their clients whose needs should be served. For example, probation and parole can inform victims of the offender’s custody status and inform them that offenders will be held accountable for their actions. These actions validate the trauma victims have suffered and contribute greatly to the healing process. This document also acknowledges that in order for probation and parole to be more effective in its role to serve the crime victim and the public, an education process needs to take place within the community. Often the public is only aware of probation and parole after an offender has committed a heinous crime while on probation or parole. It is important for the public to hear about probation and parole programs that are committed to protecting public interests. In addition, as demonstrated throughout this document, probation and parole agencies can, and often do, provide valuable services to victims of crime. This document has collected many of the “promising practices” that contain elements all agencies should strive to implement in their own programs in order to provide more victim-related services. OVC also hopes that when probation and parole agencies provide victim-centered services, the agencies will in turn develop partnerships with other criminal justice entities thus forging a collaborative approach to serving victims and communities.

Available online

http://www.appa-net.org/

Author(s)

American Probation & Parole Association

Date

July 1999

Publisher

U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime