Types of Contacts

There are three types of contacts typically used in community supervision:

• In-person/face-to-face contacts require the client to visit the probation office to meet with their PO.
• Telephone contacts require the client to contact the PO, respond to calls/messages from the PO, or use an automated smartphone application to check in.
• Kiosk reporting requires the client to visit a kiosk (often located in courthouses, probation offices, or police stations) to check in.

• Contacts are used to check in on clients, ensure they are in compliance with supervision conditions, discuss issues they are experiencing, work on cognitive-behavioral interventions, collect probation fees, and more.
  • During contacts, clients often answer standard questions about their activities and compliance with supervision conditions.
  • Remote contacts like telephone or kiosk reporting may have the client use a biometric identification process (like a handprint of fingerprint scan) to confirm their identity.
• Kiosks may have a space for clients to pay probation fees.

How Can They Be Used to Monitor Compliance?

• All types of contacts require clients to report on their progress in meeting the conditions of supervision. This allows officers to determine if the client is complying with the conditions.

How Can They Be Used as a Supervision Tool?

• In-person/face-to-face contacts allow officers to determine if clients are complying with the conditions of their supervision (like obtaining employment or attending treatment).
  • In-person/face-to-face contacts also help officers build rapport with clients through regular interaction.
• Telephone contacts allow officers to speak with their clients, but they do not provide the same opportunity for face-to-face interaction.
  • Regular telephone contacts can help officers to establish rapport through repeated (sometimes unscheduled) check-ins.
  • Telephone contacts can reinforce the officer-client relationship by showing that the officer is invested in the client’s wellbeing.
• Kiosk reporting helps officers monitor client compliance with supervision conditions, but it does not provide an opportunity for officers to build rapport with the client.

What Are the Costs of Different Types of Contacts?

• In-person/face-to-face contacts are time- and resource-intensive as they require officers to spend time meeting with clients.
• Telephone contacts require less time and resources than face-to-face contacts since officers can perform them quickly.
• Kiosk reporting costs vary widely from department to department. They may require substantial up-front costs to set up. But because they do not require officers to contact clients directly, they can be less time- and resource-intensive than face-to-face contacts.

• For low-risk clients:
  • In-person/face-to-face contacts are sometimes appropriate for all clients.
  • Telephone contacts are sometimes appropriate for all clients.
  • Kiosk reporting is sometimes appropriate for all clients, except those with a SUD and several additional criminogenic needs.
• For medium- and high-risk clients:
  • In-person/face-to-face contacts are always appropriate for all clients.
  • Telephone contacts are sometimes appropriate for all clients.
  • Kiosk reporting is never appropriate for all clients except for those convicted of intimate partner violence (IPV) and those with severe mental illness (SMI), for whom it is sometimes appropriate.

Client Outcomes

• Contacts help build rapport between officer and client, which is an evidence-based way to promote client compliance with supervision conditions.
• Contacts help officers determine client compliance and serve as an accountability check.
• Contacts can help clients improve the quality of their life by encouraging and holding them accountable, which can help reduce drug use and stress.

Which Contacts Are Evidence-Based Practices?

• While in-person/face-to-face contacts by themselves are not an evidence-based practice, they involve a wide variety of activities, some of which (e.g., motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral interventions) are evidence-based practices.
  • Additionally, the rapport that can be built between officer and client during in-person contacts has been shown to lead to improved supervision outcomes and increase client compliance.
• The research evidence for telephone contacts is promising, but more studies are needed to establish it as an evidence-based practice.
  • Recent evaluations show that telephone contacts are effective in reducing client drug use and stress.
  • Other evaluations have found that officers are not able to build rapport with clients as effectively with telephone contacts as with face-to-face contacts.
• Kiosk reporting is not an evidence-based practice due to lack of studies, although preliminary evidence is promising.
  • Evaluations find that clients assigned to kiosk reporting are not rearrested or sanctioned more than clients assigned to face-to-face contacts.
  • Kiosk reporting shifts resources away from low-risk clients and toward medium- and high-risk clients.
• Overall, evidence indicates that remote contacts (telephone contacts and kiosk reporting) are cost-effective and do not lead to higher client recidivism/violation, but they may increase racial bias in supervision outcomes.
  • Black clients are less likely to be assigned to remote contacts than White clients.
  • When assigned to remote contacts, Black clients are more likely to receive technical violations than White clients for similar behaviors.

What Do People Formerly Involved in the Criminal Legal System Think About Types of Contacts (the “criminal justice” or “legal” system is referred to as the criminal legal system in this document)?

• For low-risk clients:
  • In-person/face-to-face contacts are never appropriate for gang-involved clients or those convicted of IPV. They are sometimes appropriate for all other clients.
  • Telephone contacts are sometimes appropriate for all clients.
  • Kiosk reporting is never appropriate for clients convicted of IPV and those with an SUD and one, two, or three additional criminogenic needs.
• For medium- and high-risk clients:
  • In-person/face-to-face contacts are sometimes appropriate for all clients.
  • Telephone contacts are sometimes appropriate for all clients.
  • Kiosk reporting is sometimes appropriate for all clients.

Communication That Strengthens the Officer-Client Relationship (Messaging)

• Officers should be aware that contacts can severely disrupt a client’s life and schedule.
  • In-person/face-to-face contacts require clients to visit the probation office, which may be located far from their home or workplace.
  • Telephone contacts (especially when unscheduled) may require the client to drop what they are doing to respond to the officer.
  • Kiosk reporting requires clients to visit a kiosk, usually located at probation offices, police stations, and courthouses. These locations can require the client to travel far out of their way.
• Officers should acknowledge that contacts can interfere with a client’s personal and professional life, and that they may make it more difficult for them to comply with the conditions of supervision.
  • Officers should work with clients to schedule contacts at times that will minimally disrupt the client’s schedule.
  • If the client lives far from the probation office or kiosk locations, officers should use face-to-face contacts and kiosk reporting only when necessary.
    • Officers should consider using telephone contacts more often in these cases.
• Officers should make it clear that contacts are not just a way to monitor client compliance; they are a way to check in with clients and make sure they are doing alright.
• Officers should use face-to-face and telephone contacts as an opportunity to interact with the client and build rapport.