According to a nonpartisan legislative audit released on Friday, Wisconsin’s probation and parole program has failed to check in on offenders and offer them rehabilitation resources adequately. The audit found that the Department of Corrections, which also oversees the state’s understaffed prisons, has not quickly completed required risk assessments or investigations of people on release or probation. The agency also did not adequately review the penalties it imposed on people who violated the terms of their release to see which consequences were most effective at preventing re-offense, auditors said.
The community corrections program in Wisconsin has over 63,000 people. Most are on probation, which means they were sentenced to supervision instead of prison time, or on extended supervision, which is served after release from prison. Although some people receive services such as housing assistance or treatment for substance abuse through the program, corrections agents said they believed many people under their supervision were not getting the help they needed, especially in areas including child and health care, education, and mental health.
The audit found that corrections staff did not have a central database to track whether people fulfilled the treatments or programs required to complete. Check-in programs were administered inconsistently across the state. The corrections department, however, said in response that it is not required by law to do either of those things. The department said each person’s progress is tracked by the agent assigned to them, and rehabilitation programs were designed to adapt to communities’ needs.
Between 2019 and 2022, the Department of Corrections cited approximately 57,000 participants for more than 380,000 violations of the terms of their supervision, including broad restrictions against possessing drugs or alcohol, visiting certain places or people, or failing to attend required treatment. More than half the violations were non-criminal, and most were for using drugs or alcohol. Less than 7% were violent criminal offenses.
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Consequences varied based on the seriousness of the violation, but most corrections agents said they were frustrated by a push to use methods other than revoking someone’s release since they didn’t believe those options protected the public or held offenders accountable. The corrections department, in its response, said auditors should not have relied on the opinions of employees to gauge whether policy changes had been effective.
The corrections agents overseeing the release program also overwhelmingly voiced unhappiness with their high workloads and low pay. As of July 2022, the program had more than 250 unfilled positions, nearly 13% of its total staffing. It’s a problem the corrections department has acknowledged across its workforce and asked lawmakers to fix by increasing wages for prison guards and other criminal justice workers.
In response to the audit, the corrections department disagreed with many of the auditors’ findings.The department also stated that it is currently implementing a new case management system that will improve its ability to monitor and track the progress of people in the community corrections program.
In conclusion, the Wisconsin probation and parole program faces significant challenges, including heavy workloads, short staffing, and inadequate resources. The program’s primary goal is to prevent recidivism, reduce crime rates, and provide rehabilitation resources for offenders who need them. The nonpartisan legislative audit revealed that the Department of Corrections had not completed required risk assessments or investigations of people on release or probation quickly enough and that the agency did not adequately review the penalties it imposed on people who violated the terms of their release. However, the corrections department maintains that the rehabilitation programs were designed to adapt to communities’ needs and that the program has made significant strides in reducing recidivism rates.