PAROLE

LEGISLATORS, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

Parole Officers' caseloads are excessive and make it impossible to

provide proper supervision of parolees in our communities.

This compromises public safety!

FACT: The Executive Budget fails to provide funding to fill 112 vacant Parole Officer positions. Between 60 and 70 of these vacancies were funded by the Legislature and left unfilled. The Legislature must take direct action to lower current excessive caseloads that range up to 120 Parolees per Parole Officer.

FACT: 55 of the 112 Parole Officer vacancies exist in New York City. This does not include 9 Senior Parole Officer vacancies and 18 Facility Parole Officer vacancies. Very few of these 139 total vacancies will be filled from the new class of 36 Parole Officers.

FACT: Most Parole Officers carry unmanageable caseloads of between 75 and 100 felons. The Division of Parole's (DOP) average caseload figures are misleading. Some Parole Officers work on special assignments or are out of work on different types of leave. These officers carry no caseload, while other officers carry reduced specialized caseloads. A review of actual caseloads in the Manhattan office shows that the average caseload is between 75 and 83 parolees per Parole Officer with some Parole Officers having over 100 parolees to supervise.

FACT: The way DOP counts caseloads leads one to believe that caseloads are lower than they actually are. After parolees serve 12 months of parole supervision they are moved from an “Intensive” caseload (40 parolees per Parole Officer) to a “Regular” caseload (100 parolees per Parole Officer). This means that instead of 4 contacts per month with a Parole Officer, parolees only have 4 contacts every 3 months. The Parole Officer only gets credit for 1 case for every 2.5 parolees under “Regular” supervision. In other words, if a Parole Officer is supervising 25 parolees under regular supervision the officer only gets credit for supervising 10 cases. Many Parole Officers still supervise parolees on “Regular” supervision as if they are on “Intensive” supervision because the parolees need the additional attention if they are to remain crime-free.

FACT: Under present DOP staffing policy many parolees are placed in “Inactive” caseloads that assign 400 parolees to a Parole Officer and count them as only 40 parolees under supervision. Under this policy, many parolees who satisfactorily serve two-thirds of their parole supervision time are automatically no longer required to have any contact with their Parole Officer. Inactive supervision does not comply with the American Probation and Parole Association's (APPA) supervision standards.

Strengthen Parole rather than adopt the governor's proposal to “end parole for all felons”

FACT: Determinate sentencing does not stop the release of criminals; it automatically releases them after they serve their maximum sentence minus the “good-time” they have earned in prison.

FACT: Automatic release removes the incentive for inmate rehabilitation and such released inmates are at greater risk of repeat criminal activity. An independent Parole Board looks at inmate participation in rehabilitation programs and puts community safety before institutional concerns.

FACT: Determinate sentencing has failed in states that have changed their laws. Several states that abolished parole in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Colorado, Connecticut and Florida, have reinstated parole.

Abolishing Parole Will Not Stop The Release of Criminals.

New York Needs More Supervision Of Parolees, Not Less.

A Plan to Improve Parole Supervision:

This plan complies with APPA standards

• Require the Division of Parole to keep all parolees on intensive supervision for the first two-thirds of their parole supervision time. This will ensure that all parolees get the supervision they need to remain crime-free in our communities.

• Require all parolees to have at least one contact per month with their Parole Officer. This would eliminate “inactive” caseloads in which parolees are unsupervised.

• Limit the maximum caseload of any Parole Officer to no more than 60 parolees. Specialized caseloads for violent felony and sex offenders should remain at their current ratios of 25 parolees to one parole officer.

• Require the Division of Parole to fill all 112 vacant parole officer positions. Parole officers need the resources to enforce the intensive supervision requirements of 4 contacts per month, mandatory drug testing, mandatory treatment, education and employment for all felons released from prison. This will require an addition of $1.6 million to DOP's budget. We save at least $40,000 in court and prison costs for every parolee who does not return to prison.

Make our communities safer!

Set stricter parole supervision standards!

Reduce Parole Officers' caseloads!