Pennsylvania's Approach to Informed Release Decision Making
The Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole is committed to an informed release decisionmaking process. The Board uses actuarial risk assessment tools, treatment progress reports, and stakeholder input to inform their release decisions. Offenders are typically released when there is evidence that risk to reoffend has been reduced. The following data and information informs the release decision:
- Risk assessment data: The Board uses the STATIC-99 to assess the level of risk of sexual reoffense. LSI-R data provides an assessment of risk of general reoffense as well as an understanding of an offender's criminogenic needs.
- Additional assessment information: Also available for consideration by the Board are results from in-depth sex offense-specific evaluations that are conducted by the Commonwealth's Sexual Offender Assessment Board (SOAB). The SOAB conducts evaluations for the court to determine if sex offenders meet the statutory construct of a sexual predator and if they are required to register. The SOAB also conducts risk assessments for the Board and takes into consideration relevant issues related to treatment and management.
- Treatment progress assessment: The Board requires all offenders interested in parole release to participate in institutional treatment if they are assessed to need treatment. They receive an evaluation from institutional treatment staff about an offender's level of therapeutic engagement and treatment progress.
- Community and victim input: The Board considers information from victims, prosecutors, and judges regarding specific cases when making release decisions; this input provides an additional means of informing release decisions. Should parole be granted, this information is also used to consider specific release conditions.
- Specialized parole conditions: The Board differentiates between subpopulations of offenders by imposing different sets of specialized, clinically driven release conditions. A protocol was developed to guide the consistent use of specialized conditions (e.g., computer access restrictions, prohibitions about unsupervised contact with children).
- Specialized parole supervision: In all parole districts across the Commonwealth, offenders released to the community will be under the supervision of parole agents who are specially trained in the supervision and management of sex offenders. In some districts, sex offender units have been established, with an average caseload of 50 offenders per agent.
- Transparency: The Board endorses a transparent approach to decision making. Their decision making instrument is now a public document and brochures and presentations provide detailed information on the decision making process.