MENU TITLE: Probation Model .
Series: OJJDP
Published: DRAFT 9/90
19 pages
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PROBATION MODEL

Ron Chance

National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention
Program
School of Social Service Administration
University of Chicago

Distributed by:

Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse
Box 6000
Rockville, MD 20850
1-800-638-8736

Distributed by:

National Youth Gang Information Center
4301 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 730
Arlington, VA 22203

1-800-446-GANG
1-703-522-4007

This report was prepared under Grant Number 90-JD-
CX-K001 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of
Justice. Points of view or opinions in this
document are those of the authors and do not
necessarily represent the official position or
policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. 06/93

------------------------------

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

STRATEGIES, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES

PROBATION FUNCTIONS AND ISSUES

Organizational Development and Change
Data Systems and Information-Sharing
Pre-sentence Investigation
Supervision
Interagency Coordination
Community Mobilization, Education, and Prevention
Selection, Training, and Education
Research and Evaluation

------------------------------

PROBATION MODEL

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Probation departments across the country are
increasingly confronted with youth gang
probationers who are engaged in serious gang-
related crimes. Gang violence and drug trafficking
have placed communities and gang members themselves
in considerable danger and increased their need for
special attention. Research also indicates that
adjudicated youth gang members are at greater risk
than adjudicated non-gang members for development
of criminal careers.

The problem for probation varies in communities
where gang violence and gang crime are emerging and
where the problem is chronic. In areas where the
gang problem is emerging, probation departments
often lack the knowledge, expertise, and funding
mandate to address the problem effectively. In
jurisdictions where the problem is chronic or
entrenched, probation officers are faced with a
multitude of hardcore gang members, increased
levels of violence, and use of juvenile gang
members by adults in drug trafficking.

In both emerging and chronic gang problem
communities, the demands on the justice system are
overwhelming. Probation officers, plagued with
heavy paperwork and court appearances, have little
time for field supervision duties. Oversized
caseloads, sometimes in excess of 200 per officer,
seriously limit the probation department's ability
to carry out its primary objectives of protecting
the community and diverting youth from further
crime. Moreover, a lack of resources due to funding
constraints has forced many probation departments
to make surveillance activities for dangerous,
felonious, habitual offenders the priority concern,
while providing adequate controls and services to
less delinquent gang youth are neglected.

A certain amount of role confusion also exists
regarding the youth gang issue. Probation may not
be clear in certain jurisdictions about what its
primary mission should be: suppression, treatment,
or some specific mix of both. In certain parts of
the country, probation department success is
measured by its ability to catch probation
violators and turn them over to the court as
opposed to facilitating successful treatment
outcomes. Probation officers are required to engage
in police ride-alongs and sweeps to demonstrate a
greater street presence and enhance their authority
in the eyes of probationers. In other
jurisdictions, often those with relatively more
resources and less severe gang problems, treatment
is still emphasized. However, probation officers
may avoid contact with the police in these
jurisdictions because of their belief that it
diminishes their rapport with gang youth. Whether
or not this belief is true needs to be examined. In
any case, it reflects a serious problem in criminal
justice relationships, especially between police
and probation. 

The probation response to the youth gang problem
varies markedly around the country. Some
departments are uncertain whether gang and non-gang
probationers should be on the same caseload or
separated, and receive the same or different levels
of control and social services. Some large urban
jurisdictions have developed separate units to deal
with gang offenders, and even sub-gang units to
address specialized gang problems. Different
patterns of detention, court processing, and case
management may be provided to gang offenders as
compared to non-gang offenders. On the other hand,
some probation departments ignore the fact of gang
membership or the gang relatedness of the offense
and believe that the nature of probation should be
determined by the seriousness of the probationer's
general criminal record and social circumstances.
 
Many probation departments in chronic gang problem
contexts have still not given special attention to
the gang problem, although they have intensive
probation programs focussed on other types of
offenders. Some have a deliberate policy of
avoiding service to gang delinquents in these
special programs. Even where specialized units and
procedures exist to deal with gang probationers,
few probation departments have developed a
sufficient range of program services such as
individual and group counseling, remedial education
and alternative school arrangements, employment
training, and job placement. However, closer
relations with police departments and improved
community outreach are in evidence.  

STRATEGIES, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES

A multi-dimensional strategy is necessary for the
implementation of probation's dual mission of
protecting the community and reintegrating gang
youth into normative conventional patterns of
community behavior. A fivefold strategy of
suppression, opportunities provision, social
intervention, community mobilization, and
organizational development is required. While
primary emphasis should be on suppression, greater
attention should be addressed to community
mobilization and opportunities provision,
particularly in chronic gang problem cities. Use of
social intervention activities and special program
mechanisms to implement these strategies, should
depend on the severity of the gang problem, the age
of gang youth on probation, and the available
agency resources in the community.

Probation goals and objectives that incorporate
these strategies are: first, to assist the court in
its sentencing decision, i.e., to provide the court
with detailed information on the youth gang member
along with recommendations regarding possible
sanctions and rehabilitative options for the judge
to consider; second, to effectively enforce the
orders of the court and the laws of the state with
special regard to limiting the criminal activity of
youth gang members; third, to assist criminal
justice and community agencies as well as
grassroots groups to coordinate information and
develop efforts both to control and prevent gang
behavior; and fourth, to broker special school and
employment opportunities for youth gang
probationers to better meet their social
development needs.

Probation can carry out its primary strategy of
suppression by removing gang youth from the
community for violating probation, particularly
when they commit violent or drug-related offenses.
This can be done through various levels of sanction
including temporary detention. Special arrangements
(e.g., reduced caseloads, supervisory networks) are
essential to ensure close supervision of youth gang
offenders so they comply with the conditions of
their probation. An adequate suppression strategy
requires the development of gang intelligence and
information-sharing mechanisms in conjunction with
the police. Activities such as gang surveillance
and crisis intervention by probation should be
coordinated with similar activities by criminal
justice and community-based youth agencies. The
probation department should also assist in the
development of a referral system to provide
protection and assistance to victims and witnesses.

A social intervention strategy also needs to be
implemented. Probation officers should directly
provide assistance to youth gang probationers and
their parents in crisis situations and make sure
that counseling services are available to and used
by both. Crisis situations provide opportunities
for the probation officer to deal with personal
problems and gang-related activities of the youth
gang probationer. Probation assistance generally
needs to focus on task-centered objectives for the
probationer such as improving school performance,
procuring employment, and avoiding gang situations.

Of particular importance are community mobilization
efforts by the probation department to motivate
agencies to reach out and provide more attention
and services to gang youth as well as to better
coordinate programs across agencies whether in
emerging or chronic gang problem communities.
Informal and formal working relationships need to
be created with schools, local community groups,
and business and industry to address the youth gang
problem in particular localities. Activities can
include: 1) assisting a community-based youth
agency to collaborate with a parent's group and the
police to suppress gang violence and crime; 2)
collaborating with schools to develop prevention
and early intervention programming for youth at
different levels of risk who get involved with
gangs; 3) calling upon local business to create
more employment opportunities for gang youth and
their families; and 4) advising the court on ways
the youth gang probationer can make restitution to
victims or contribute to community improvement,
e.g., graffiti removal programs. A community
restitution program can be established in
cooperation with community-based agencies and
grassroots organizations. Extensive use of adult
community volunteers may be required in these
programs.

An opportunities provision strategy can target
specific youth and promote case plans that
emphasize remedial education, pre-vocational and
vocational training, and age-appropriate
employment. In some localities, probation and the
court have created job programs for probationers,
with special supervisory arrangements such as drug
testing. Finally, new organizational arrangements
may be required to carry out the above strategies,
including vertical case management, flexible work
shifts, decentralized probation offices, and
outreach efforts such as ride-alongs with the
police and contacts with youth on the street and at
home.   

PROBATION FUNCTIONS AND ISSUES

Special program emphases will be required by
probation in emerging and chronic gang problem
communities and between adult and juvenile courts.
In emerging gang problem contexts, relatively
greater cooperation by probation will be required
with schools and community-based youth agencies. In
chronic gang problem communities, relatively
greater cooperation with law enforcement
authorities and attention to community mobilization
will be necessary, especially where services appear
to be more fragmented. In both contexts, more
attention should be given to the development of the
capacity of the juvenile court to suppress and
supervise serious juvenile gang offenders, instead
of assisting the court to transfer them to adult
criminal court. In conjunction with this, more
efforts will be required by probation to develop
social opportunities and services for older youth
gang offenders through adult court.

The various strategies mentioned above should be
integrated with each other and prioritized in
relation to the nature and scope of the problem and
the resources available within a particular
community. Less complex and formal arrangements
involving other agencies will be required in
smaller communities where the gang problem is
emerging. Special departmentwide data systems and
individual officer resource files will be necessary
in larger departments. Nevertheless, certain common
functions should be implemented as regards the gang
problem regardless of the characteristics of the
department and the jurisdiction.

Organizational Development and Change

Probation departments are often ill-equipped to
deal with a youth gang problem because they lack
knowledge about youth gang phenomena and promising
probation responses. After recognizing the presence
of a gang problem, particularly in an emerging
problem jurisdiction, a staff group should study
its nature and scope and recommend that certain
changes take place in the probation department as
necessary. If the recommendations are feasible and
acceptable to the decisionmakers, it should be
incumbent upon the chief probation officer to act
forcefully to promote appropriate organizational
development and change. Such organizational
development should emphasize a combination of
suppression, community mobilization, social
intervention, and opportunity provision strategies.

Organizationally, in emerging gang problem cities,
regular probation units can change their staffing
patterns and program mix to provide more intensive
supervision and services to youth gang members. In
these often smaller emerging problem jurisdictions,
the chief probation officer has a number of
options. He can designate a probation officer with
specialized gang expertise to handle all of the
gang-affiliated probationers within the unit.
Alternatively, a special detail of probation
officers can be established, with reduced paperwork
requirements, exclusive youth gang probationer
caseloads, and community outreach functions to
better monitor and supervise gang youth. The most
economically viable alternative may be to provide
limited gang training to all probation officers,
especially juvenile officers, and target younger
juveniles at highest risk of repeat gang offenses.

In large chronic gang problem cities, a full-scale
specialized unit can be developed to supervise
youth gang probationers. These gang probation units
may be necessary to provide intensive surveillance
and specialized supervision because of high gang
density, the presence of large numbers of hardcore
gang members on the streets, and heightened
potential for gang violence. The issue of a special
unit or arrangements across juvenile and adult-age
divisions may be raised and requires major policy
and legislative attention. 

Specialized units often utilize a vertical case
management approach in which certain types of gang
probationers are assigned exclusively to each
deputy. The probation officer is responsible for
the same youth from intake through the termination
of probation. Frequent contacts with the
probationer are mandated and restrictive gang-
related probation conditions emphasized. Special
linkages with law enforcement personnel should be
developed in which probation officers and police
receive and provide reciprocal back up in carrying
out some of their tasks. Special arrangements
should also be developed in the local prosecutor's
office to provide a rapid response to probationer
violations of court orders.

New organizational arrangements in chronic or
emerging gang problem contexts can provide for
improved supervision and accountability. Resources
should be allocated according to problems and needs
of particular areas. Twenty-four hour shifts and
flex-time options can be developed. Monthly,
mandatory staff meetings can be held which involve
the entire probation department -- from detention
staff to field officers -- to share information and
ensure proper internal coordination with respect to
the gang issue. Probation officers should not only
be familiar with gangs in their supervisory area,
but also have knowledge of gangs in other parts of
the jurisdiction since gangs are increasingly
mobile.

Other organizational arrangements in both emerging
and chronic problem jurisdictions that can be
developed include designation of probation liaisons
to perform community outreach functions to schools
and community-based organizations. Better
monitoring of youth gang probationers in these
facilities along with improved training, and job
opportunities for them can be encouraged. Probation
officers can maintain an on-site presence at
selected schools for supervisory, agency
coordination, and local school staff training
purposes. Probation units can also direct their
officers to spend more time in the field to make
them highly visible and well known within the gang-
affected communities. Additional community
mobilization activities can include participating
on boards and community task forces, and
encouraging parent groups and PTAs to address the
problem in knowledgeable and collaborative ways.
Finally, decentralized probation units can be set
up in affected communities to allow probation
officers to more readily perform surveillance,
supervision, home visit, and crisis intervention
activities.

Data Systems and Information-Sharing

A data information system, particularly in chronic
problem jurisdictions, should be developed to meet
the needs of the probation department. The
probation data system in larger chronic cities
should be linked to other criminal justice
information systems, especially the gang crime
files of the District or State's Attorney's office.
Issues of compatibility with police system files
may arise since such systems may vary by police
department in the county. The function of the
probation data system should be twofold: 1) to
provide current intelligence on the criminal
patterns of individual gang probationers; and 2) to
maintain up-to-date information on gang activities
in the different local communities that may affect
individual probationer behavior. Data information
systems in chronic problem jurisdictions should be
computerized to enhance data retrieval, exchange,
and analysis.

The probation officer will also need to develop a
file of resources in the community which can be
useful in addressing the youth gang probationer's
problem. This file should include current
information on police and prosecution contacts,
youth agency services, special school programs,
employment possibilities, and parent support and
neighborhood watch groups that presently exist in
the community. These resources should be useful,
not only in dealing with the specific gang youth's
problems, but also in controlling the activities of
the gang that affect the probationer's social
adjustment.

The probation department needs to share information
regularly with criminal justice agencies on such
matters as gang names, signs, symbols, location of
turf, level of gang involvement, and nature of
criminal activity both of the gang and the
probationer. Such information will complement that
gathered by police and prosecution. Certain types
of gang-related information on the probationer
should also be shared with school personnel and
social agencies, particularly such information that
will enable the probation officer, teacher, and
youth worker to provide not only improved control
but better services and remedial opportunities to
these youth. 

Pre-sentence Investigation

The primary purpose of the pre-sentence or social
investigation is to aid the judge's sentencing
decision by providing pertinent and complete social
information and delinquent or criminal history
about the adjudicated youth gang offender. Often,
judges are not well informed about specific gang
issues and appropriate options available in the
community or correctional institution to
resocialize the youth. The probation officer can
significantly influence the judge's sentencing
decision by means of carefully gathered and well-
organized information obtained in the pre-sentence
investigation process.

The probation officer's report should become the
basis of a plan of supervision. The report should
include essential physical, psychological, and
health information; a careful appraisal of the
youth's academic, vocational, and work history; an
assessment of his social maturity or competence;
and a report of family circumstances, especially
the ability of the family to supervise and assist
the youth to improve his social behavior. The
history of the youth's gang- and non-gang-related
crime and the seriousness of the incident(s) for
which he is presently in court must also be
included. Special gang-related considerations which
may affect decisions about his return to the
community and the level of supervision required
should be identified, e.g., the youth's position in
and identification with the gang, the current state
of criminal activity of the gang, the risks that
are posed to the youth, and the threat his gang
poses to the community. The possible impact of
incarceration on the youth also needs to be
considered.

In instances where the probation officer advises
the court to allow a gang youth to remain in the
community, particularly a youth who has committed a
serious offense, certain supervisory restrictions
should be recommended as part of standard
procedure, e.g., non-association with gang members,
prohibition of gang dress and other insignia, non-
possession of weapons or drugs, strict curfew, and,
if appropriate, drug testing. If these restrictions
are ordered they should be regularly monitored and
violations fully enforced. The probationer, whether
juvenile or adult, should also be required to
participate in specific educational and employment
programs, e.g., remedial education, vocational
training, placement in an alternative school, or
assistance with job referral. Gang awareness and
parent effectiveness training can be recommended
for the juvenile's parents. When the youth's home
environment is totally destabilized, the probation
officer can recommend to the court that the youth
be placed in a situation such as a residential
juvenile center, extended family, or state ward
context where he will receive proper supervision
and support, preferably away from gang influence.
When the issue of parental responsibility relating
to abuse or neglect arises, the probation officer
should advise both the judge and district attorney
to undertake special proceedings against the
parent(s).

If the juvenile petition is sustained, the
probation officer should contact the public
defender in order to come up with a case plan that
will serve the best interests of the youngster. In
the pre-sentence process, the probation officer
should assist the judge to develop appropriate
dispositional orders by making him aware of the
type of court orders the probation department can
effectively carry out and the appropriate resources
that are available within the community and the
correctional institution for the youth in question.

Supervision

In both emerging and chronic gang problem areas,
the probation officer must give primary
consideration to the risks of controlling the
youth's behavior if he remains in the community,
and then develop a case plan to deal with his
social and personal needs.  A risk/needs assessment
exercise should be conducted for each youth gang
probationer, whether juvenile or adult, to construe
the level of supervision and the nature and
intensity of services that will have to be provided
to the youth and his family. The level of
supervision given to the youth gang member should
be proportional to the risk the youth poses to the
community and to himself. As suggested above,
possibilities include regular field supervision,
intensive probation, house arrest, curfew,
electronic monitoring, and mandatory substance-
abuse testing. 

Categories of supervision should be utilized, on a
continuum from least to most restrictive especially
in chronic problem jurisdictions. Supervision
should be periodically adjusted according to the
probationer's success in adhering to his probation
conditions. Gang probationers who remain arrest-
free on intensive probation for a substantial
period of time should be considered for transfer to
the regular probation caseload. The type and
intensity of social services provided should also
vary based on what the youth gang member needs to
develop adequate social and skill competencies. 

At the beginning of supervision, it is critical
that the probation officer explain to the youth
gang member and his family or significant others
the conditions of his probation and the
consequences of their violation. At this time, the
probation officer should try to establish
relationships with the family and significant
others that will provide insights into the special
developmental needs of the youth, which he should
address. Development of the social competency of
the youth or young adult probationer should be at
the heart of the supervisory process. The probation
officer must spend a great deal of time planning
and implementing an academic, social, and
vocational plan for and with the probationer. A
special effort needs to be made to identify ways in
which the probationer can use his school, work, and
spare time productively. The key objective is to
assist the youth in the development of appropriate
interpersonal and world of work skills which will
enhance his future employability and hence his
capacity to pursue a legitimate lifestyle.
Attention should be directed to the development of
skills by the youth, particularly those related to
conflict resolution either on the streets, within
the family, or in the school or work setting.

A key element of supervision should be regular
contact with the parent(s) or spouse of the
probationer to the extent possible. The probation
officer needs to both counsel and require the
parent(s) or spouse to keep "close tabs" on the
youth, particularly his contacts with fellow gang
members. The parent(s) or spouse should be advised
to monitor and ensure daily school or work
attendance, and to support the youth's efforts at
school and on the job. The parent(s) or spouse may
be in need of counseling and support for their own
personal and family problems. They should be
assisted whenever possible with referrals to
relevant social services, including public aid,
housing, mental health and drug treatment, and
training and employment. At a minimum, the
probation officer should attempt to persuade the
parent(s) or spouse to attend gang-relevant
education or parent support groups.

In both emerging and chronic gang contexts, the
probation officer should be primarily concerned
with holding the youth accountable for his actions
while making him cognizant of his illegal behavior,
and his obligation to make restitution to his
victim(s) and the community. A variety of community
service options can be made available and utilized
in conjunction with community-based and grassroots
organizations including graffiti removal, public
housing renovation, and community clean-up. To
ensure adherence to court orders, the probation
officer should make regular and unscheduled home
and school visits as well as telephone contacts
with employers, community agency personnel, and
others who know the youth. Developing case plans
that mandate participation in structured or
supervised activities by the probationer throughout
the day, coupled with a curfew at night can be
effective. Moreover, creating a communication
network with other supervisory agencies -- police,
school, community-based youth agencies -- to
exchange information regularly on probationer
compliance can be a useful monitoring tool and also
provide a means for the probation officer to
proactively intervene in crisis situations. 

While consequences for violation of probation
should be imposed as soon as possible, the issue of
appropriate penalties is problematic. If the
violation is related to minor gang activity, the
option of sending the youth to a correctional
institution, where his gang lifestyle may become
further entrenched, should be questioned. The
probation officer should have search and seizure
power and use of a "quick stop" court order under
specific conditions. This order would provide a
probation officer with the authority to place a
youth in detention for up to two weeks when the
youth has violated a condition of his probation. If
the youth commits a very serious crime, revocation
of probation may be in order.

The structure and process of supervision should
differ in emerging and chronic gang problem
contexts. In emerging problem contexts, gang-
affiliated probationers are likely to be in the 11-
to 17-year-old age range and should probably be
supervised as part of the regular juvenile
probation caseload. The probation officer should
use a service brokerage approach depending heavily
on local community resources and assistance. He
should emphasize close supervision, particularly
for the leaders and relatively hardcore or
committed gang youth. All gang probationers should
be expected to perform mandatory community service.
Special afterschool tutoring programs should be
developed for those youth who need them. The
probation officer should also seek out age-
appropriate full- or part-time employment
opportunities in conjunction with other agencies.
If resources are available, a volunteer adult
mentor should be assigned to each youth. Parents
should be expected to undertake gang awareness
training at a local youth agency or public school.
A local community-based youth-serving agency or a
school can be contacted to assist with these
functions and activities.

The probation approach should be more complex in
the chronic gang problem city. Special prevention,
early intervention, and intensive supervision
programs need to be established for different types
of gang offenders. The probation officer should
help organize and participate in programs at
schools where youth who may have been arrested are
beginning to experiment with gang participation.
Early intervention programs should be directed to
first- or second-time court-adjudicated gang
offenders, mainly from 12 to 15 years of age. Minor
gang-affiliated offenders, from 11 to 17 years of
age, should probably be supervised on the regular
probation caseload. An intensive probation gang
program should be directed to the more serious gang
offender, primarily between 15 and 24 years of age,
with a history of high levels of gang-related
criminality and violence. To maintain the integrity
of intensive supervision, caseloads should be
limited to between 30 and 40 probationers. For some
of the more serious offenders as well as older
adolescent and young adult gang/drug traffickers, a
special electronic monitoring program could be
established, with appropriate and swift recourse to
detention, use of probation camps, and probation
revocation.

Of particular importance in chronic gang contexts
may be the development of a special probation-
directed alternative school for juveniles in
cooperation with the school system and a youth
agency. The special school could serve as a base
for a comprehensive case management approach in
which probationers would receive intensive remedial
education in reading, writing, and math under
closely supervised arrangements. Close cooperation
with agencies that provide mental health, drug
treatment, and parent counseling as well as a
variety of special apprentice-training and civilian
conservation corps-type programs should be
developed. A variety of social, educational, job
referral, and counseling services could be made
available to parents and even to other high-risk
children in the family. The special school could
become a center for high-risk adjudicated gang
probationers between the ages of 13 and 15. In
order to minimize stigmatization, youth could be
transferred back to regular school programs at the
end of a 6- to 12-month period.

Interagency Coordination

The probation officer is uniquely linked to both
the justice- and community-based service system. He
must serve as an important coordinator of efforts
to deal with gang youth within both systems. This
role requires that the probation officer play the
parts of policeman and social worker at various
times. His collaboration with school, criminal
justice, community-based service agencies and
employers should differ somewhat depending on
whether he operates in an emerging or chronic gang
problem jurisdiction.

In an emerging gang context, the probation
officer's contacts with police, schools, community
youth agencies, local business and community groups
will probably be relatively informal. He should
assist agencies to better identify and target gang
youth for social and recreational services and
additional monitoring. He should also urge the
community to provide more volunteers as mentors to
these youth. When community-based agencies or
grassroots organizations have neither the
experience nor expertise to deal with gang youth,
the probation officer should assist them with
training and with the acquisition of resources in
the development of gang member outreach services,
to the extent possible. 

In a chronic gang context, coordination should be
more formalized because of the entrenched nature of
the youth gang problem, and the fact that chronic
gang problem cities tend to be larger. Greater
emphasis should be placed on advocacy and resource
development in order to change agency policies to
better serve gang youth. More formal collaborative
projects will have to be developed in conjunction
with police, prosecutors, judges, schools, youth
agencies, and employment sources. It is essential
that probation officers interface with watch
commanders and gang officers of the police
department to share information and intelligence.
Joint probation and police patrols to target "hot"
spots on special occasions should be considered.
The police may also have to accompany probation
officers into homes of gang members in dangerous
neighborhoods. 

The probation officer, along with prosecutors,
should identify potential and hardcore gang members
who are likely to be probation violators for
special monitoring and services. Probation, in
turn, can assist prosecutors in case preparation
and filings. Judges can be requested to fully
enforce conditions of probation and impose
significant penalties on probation violators when
circumstances warrant. Probation should provide
information on gang activity to school officials
and closely monitor active gang probationers on
school premises. They should also work to reinstate
gang probationers who have been expelled or dropped
out of school. Probation officers, in conjunction
with youth outreach workers, may need to be
involved in directly controlling, i.e., supervising
and "violating," older gang youth who may be
inciting or leading younger gang youth in fights.
Finally, local business and industry should be
regularly contacted and urged to provide training
and employment opportunities to youth gang
probationers. The probation department can also
provide special assistance to employment sites in
the development of appropriately monitored and
supervised job situations.

It is imperative that probation advocate that
schools take a lead role in resocializing youth
gang members. Efforts by the school system to expel
gang youth and not provide for their education
should be strongly opposed by the probation
department. If alternative schools are simply
disciplinary schools where a sincere effort is not
put forth to work with the youth, probation needs
to take a leading community role to have the
situation changed. Joint programs between probation
and the schools should be encouraged on behalf of
younger gang-prone youth with special needs for
remedial education and older gang youth who require
special education, apprenticeship training, job
placement, and supportive counseling.

Written interagency agreements should be
encouraged. Multi-agency responsibility and effort
to deal with the gang problem are essential. In
situations of highly limited resources and fiercely
competitive agencies, trust must be developed. Task
force, interagency committees, and joint case
management arrangements may facilitate
communication, joint planning, and cooperative
program implementation. 

Special efforts are also required by probation with
Chambers of Commerce, Businessmen's Groups, JTPA
councils, and the Mayor's and Governor's office
regarding special training and job opportunities
for older gang youth. Legislation and policy are
required to ensure that government contracts
include provisions for the employment of gang youth
who may be on probation. 

Community Mobilization, Education, and Prevention

The probation department can play a key role in
helping the community, particularly grassroots and
public interest groups, to recognize that a gang
problem is developing or growing worse. In emerging
problem contexts, it is important for probation to
carefully document the problem by providing
evidence concerning gang incidents, weapons used,
injuries sustained, locations of gang activity, and
identities of persons involved. In communities that
are experiencing a denial syndrome, probation may
have to become a risk-taker by using the media and
encouraging pressure by residents in the affected
areas to get key authorities to recognize the
problem. However, care should be taken not to
exaggerate the problem in this process. 

Probation can serve as an organizer of local groups
and agencies on behalf of the interests of the
local residents and the probationer. Links with
state and federal authorities and contacts locally
with probationers and their families, residents,
and community institutions, place the probation
department in a unique intermediary position.
Probation can assist in the education of local
citizens on the nature and dangers of gang life and
urge them to organize and participate in a variety
of community crime prevention, parent support, and
patrol groups. The probation department is also
well positioned to build a communitywide consensus
among local grassroots groups, police, parole, and
correctional authorities concerning definitions on
what constitutes a gang, gang member, and gang
incident to ensure that resources are well targeted
and used efficiently.

Selection, Training, and Education

Policies and procedures developed by the department
to address the gang issue may not be properly
implemented or adequately carried out without a
capable staff and a standardized training program.
Criteria for the selection of probation officers
should include: 1) familiarity with and
understanding of gang youth; 2) ability to be
authoritative yet provide personalized support; 3)
a willingness to work evening and weekend hours and
during gang crises; 4) a capacity for community
outreach; 5) successful community or justice system
experience; and 6) an educational level of at least
a baccalaureate degree. Police checks for job
candidates should be mandatory.

The chief probation officer needs to aggressively
seek out -- perhaps from other cities and
jurisdictions -- gang-related expertise for agency
staff training, especially in emerging gang problem
areas where local resources are limited. Staff
training and participation in interagency task
forces can be utilized to educate probation
personnel on gang topics and intervention issues.
Possible training topics include: updates on gang-
related legislation, gang drug use and trafficking,
street and prison gangs, search and seizure, social
investigation and supervision skills, effective
case planning, crisis intervention and mediation
skills, how to handle gang-related information in
court and interagency reports, use of data systems,
testifying as a witness, officer safety issues,
development of community resources, and community
mobilization techniques.

The chief probation officer should also direct his
department to develop community gang education
programs. These can include workshops for judges,
parents, school staff and students, detention and
custody personnel, community-based agency workers,
and staff of grassroots and landlord/tenant
organizations. Topics can include the sociology of
gangs, gang-awareness techniques, and crime
prevention. A special effort can be made in
cooperation with the police to educate the media on
guidelines for proper reporting of gang incidents.
Finally, the probation department should probably
advocate for a national training institute for
probation officers. Besides developing curricula
and carrying out training programs on gang and
other probation-related topics, this institute
could be a major force in developing a clearer and
more consistent general definition and role for
probation as a profession. 

Research and Evaluation

A variety of means should be established to
evaluate gang program efforts and outcome. The
quality of the probation officer's case reports
(e.g., pre-sentence investigation, supplemental
reports) contact logs and files should be
standardized and analyzed on a regular basis. The
extent to which probation officers are enforcing
the special conditions ordered for gang
probationers should be assessed. Basic data on
characteristics of probationers and services
provided to them need to be reported periodically.
It is important to determine whether different
types of probationers are receiving different
levels of supervision. Systematic evaluation
concerning the effectiveness of services provided
to different kinds of probationers is essential.  

Outcomes of court screening and transfer decisions
should also be evaluated. Probation dismissal and
revocation rates should be regularly used to
determine the effectiveness of current programming
in meeting the organizational mission of probation.
Efforts at community mobilization by probation
officers should also be closely studied to
determine whether these efforts contribute to
lowering gang crime rates in targeted communities. 

Finally, the long-term effects of probation on gang
youth, particularly the more serious offenders
should be determined. Criteria to assess this
should include grades, general improvement in
school, relationships with the gang and gang
members, and employment performance, as applicable. 
Differences in outcomes for gang youth assigned to
regular probation, intensive probation, or
incarceration, and their possible explanations,
should be construed, particularly if the
backgrounds of some of the probationers in each of
these categories appear to be quite similar.