# Memos and Presentations to Probation Officers ("marketing of the program" to our customers)

After developing new resources, memos are written and distributed to referring supervision probation officers describing the individual characteristics of the resources (e.g. requirements of an employer, acceptance criteria and advantages of a specific program) so that the probation officers can describe them and encourage probationer interest and participation.

Semi-annual presentations are made to the referring supervision probation officers throughout the department in order to: describe newly developed resources, generate more referrals, discuss recent Nova Ancora programmatic successes and developments, distribute "Letters of Recognition" to the top referring probation officer's in the branches, answer questions and solicit suggestions and comments.

## The Recognition and Awards Ceremony

In October 1995, a Nova Ancora Recognition and Awards Ceremony was held in order to honor and recognize all of the service providers (i.e. employers, labor unions, not-for-profit corporations, vocational training, continuing education programs and contributing city and state departments and agencies), the probationers who achieved success in the program, and the supervision probation officers who referred the probationers to Nova Ancora. The service providers received plaques, and the probationers received framed Certificates of Recognition. An equally significant component of the celebration was the presentation of Lifetime Achievement awards to Mary and Zack Sansone, the founders of the Congress of Italian American Organizations (C.I.A.O.) and Chief Charles Joshua, the Founder and C.E.O. of the Central Brooklyn Coordinating Council. Following the Recognition and Awards Ceremony a sumptuous brunch was enjoyed by all attendees.

## The Nova Ancora / Wildcat Service Corporation Outcome Evaluation

In 1996 a simple outcome evaluation was completed in conjunction with the Wildcat Service Corporation. The purpose of the study was to see if sustained employment was directly related to reduced rearrest rates. A sample of 110 probationers who were hired by "Wildcat", as referred by Nova Ancora, were matched with a control group. Probationers were matched by similar risk levels of recidivism and length of time on probation.

Significantly, probationers who remained successfully employed for at least three months were rearrested 50% less than the matched control group. Additionally, the successfully employed probationers (for at least three months) were rearrested 14% less than the unsuccessful program participants (who were unable to remain employed for at least three months). This simple evaluation preliminarily validates the widely held belief that sustained employment is directly related to reduced recidivism.

##### The Probation Employment Project (P.E.P.)

A unique collaboration, which came to be known as the Probation Employment Project was developed and implemented by Nova Ancora and a group of its service providers in order to establish a comprehensive on-site vocational training experience, combined with academic instruction and subsequent job placement. P.E.P. included the