Stage 2 - Frame Expansion Agnecies/Courts Protocol/Phone

Appendix C

Stage 2 – Frame Expansion Agencies/Courts Protocol/Phone Script

Contacts with newly identified misdemeanant supervision [agencies/courts] will be made by project staff who have experience on the APS. Contact will be initiated via phone with the [agency/court] head and they will provide the information below. A more formal protocol/phone script follows.

• I’m calling on behalf of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) regarding the Annual Probation Survey.

• BJS has conducted the APS for nearly 40 years. About 450 agencies and courts nationwide are asked to complete the survey every year. BJS is considering expanding the study to involve more agencies and courts that supervise only misdemeanants.

• At this time, I’m calling to schedule a time when I might speak to someone from your staff to review the content of current survey questionnaire and discuss the possibility of your [agency’s/court’s] participation in future waves of the annual study. The person from your [agency/court] will be contacted by phone by a member of our research team. Calls will last about 45 minutes.

• Prior to the call, we will email a copy of the questionnaire to your designee. We will not ask for any survey data on your population before or during the call; the goal is only to discuss the feasibility of participation in the survey.

Protocol / phone script

DATE: ___ ___ / ___ ___ / 2 0 1 9

START TIME: ___ ___ : ___ ___ AM / PM

Hello, my name is NAME. I’m calling from RTI International, on behalf of the Bureau of Justice Statistics. I understand that you have agreed to talk with me today about the questionnaire used on the Annual Probation Survey. Thank you for agreeing to help us. Do you still have time to review the form with me today?

IF NO, OFFER TO RESCHEDULE

IF YES, CONTINUE

Do you have any questions before we begin?

Prior to our call today, we sent a copy of the 2018 APS questionnaire [to AH_NAME]. Do you have the questionnaire with you?

NO [INTERVIEWER: EMAIL PDF IMMEDIATELY AND RESCHEDULE CALL IF NECESSARY.]

YES

BJS has conducted the APS for nearly 40 years. [As you can see] the current version of the questionnaire focuses on the adult population, regardless of conviction status, who are legally your responsibility. Questions ask about the population count on January 1 and December 31, and for counts of entries and exits. Follow-up questions ask about the gender, race/ethnicity, most serious offense. One of the last questions on the survey asks for population counts by status (for example, active, inactive, absconder, etc.).

If your [agency/court] were asked to complete the questionnaire, how you would go about gathering information?

Is that information currently available to you? Is the information available to anyone else at your [agency/court]? Would you need to request the information from someone else at your [agency/court]?

Take another look at the questionnaire. Questions 1-4 ask for total population counts and entries and exits. Questions 6 and 7 ask about gender and race/ethnicity. Question 9 asks about the most serious offense. Are there any questions that you would not be able to answer?

In answering the questions, how would you define misdemeanants? What types of probationers would be included? For example, would you count individuals with a pre-trial status? What about bench, paper, or informal status?

IF PRE-TRIAL, BENCH, PAPER, OR INFORMAL WOULD BE COUNTED, ASK: Would you be able to report the numbers in each of these segments?

IF PRE-TRIAL, BENCH, PAPER, OR INFORMAL WOULD NOT BE COUNTED, ASK: Would you be able to include these populations in the data you report?

Are there any segments of the population that you would not have information on? For example, would you be able to report on absconders?

How much time do you think it would take to compile the information? Would your [agency/court] be willing/able to commit that time to the survey request?

We are aware of many [agencies/courts] nationwide that contract with a private company for supervision of adult probationers. However, there is no comprehensive list of [agencies/courts] that enter into such contracts, and there is no list of private companies that perform that role. So, we’re asking everyone during these calls if they currently assign adult probationers to a private company. Does your [agency/court] have contracts with private companies?

IF NO: Has your [agency/court] ever had such contracts?

IF YES: How many companies are currently under contract? Right now, about how many adult probationers are assigned to them? How often does this type of contractual relationship change?

Your feedback on these questions has been very helpful. Before we conclude, do you have any other feedback or suggestions?

Thank you very much for taking the time to provide feedback on the questions. We will combine your comments with feedback from other participants into an aggregated report. That report will help BJS evaluate possible changes to the study design.