We believe there’s an urgent need to enact evidence-based policy changes in our state.
Pennsylvania has the 5th highest number of people on probation and parole in the entire United States. 1 in 51 Pennsylvania adults are under some form of supervision.
Pennsylvania is also one of very few states that still allows probation terms to be as long as the statutory maximum for felony offenses. Lengthy probation terms harm everyone: reentering citizens, their families, their communities, local employers, and overburdened DOC officials.
Lengthy probation terms don’t actually improve public safety. A 2016 study found that the majority of new offenses occurred within just 2 years – so keeping someone on probation for longer than 2 years does not prevent new crime.
Pennsylvania also spends over $330 million a year on locking up people in state prison for supervision violations. Over $100 million of that total is for “technical violations” that aren’t even criminal. Things like missing a check-in with a probation officer, crossing county lines for work without first obtaining permission, or driving on a suspended license can get you thrown back in prison.
In 2017, over half of all Pennsylvania prison admissions were for supervision violations, with the majority of them being technical violations. Technical violations that result in reincarceration have far-reaching consequences – they can jeopardize public safety, disrupt the workforce, fracture families, and create instability in our communities.
Here’s how our proposed legislation could address these problems:
We can place reasonable guardrails on the total length of time people can spend on probation while respecting exceptions for public safety through a system of mandatory case review that evaluates an individual’s progress and reassesses their probation sentence.
Instead of reincarcerating people for technical violations, we can embrace evidence-based graduated sanctions, which are a proven way to promote successful supervision and positive public safety outcomes while saving taxpayer dollars. Graduated sanctions can hold people accountable while helping them become productive members of their communities.
We can create a system of earned time credits for people on probation to reduce their supervision terms and increase their chances of successful early termination by pursuing vocational and educational training. These credits will incentivize good behavior, personal growth, and community stability by providing opportunities for safe early termination.
We can remove the most counterproductive and vague conditions from probation terms and prevent innocuous infractions from resulting in probation revocations.
Help us advocate for these changes and more. Show your support by joining the Pennsylvania Safety Coalition today!