Jordan M Hyatt

One of the most common requirements placed on individuals under community supervision is that they have regular contact with the officers assigned to manage their cases. The nature and frequency of this contact varied depending on the specific needs and risk level of each individual under supervision. One form of contact between supervisees and officers is an in-person parole or probation meeting. These meetings often take place at an agency office and may serve a variety of purposes. Supervisees may provide updates on education and employment, receive support and treatment, and be tested for recent drug use. Despite their importance to effective supervision, office visits are often difficult to coordinate. Surprisingly, one relatively low-cost intervention that focuses on reducing the frequency of missed appointments for probation and parole supervision is supported by a growing body of evidence: sending text message reminders to supervisees regarding upcoming appointments. To assess the potential of test-message reminders to reduce the number of missed parole and probation meetings, a randomized control trial was recently conducted among community supervision participants in Arkansas. Our findings suggest that sending text scheduled appointments could reduce canceled and missed appointments by as much as 21% and 29%, respectively.