Incorporating Those with Lived
Experience to Improve Community
Supervision Outcomes
Joe Russo, Michael J. D. Vermeer, Dulani Woods, Brian A. Jackson
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
RESULTS
Overcoming Resistance
• Conduct research to identify the factors that support
or inhibit the integration of individuals with lived
experience and develop strategies to leverage or
mitigate these factors, as appropriate.
Implementation Issues
• Develop resources (e.g., best practices, toolkits, case
studies) to guide agencies in such areas as methods
to engage stakeholders, strategies to navigate and
overcome resistance and barriers, integration of
those with lived experience as valued team members,
awareness of potential pitfalls, and lessons learned.
• Develop model guidance, toolkits, and best practices
for selecting and vetting individuals for various roles.
• Develop case studies and guidance resources to
help agencies understand and evaluate the options
for accessing expertise, identify effective strategies
for getting started, and demonstrate how lived expe-
rience roles can be successfully and meaningfully
integrated into the supervision process.
Hiring Barriers
• Identify the laws, regulations, policies, or practices
that are impediments and develop campaigns to
educate stakeholders about the opportunity costs
these barriers present.
Capacity-Building
• Identify successful models, strategies, and practices
that support an infrastructure that agencies and
community-based organizations can leverage to
attract, recruit, retain, and develop individuals to
serve in paid, well-dened, lived experience roles.
SELECTED PRIORITY NEEDS
Approximately 3.7 million U.S. adults were on probation or
parole supervision as of December 2021 (Kaeble, 2023). is
number represents the vast majority—nearly 70 percent—of
those under correctional control; the remainder were incarcer-
ated in jails or prisons (Carson and Kluckow, 2023). Despite
eorts by community supervision agencies to implement
evidence-based practices and interventions proven to reduce
reoending, recidivism and reincarceration rates remain stub-
bornly high (Durose and Antenangeli, 2021; Kaeble, 2023;
Viglione, 2018). Eorts to lower these rates are ongoing, and
agencies are exploring other promising strategies to improve
outcomes. One approach gaining traction nationally is centered
on partnerships between supervision agencies and individuals
who have lived experience with the justice system. ese part-
nerships seek to leverage the unique perspectives and expertise
of these individuals to better support supervisees and improve
system processes and outcomes (Blum and Baldo, 2023;
Tucker, 2022).
To explore the challenges and opportunities associated with
incorporating those with lived experience into the community
supervision process, the University of Denver and RAND (as
part of its Priority Criminal Justice Needs Initiative [PCJNI]),
on behalf of the National Institute of Justice, hosted a work-
shop in August 2023. e workshop brought together a
group of probation and parole administrators, policy experts,
researchers, and representatives of community-based organiza-
tions and advocacy groups to identify and prioritize the key
needs that, if addressed, would have the greatest impact on
removing barriers and promoting broader adoption of lived
experience initiatives.
For the purposes of this workshop, lived experience is dened
as having any direct, rst-hand experience with the justice
system, from being arrested or convicted of a crime to serving a
period of incarceration, probation, or parole. Although interest
in these initiatives appears to be increasing, they are generally
underutilized.
