The Evolution of Community Supervision Practice: The Transformation from Case Manager to Change Agent

Summary: Traditionally, the role of a community supervision officer has largely been that of a case manager. However, knowledge in the area of ‘what works’ in offender rehabilitation has stimulated efforts to revolutionise what it means to supervise clients in the community; that is, moving from a case-management approach to what we call a ‘change agent’ approach. In this article, we define what cognitive-behaviourism looks like in a criminal justice context and how it can be used to maximize the impact of community supervision. Through the amalgamation of cognitive-behavioural techniques and risk/need information, we propose the use of a theoretically and empirically based framework (i.e. the STICS Action Plan) to assist Community Supervision Officers in planning, prioritising and effectively achieving change with their clients.