Governor Tom Wolf is urging lawmakers to revamp Pennsylvania’s probation system so that people can get a fair chance at improving their lives. Wolf has been a staunch advocate for criminal justice reform and Monday’s news conference marked his most public push to change the probation system, helping people shorten their probation by succeeding in the community after release.

Carrie Pettus-Davis, Mark Holden, and other leaders from Safe Streets and Second Chances joined Governor Wolf at a news conference in the state Capitol Monday. “Punishment should fit the crime,” Wolf said Monday. “Punishment should not be endless." Research from the 5-Key Model for Reentry trial currently being implemented in seven states across the country including Pennsylvania has helped guide these reforms. 

This story was also run by the Philadelphia Inquirer and News Break.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf was joined by Deputy Secretary of Corrections Christian Stephens and national criminal justice reform advocates today in the Capitol Rotunda to push for commonsense probation reforms that address probation sentences and probation lengths.

Last year, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections announced its participation in a Safe Streets & Second Chances reentry initiative aimed at reducing recidivism, which aligns with the governor's criminal justice reform ideals. The DOC has been working with researcher Dr. Carrie Pettus-Davis from Florida State University to provide access to inmates from four state correctional institutions in Western Pennsylvania who were interested in participating in the pilot program.

This news release was also printed in the STL News and featured on MyChesCo.

Carrie Pettus-Davis, the executive director and founder of Florida State University’s Institute for Justice Research and Development, has received the 2019 Marguerite Q. Warren and Ted B. Palmer Differential Intervention Award, presented by the American Society of Criminology.

Pettus-Davis, who joined FSU as an associate professor in 2018, received the award during the society’s annual conference Nov. 14 in San Francisco. The award honors a scholar who has significantly advanced differential intervention science to promote improved social and personal adjustment and long-term change among incarcerated individuals.

Pettus-Davis is one of social work’s leading experts in criminal justice and the decarceration of American prisons and jails through policy reform and service innovations. She directs the Institute for Justice Research and Development — a premier multi-disciplinary research center located in the College of Social Work.

Carrie Pettus-Davis, Mark Holden, and other leaders from Safe Streets and Second Chances joined Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf at a press conference in Harrisburg to detail his plans to enact deep reforms to the Pennsylvania probation system. The Governor's goal is to change probation laws to allow those who have served time better opportunities to get back on their feet and get out of the legal system.

"We need to eliminate excessively lengthy probation sentences and create a system that allows all Pennsylvanians to succeed," Wolf said Monday.

Research from the 5-Key Model for Reentry trial currently being conducted in seven states including Pennsylvania was used to support the Governor's efforts.

Carrie Pettus-Davis, the executive director and founder of Florida State University’s Institute for Justice Research and Development, has received the 2019 Marguerite Q. Warren and Ted B. Palmer Differential Intervention Award, presented by the American Society of Criminology.

The award honors a scholar who has significantly advanced differential intervention science to promote improved social and personal adjustment and long-term change among incarcerated individuals.

Is a smart phone app the answer to increasing support and improving well-being among individuals under community supervision? A team of researchers led by two Florida State University scholars intends to find out with the help of a $1.9 million grant from the National Institute of Justice.

Carrie Pettus-Davis, executive director and founder of the Institute for Justice Research and Development, and Sudhir Aggarwal, professor of computer science at FSU, are co-principal investigators for the project. They will partner with Marcus Rogers and Umit Karabiyik at Purdue University and Tathagata Mukherjee and Haeyong Chung at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. Researchers will engage in a 4-year study using artificial intelligence techniques within an app and a wearable device to provide support to individuals as they leave incarceration and come home.

The Florida Department of Corrections and researchers at Florida State University said Monday they will partner to study whether treating symptoms of trauma in incarcerated men can help reduce chances of returning to prison.

Behind bars, the program will focus on treating the men’s mental-health and substance-abuse issues through a “holistic” approach. The program will focus on helping them manage their anger, cope with trauma and find jobs and housing upon release.

“Treating trauma among this population may be the key to improving outcomes and helping these young men develop and enhance their well-being and thrive at home,” said Stephen Tripodi, who is part of a three-person research team at FSU’s Institute for Justice Research and Development.

This story was also picked up by WLRN-Miami/South Florida, the Tallahassee Democrat, and WUSF in Tampa Bay..

Florida State University has received a grant totaling nearly $1.2 million from the National Institute of Justice to evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive trauma-based re-entry program for young adult men.

A team of researchers including Carrie Pettus-Davis, Stephen Tripodi and Tanya Renn of the Institute for Justice Research and Development at the FSU College of Social Work will conduct a 5-year randomized controlled trial. The study will be aimed at addressing trauma as a key mechanism to increase support, improve well-being, and reduce reincarceration for young men as they leave prison and return to their communities. 

Bill Rone, one of our Post-Master's Fellows, sacrificed his right to vote to help Kentuckians releasing from prison. Read more about what that means for his own freedom.

A group of independent researchers with Florida State University’s Institute for Justice Reform and Development has announced their latest findings to determine the best practices for individuals re-entering our communities after serving their time. The research informs the work of Safe Streets & Second Chances, a first-of-its-kind re-entry initiative launched last year in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. A recent report details the greatest challenges to enacting reentry reform.