The Healing Arm of the Law: Probation Officers as Agents of Recovery
Shining a light on integrated care to promote mastery and unlock human potential.
Emerging adults (EAs)—typically defined as those between the ages of 18 and 25—are overrepresented in the criminal legal system (CLS) and face disproportionately high risks of substance use disorders (SUDs). Despite these risks, few receive adequate treatment, particularly those in rural areas. The barriers are well-documented: long travel times, limited provider networks, stigma, and confidentiality concerns. Nationally, only about 10% of incarcerated individuals receive any substance use (SU) treatment at all, and only 5% of those with opioid use disorder (OUD) referred through the CLS receive medication-based treatment. Rural communities face even steeper challenges—fewer providers, greater stigma, and higher rates of opioid-related deaths.
Many of these emerging adults involved with the criminal legal system are under the supervision of probation officers (POs), who often serve as one of their most consistent points of contact.
A recent pilot study* explored an innovative approach: training probation officers to deliver contingency management, a well-established, evidence-based intervention, to their emerging adult clients. This model of “task-shifting” acknowledges the central role POs already play in the lives of CLS-involved youth, and reimagines them as part of the solution—bringing treatment closer to where these young adults already are. In settings where clinical providers are scarce and treatment barriers are high, especially in rural America, this approach could be a game-changer.
Yet, as promising as it sounds, implementing such a shift is anything but simple. It raises questions about training, workload, role clarity, and whether the criminal legal system can, or should, become a provider of therapeutic services. Still, in a landscape defined by persistent treatment gaps and growing urgency, the potential for probation officers to act not just as enforcers but as bridges to recovery is a compelling prospect worth exploring.
Task-Shifting: A Strategy to Expand Access
Task-shifting—training non-clinical professionals to deliver specific clinical interventions—has emerged as a promising solution to behavioral healthcare workforce shortages. This approach shows particular promise in the criminal-legal system, where probation officers maintain frequent, ongoing client relationships that position them as natural change agents.
Research demonstrates that when probation officers are trained in evidence-based practices like motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, and contingency management (CM), they can significantly reduce recidivism and increase treatment compliance. Contingency management is especially well-suited for this task-shifting approach, as it aligns naturally with probation officers' existing responsibilities: drug screening, behavior monitoring, and implementing conditions and sanctions.
What Is Contingency Management?
Contingency management (CM) is a behavioral therapy that uses tangible rewards (gift cards, vouchers, or other incentives) to reinforce positive behaviors like abstinence or treatment participation. When individuals meet specific goals, such as testing negative on a urine screen, they receive rewards; failure to meet goals results in withheld rewards.
Though simple in concept, CM is one of the most extensively researched and validated substance use interventions available. Meta-analyses show it's highly effective for both short-term abstinence and long-term outcomes like treatment retention and supervision completion. Despite this evidence, CM remains underutilized in the criminal-legal system, mostly confined to problem-solving courts and virtually absent from rural probation departments.
Adapting CM for Emerging Adults
Recognizing the unique developmental stage of emerging adulthood (a time defined by the tension between dependence and autonomy), researchers developed a version of CM specifically for EAs: CM-EA. This model integrates traditional CM elements with support from a “concerned significant other,” such as a parent, mentor, or partner. These support figures help reinforce behavior change through both tangible support (transportation, housing, accountability) and emotional encouragement.
Studies show that involving significant others in treatment leads to better engagement, improved treatment outcomes, and higher completion rates. For EAs navigating identity, independence, and social reintegration after incarceration, this support can be especially impactful.
The Pilot: Probation Officers as Frontline Providers
To test this approach, researchers launched a pilot program during COVID-19 involving ten rural probation officers in Oregon who delivered CM-EA to 17 emerging adults on their caseloads.
Despite pandemic challenges—remote communication, social isolation, and strained resources—officers successfully delivered the program with fidelity. They found the intervention acceptable, appropriate, and feasible within their existing responsibilities, with several officers voluntarily applying the model to clients outside the study group.
The participants represented the target population: rural, criminal-legal system-involved emerging adults with histories of polysubstance use and felony convictions.
Results and Implications
The study’s outcomes were encouraging. Probation officers demonstrated the ability to faithfully implement CM-EA, and both POs and clients reported positive perceptions of the program. POs delivering CM felt more hopeful and energized in their work compared to those using traditional supervision models. This suggests that implementing such programs could have dual benefits: improving outcomes for clients while increasing job satisfaction for officers.
Yet, challenges remain. Rural communities still face resource limitations, including workforce shortages, technological constraints, and a lack of infrastructure to support ongoing behavioral health services. While CM-EA shows promise, it must be accompanied by broader investment in training, support, and systems integration to ensure long-term success.
The Road Ahead
The pilot study offers a promising glimpse into how probation officers can help close the treatment gap for young adults with substance use disorders, especially in rural areas where traditional service models have failed to take hold. As public health and criminal-legal systems continue to evolve in the wake of the opioid epidemic and COVID-19, this kind of innovative, community-based task-shifting may prove essential.
Future research with larger samples and longer-term follow-up is needed. But the idea that probation officers can play a therapeutic role in helping emerging adults turn their lives around is no longer theoretical. It’s happening, and it could be a key part of building a more responsive, humane, and effective legal system.
*Drazdowski, T. K., Kelton, K., Hibbard, P. F., McCart, M. R., Chapman, J. E., Castedo de Martell, S., & Sheidow, A. J. (2024). Implementation outcomes from a pilot study of training probation officers to deliver contingency management for emerging adults with substance use disorders. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, 166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.josat.2024.209450
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About Chestnut Health Systems’ Lighthouse Institute
Chestnut Health Systems’™ Lighthouse Institute was established in 1986. Our mission is to help practitioners improve the quality of their services through research, training, and publishing. Serving health and human service organizations through offices in Chicago and Bloomington/Normal, Illinois, and Eugene, Oregon, Lighthouse Institute staff conduct applied research, program evaluation, training, and consultation.
Lighthouse Institute publishes books, monographs, curricula, and manuals on various issues of behavioral health, education, and program management. Institute staff have backgrounds and expertise in addictions, business, education, management information systems, psychology, public health, rehabilitation, research methods, statistics, and social work. For more, visit https://www.chestnut.org/lighthouse-institute/