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Commission briefed on statewide community supervision reforms, new funding formula and standards
Summary
Overview of the Community Supervision Advisory Committee’s work: a single funding stream with additional $43 million, adoption of LSCMI risk tool as baseline, required risk screening and case planning for moderate/high-risk cases, training and quality assurance expectations, and a planned workload study and data reporting improvements.
Commission members heard an overview of recent legislative-driven reforms to how Minnesota counties deliver probation and community supervision, including a new single funding stream, minimum standards, required assessments and training, and steps to improve statewide data and workload analysis.
Assistant Commissioner (presenter) summarized reform drivers as: funding, the size of the community supervision population, and lack of uniform standards across county delivery systems. The presenter told the commission Minnesota has a comparatively high community supervision population and that the 2023 legislation created a single equitable funding formula and added $43 million to support community supervision agencies.
What the advisory committee recommended and the commission heard - One funding stream and new formula: The 2023 legislation consolidated multiple funding streams into a single state appropriation and added a one-time infusion (described in the meeting as $43,000,000) to the pool to support community supervision. - Required comprehensive plans: All community supervision agencies — not just Community Corrections Act counties — must prepare comprehensive plans for how they deliver supervision, and these plans must align with the new standards to qualify for the state subsidy. - Risk tool and screening: The committee recommended a common primary risk assessment instrument for agency use, the Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI). Agencies must perform either a short risk screen or the full assessment on targeted misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors and felonies. - Case planning and responsivity: Agencies must develop case plans for individuals scoring moderate or high risk that target criminogenic needs and use cognitive-behavioral approaches. The policy work is grounded in the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model. - Training, coaching and quality assurance: The committee recommends mandatory initial and ongoing training for probation agents in evidence-based practices, use of cognitive-behavioral interventions and skills-based approaches for casework. - Workload study and metrics: A statewide workload study to inform the funding formula was described as forthcoming, and the committee is working to produce standard metrics for reporting (some data gaps from locally hosted systems were noted).
Quoting the presentation “We use community supervision at pretty high rates. We use prison at a pretty low rate in the state,” the presenter said, describing why standardization and funding reform were priorities.
Next steps and implementation The advisory committee is continuing policy work this year on trauma-informed, gender-responsive and culturally competent practices; the statewide evidence-based practices committee will issue recommendations on those fronts. The workload study will launch to better define appropriate caseloads and to inform funding adjustments. Counties will need to reflect adherence to adopted policies in their comprehensive plans to receive subsidy funding.
Ending: The presentation framed the reforms as ongoing and iterative; commission members asked technical questions about funding, local matching and data availability. No formal action was taken at this meeting.
