EBP Training Resources
Introduction
The County Chief Adult Probation and Parole Officers Association of Pennsylvania is committed to assisting agencies in using evidence-based practice to improve client success rates and enhance public safety. Essential to this effort is developing staff competency in EBP core principles, tools, and strategies. This training catalog contains courses to assist agencies in fulfilling their goal of becoming an EBP organization.
Below you will find a list of various EBP training topics and the counties that have certified trainers in each of these areas. Chiefs who have a need for staff to attend a specific training can reach out to the county and see if the county is willing to allow an outside county staff person to attend their training if space permits.
We hope this information is useful to supporting your EBP professional development efforts.
Certified Trainers Working in County Probation
- Core Correctional Practices (Berks, Dauphin)
- Courage to Change (York)
- EBP Overview (Adams, Allegheny, Butler, Chester, Dauphin, Delaware, Lancaster, Lebanon, Pike, York)
- EPICS (Berks, Bucks, Butler, Dauphin, Montgomery)
- Four Core Competencies (Adams, Allegheny, Dauphin, Delaware, Pike)
- How Being Trauma-Informed Improves Criminal Justice System Responses (Chester, Dauphin, Delaware, Lancaster, York)
- LS/CMI (Allegheny, Berks, Butler, Lancaster, Lebanon)
- Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) (Lancaster, Somerset)
- Motivational Interviewing (Allegheny, Berks, Blair, Bradford, Bucks, Chester, Clarion, Crawford, Delaware, Erie, Fayette, Lancaster, Lawrence, Luzerne, Monroe, Montgomery, Tioga, Westmoreland, York)
- Moving On (Chester, York)
- ORAS (Berks, Blair, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Clinton, Crawford, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Franklin, Montgomery, Northumberland, Pike, Schuylkill, Tioga, Westmoreland, York)
- Thinking for a Change (T4C) (Chester, Erie, Snyder)
- Womens Rick Need Assessment (WRNA) (York)
- YLS (Butler, Lancaster, Lebanon, Northumberland, Pike, Snyder)
EBP Course Descriptions
Core Correctional Practices (CCPs)
In the 1980s, Donald A. Andrews and Jerry J. Keissling introduced Core Correctional Practices, commonly referred to as CCPs, as a way to increase the therapeutic potential of rehabilitation. CCPs are approaches staff should utilize with the people with whom they work. Research shows, if implemented properly, CCPs can reduce recidivism by teaching people how to engage in long-term prosocial behavior. UCCI has developed a formalized training protocol to instruct staff on these skills and how they support cognitive-behavioral programming. CCPs are relevant to direct care, security staff, and treatment staff. Specific topics addressed in training include: the principles of effective intervention, core correctional practices (relationship skills, effective use of reinforcement, effective use of disapproval, effective use of authority, prosocial modeling, cognitive restructuring, social skills training, and problem solving skills), principles of an effective behavior management system, and implementation of CCPs. Further, protocols for coaches and trainers have been developed to support both staff and agency sustainability of proficiency, quality, and ongoing implementation.
Courage to Change
Courage to Change is an evidenced-based supervision/case management model that uses cognitive behavioral interactive journaling. Through journaling, participants address individual problem areas based on criminogenic risk and needs assessment. Participants develop a record of their commitments and progress throughout supervision and a map to success to make positive behavioral change.
EBP Overview
This six-hour course is designed to familiarize staff in the “what” and “why” of EBP, providing basic knowledge about the research behind evidence-based practices. It emphasizes four core principles that are key to recidivism reduction (risk, need, responsivity, and intervention), discusses the importance of responding effectively to prosocial and noncompliant behaviors, and includes an overview of specific do’s and don’ts that contribute to improved lives for clients. Participants will come to understand the components that need to be implemented to affect positive change and the practices that must be in place for an agency to fully integrate evidence-based practices with fidelity.
Effective Practices in Community Supervision (EPICS)The research on the principles of effective intervention, coupled with the most recent research on community supervision, provided the impetus for the development of a new model by the University of Cincinnati: Effective Practices in Community Supervision (EPICS). With the EPICS model, staff follow a structured approach when working with people who are justice-involved.The purpose of the EPICS model is to teach probation and parole officers how to apply the principles of effective intervention and core correctional practices specifically to community supervision practices. Probation officers are taught to increase dosage to people who are higher risk; stay focused on criminogenic needs, especially the thought–behavior link; and use a social learning, cognitive-behavioral approach to their interactions. Training is three days onsite
Four Core Competencies
This training increases participants’ knowledge around the four core competencies needed for risk reduction:1. Building professional alliance: Staff who have the interpersonal skills to develop effective working relationships are much more likely to achieve the desired long-term results.2. Using skill practice to address criminogenic needs: The consistent use of skill practice (i.e., practicing new behaviors) and role-play produces the most significant positive outcomes.3. Effective case planning and management: Using a deliberate case planning and management strategy helps keep interactions focused on the issues that will lead people to success.4. Responding to prosocial and noncompliant behavior: Key to shaping behavior is the effective use of both incentives/rewards and responses to noncompliance.The course provides opportunities for hands-on skill training in each of the four competency areas and practice with two Brief Intervention ToolS (BITS) worksheets to help people build skills.
How Being Trauma-Informed Improves Criminal Justice System ResponsesThis is a four-hour training for criminal justice professionals to: increase understanding and awareness of the impact of trauma, develop trauma-informed responses and provide strategies for developing and implementing trauma-informed policies. This highly interactive training is specifically tailored to community-based criminal justice professionals, including police officers, community corrections personnel, and court personnel. This curriculum is from SAMHSA's GAINS Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation.
LS/CMI
The Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI) is a case management tool and an assessment that measures the risk and need factors of late adolescent and adult offenders. Some key features of the LS/CMI include: combines risk assessment and case management in one convenient evidence-based system; provides all the essential tools needed to aid professionals in treatment planning for and management of offenders in justice, forensic, correctional, prevention, and related agencies; assesses the rehabilitation needs of offenders, their risk of recidivism, and the most relevant factors related to supervision and programming requirements; and focuses on offender strengths and is gender-informed.
Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT)
Moral Reconation Therapy-MRT® is an effective systematic, cognitive-behavioral approach that treats a wide range of issues including substance abuse, domestic violence, trauma, parenting, job skills, and other issues. The programs are implemented in groups utilizing workbooks directly targeting specific issues. The criminal justice curriculum, How to Escape Your Prison, addresses criminal thinking, co-occurring disorders, and substance use.
Motivational Interviewing (MI)
MI-1 Fundamentals:
This two-day training is a skill-based training that focuses on skill-building ("how to's") for staff working with challenging populations. Seven modules are presented over the two days, utilizing multimedia presentations, interactive lecture and facilitated small and large group exercises. Learn how to bypass resistance to start clients moving toward healthy outcomes.
MI-2 Advanced:
This two-day training takes the next steps to increasing change talk and moving to commitment. This session takes participants beyond new skills for increasing connections—offering focused training on building a client's level of importance for positive behavior change and ensure they have the necessary confidence to see the change(s) through.
Moving On
Moving On: A Program for At-Risk Women, developed by Marilyn Van Dieten, Ph.D., provides women an alternative to criminal activity by helping them identify and mobilize personal and community resources. The program focuses on encouraging personal responsibility, building healthy relationships, skill enhancement, and stress management skills.
Ohio Risk Assessment system (ORAS)
The ORAS is a dynamic risk/needs assessment system for adults involved in the justice system. It offers the ability to assess people at various decision points across the justice system. The ORAS is comprised of nine tools, and while the assessment is free to use, agencies must be trained and certified prior to implementation. Training on the system provides an overview of the assessment tools, with techniques for administering and scoring the individual assessments. In addition, the training will review how to use the scores obtained from people’s ORAS assessments to develop case plans for reducing risk of recidivism.
Thinking for a Change (T4C)
Thinking for a Change 4.0 (T4C) is an integrated cognitive behavioral change program authored by Jack Bush, Ph.D., Barry Glick, Ph.D., and Juliana Taymans, Ph.D. T4C incorporates research from cognitive restructuring theory, social skills development, and the learning and use of problem-solving skills. The program is designed to be provided to justice-involved adults and youth, males and females. Correctional agencies can consider Thinking for a Change as one option in a continuum of interventions to address the cognitive, social, and emotional needs of their client populations.
Women’s Risk Needs Assessment (WRNA)
The WRNA measures women's specific criminogenic needs, as well as strengths, to drive a comprehensive case-plan that targets recidivism through gender- and trauma-responsive treatment and supervision. Training is two days on-site.
YLS
The Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI™) is a risk/needs assessment and a case management tool combined into one convenient system. It was derived from the LSI-R, but was designed specifically for adolescents. It helps probation officers identify the individual’s needs, strengths, barriers, and incentives. This information helps you to select the most appropriate goals for a youth and to develop an effective case management plan.