Sentencing Reform

SCDPPPS Population

The department is charged with supervising offenders placed on probation- a court-ordered community sanction which suspends the imposition of all or part of a sentence of incarceration, and is an alternative to incarceration. Probation requires offenders- living in the community under SCDPPPS supervision- to adhere to a set of conditions that limit the offender’s freedom, and provide reparation to victims.

SCDPPPS also supervises offenders who have been paroled from the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC). The Board of Paroles and Pardons imposes a set of conditions that limits the offender’s freedom and requires the offender to pay all restitution and fees. At any given time, probationers and parolees make up over 90% of the SCDPPPS offender population. Additional populations supervised by SCDPPPS include community supervision, supervised furlough, supervised reentry, and Department of Juvenile Justice offenders.

Sentencing Reform Act of 2010

The Omnibus Crime Reduction and Sentencing Reform Act (SRA) of 2010 introduced several mandates to further support the SCDPPPS goal of reducing offender recidivism. As a result, South Carolina has made great strides in the field of criminal justice reform. The SRA was the impetus for implementation of alternative strategies to incarceration in order to reduce the state’s reliance on prisons. The overall goal of the SRA was to reduce crime in cost effective ways, as well as:

1. Adopt reasonable sentencing reforms by increasing the consequences for certain violent offenses while ensuring fairness and certainty in sentencing; as well as make certain justice for crime victims.
2. Improve release practices through the implementation of cost-effective reentry strategies to improve successful transition from incarceration to the community for eligible inmates.
3. Strengthen probation and parole by shifting limited resources to supervise high risk-offenders using evidence-based practices while implementing new supervision strategies geared towards those offenders least likely to re-offend.
4. Establish ongoing oversight through the formation of the Sentencing Reform Oversight Committee (SROC) which is tasked with reviewing the implementation of the recommendations made by the Sentencing Reform Commission.

Evidence Based Practices

The SRA requires the adoption and use of evidence-based strategies. Evidence-based practices use research-supported approaches that are empirically proven to reduce recidivism and increase positive outcomes for offenders. Research in criminal justice and corrections over the past 30 years has demonstrated that there are practices and approaches we can employ as professionals working with offenders to achieve more successful outcomes (e.g., reduced reoffending).

Evidence-based practices require that the department:

• Examine the evidence or lack of evidence on which we base our practices,
• Focus on the soundness of evidence, and
• Stress inferences or conclusions drawn from that evidence.

The National Institute of Corrections and the Crime and Justice Institute has identified eight principles of evidence-based practices in community corrections, which SCDPPPS has strived to adopt:

1. Assess the risk and needs of offenders
2. Enhance offenders’ intrinsic motivation to change
3. Target interventions according to:
   • Level of risk
   • Factors that contributed to offender criminality (i.e., criminogenic needs)
   • Responsiveness to interventions
   • Match intervention dosage and intensity to offenders’ level of risk and needs
   • Integrate treatment interventions into sentence and sanction requirements
4. Skill train with directed practice
5. Increase reinforcement
6. Help the offender to engage pro-social support in the community
7. Measure agency methods and results
8. Share results and use them to shape agency strategies

SCDPPPS’ Program Strategies

SCDPPPS has adopted many evidence-based strategies, including: 

• All caseload-carrying staff are required to undergo evidence-based Motivational Interviewing (MI) training and to implement the practical skills into their interactions with offenders, to increase intrinsic motivation.
• Mental Health Program staff are required to attend Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) trainings. Both the CIT and MI skills are reviewed via body-worn camera footage by management and staff are given constructive feedback to increase and enhance their ability to use the interventions.
• Domestic Violence Program staff has implemented 48-hour emergency administrative hearings- ensuring a swift response to violations, allowing offenders to connect the response to their behavior/violation- and increasing community safety.

Sentencing Reform Achievements

SCDPPPS has had great success in implementation of the SRA and embracing the shift towards evidence-based practices. While maintaining public safety, SCDPPPS has implemented supervision strategies that resulted in the significant reduction of recidivism. Compared to Fiscal Year 2010 baseline data, in Fiscal Year 2023 the department has experienced a:

• 67% (-2,220 offenders) reduction of compliance revocation admissions to SCDC
• 67% (-591 offenders) reduction in new offense revocations

Since Fiscal Year 2010, the rate of successful completion has increased for both probation and parole. In FY 2010, probation had a success rate of 65%, and parole had a success rate of 81%. In FY 2023, the rate of successful completion was 80% for probation and 83% for parole. This reflects a 15% increase for probation and a 2% increase for parole since FY 2010. SCDPPPS’ successful completion rates are above the national average.

In order to achieve its mission to prepare, provide and protect, the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services has made great strides to implement sentencing reform and evidence-based practices as key components for changing offenders’ lives and creating safer communities.