ASPP Core Development Attachments

Table of Contents
Attachment A – Agency Head Discussion Guides ....................................................................... 2
A1. Parole Agency Head Discussion Guide ................................................................................. 3
A2. Probation Agency Head Discussion Guide ............................................................................ 7
Attachment B – 2014 ASPP Questionnaires ............................................................................... 11
B1. 2014 Annual Parole Survey ................................................................................................. 12
B2. 2014 Annual Probation Survey .......................................................................................... 17
Attachment C – Respondent Discussion Guides ........................................................................ 24
C1. Parole Respondent Discussion Guide .................................................................................. 25
C2. Probation Respondent Discussion Guide ............................................................................. 29
Attachment D – Agency Cover Letters and Topic Lists ............................................................. 34
Attachment E – Respondent Cover Letters ................................................................................. 39

1

Attachment A – Agency Head Discussion Guides
A1. Parole Agency Head Discussion Guide
A2. Probation Agency Head Discussion Guide

2

Core Development Work
Parole Agency Head Discussion Guide
Thank you for taking time to review the survey materials and speak with me today. During our call,
I would like to hear your thoughts about the content and focus of the survey – especially as they
relate to the definitions and instructions used in the survey. The APS has been standardized because
it is a national survey collection; so some of the content and terminology might not match your
agency’s definitions and practices. It is really helpful to hear about how agencies define and track
their own populations and the extent to which they match those used on the survey.
There are a few specific sections of the survey that I would like to discuss with you. We can go
through the questionnaire page by page, and I’ll raise the issues that I have. If you would like to talk
about any issues that I don’t raise, please let me know.
The first question that I have on my list is Question 2. Should we begin with that question
or is there anything on the cover page or on the first question that you would like to talk
about?
Q2. …entered parole by –
b. Mandatory release from prison
d. Term of supervised release from prison
 Does your agency use these terms? How are the two groups different?

Q3. …discharged from supervision for the following reasons –
a. Completions
 Would your agency be able to sub-divide the number of completions into the two categories
of early terminations (early positive discharge) and expirations? How would your agency
define early terminations and expirations?
o CAPSA definition of “Early terminations” or “early positive discharge”- A discharge prior
to the scheduled expiration of a sentence granted in response to the satisfaction of
conditions or earned time credits.
o Definition of “Expirations”- A discharge according to the scheduled expiration of a
sentence granted in response to the satisfaction of conditions of supervision (possibly
with some financial conditions remaining).

3

f.

Other [consider eliminating from survey]
 What other types of discharges does your agency track? What would you include in each of
the three categories: other completions, unsatisfactory, and other?

Next, let’s look at Question 4.
Q4. On December 31st, what was your agency’s adult parole population?
 What types of populations would be included in your agency’s yearend count?
 Would you include juveniles sentenced in an adult court?
 Could your agency break-out the yearend count by the following categories?
o
o
o

Active vs. inactive (Does “active” include absconders, low-risk, those in residential
placements that are/are not still under their jurisdiction?)
Custody vs. jurisdiction counts
Felon vs. misdemeanant populations

If your agency was able to provide data for the yearend count on the number of
POPULATION TYPE, would you be able to provide the data for the rest of the survey for just
these POPULATION TYPE parolees?

Before we move on to the next page, are there any other issues that you would like to talk
about on Question 1 through 4?
Q5. …count of individuals or cases?
 How does your agency define “cases”? Does it include instances where the person was
under supervision for two or more distinct sentences? Under supervision for two or more
offenses as part of the same sentence? Something else?
 Your agency provides data at the case level? Can you explain why you report cases and not
individuals? Could your agency provide data at the individual level?
 Could your agency provide an estimate of the number of people with multiple cases? Could
your agency provide an estimate of the average number of cases per individual?

Unless you have comments on Questions 6 and 7, I’ll move on to Question 8.
Q8. …maximum sentence of –
 How useful are the categories – a year or less and more than a year – in describing your
parolee population? What other categories might be more informative? Why?

If you’re ready, I’d like to look at Question 11 next.

4

Q11. …most serious offense –
Does your agency use a hierarchy to define which offenses are more serious than others? Can we
obtain a copy of the hierarchy?
Q12. …parolees supervised by your agency had a status of –
a. Active

c. Inactive
 How does your agency define an “active” parolee? How does your agency define an
“inactive” parolee? What types of parolees are included or excluded?
 Would your agency be able to provide data on the number of individuals in the yearend
count who are on “active” supervision status? Would your agency be able to provide data
on the number of individuals in the yearend count who are on “inactive” supervision status?

b. Only financial conditions remaining
 Would these parolees be included in the yearend total?
 Would these parolees be included in the number discharged by completion?

d. Absconders
 Would absconders be included in the numbers reported as discharged for being an
absconder? If not, would they still be included in the yearend population?

g. Supervised out of jurisdiction
 What types of parolees would your agency include in this category?
 Would this category include interstate compact cases that are reported in Question 6?

Next, let’s look at Question 15.
Q15. …parolees who had their location tracked through a Global Positioning System (GPS)



Can you tell me more about how your agency uses GPS to track parolees?
What other types of electronic monitoring does your agency use? What types of parolees are
tracked in these ways?

5

For central reporters: Administrative records
 Would your agency be able provide administrative records describing your parolee
population?
 What information does your agency maintain in your administrative records?
 What format is the information in?
 What restrictions are there on information-sharing (de-identified data only)?

Agency Head comments: That was the last issue that I wanted to raise.
 Is there anything else that you’ve noted in the questionnaire that might affect how your
agency would categorize or report on any population that you supervise?

6

Core Development Work
Probation Agency Head Discussion Guide
Thank you for taking time to review the survey materials and speak with me today. During our call,
I would like to hear your thoughts about the content and focus of the survey – especially as they
relate to the definitions and instructions used in the survey. The APS has been standardized because
it is a national survey collection; so some of the content and terminology might not match your
agency’s definitions and practices. It is really helpful to hear about how agencies define and track
their own populations and the extent to which they match those used on the survey.
There are a few specific sections of the survey that I would like to discuss with you. We can go
through the questionnaire page by page, and I’ll raise the issues that I have. If you would like to talk
about any issues that I don’t raise, please let me know.
The first question that I have on my list is Question 3. Should we begin with that question
or is there anything on the cover page or on the first two questions that you would like to
talk about?
Q3. …discharged from supervision for the following reasons –
b. Completions
 Would your agency be able to sub-divide the number of completions into the two categories
of early terminations (early positive discharge) and expirations? How would your agency
define early terminations and expirations?
o CAPSA definition of “Early terminations” or “early positive discharge”- A discharge prior
to the scheduled expiration of a sentence granted in response to the satisfaction of
conditions or earned time credits.
o Definition of “Expirations”- A discharge according to the scheduled expiration of a
sentence granted in response to the satisfaction of conditions of supervision (possibly
with some financial conditions remaining).
b3. Incarcerated, to receive treatment [consider eliminating from survey]
 What types of cases are discharged by incarceration to receive treatment? Is this a
permanent discharge from supervision or a type of diversion that occurs pre-adjudication?
b4. Other
 Take a look at Question 3, item b4. There is an instruction to the right that refers to
“probationers incarcerated pending a revocation, trial, sentencing, or others.” Does your
agency supervise any individuals that would fall into this category? What types of cases are
these? [Shouldn’t they only be discharged after actual revocation or sentencing?]

7

c. Absconder
d. Warrant or detainer
 Are discharges for being an absconder an absolute discharge? Do discharges for being an
absconder have a warrant issued?
 How does your agency define a detainer, and how is this different from a warrant?
 How are discharges for being an absconder different from probationers discharged to a
warrant or detainer?
e. Transferred to another probation agency
 Can you tell me more about the probationers in this category? [How can a probationer be
discharged by being transferred to another agency? Even with inter-state compact
agreements, the case is still technically under the jurisdiction of the original court. It could
be considered inactive by the originating jurisdiction but not discharged.]
g. Other [consider eliminating from survey]
 What other types of discharges does your agency track? What would you include in each of
the three categories: other completions, unsatisfactory, and other?

Next, let’s look at Question 4.
Q4. On December 31st, what was your agency’s adult probation population?
 What types of populations would be included in your agency’s yearend count?
 Would you include juveniles sentenced in an adult court?
 Could your agency break-out the yearend count by the following categories?
o
o
o
o
o

Active vs. inactive (Does “active” include absconders, low-risk, those in residential
placements that are/are not still under their jurisdiction?)
Custody vs. jurisdiction counts
Felon vs. misdemeanant populations
Persons not fully adjudicated (pretrial)
Unsupervised

If your agency was able to provide data for the yearend count on the number of
POPULATION TYPE, would you be able to provide the data for the rest of the survey for just
these POPULATION TYPE probationers?

8

Before we move on to the next page, are there any other issues that you would like to talk
about on Question 1 through 4?
Q5. …count of individuals or cases?
 How does your agency define “cases”? Does it include instances where the person was
under supervision for two or more distinct sentences? Under supervision for two or more
offenses as part of the same sentence? Something else?
 Your agency provides data at the case level. Can you explain why you report cases and not
individuals? Could your agency provide data at the individual level?
 Could your agency provide an estimate of the number of people with multiple cases? Could
your agency provide an estimate of the average number of cases per individual?

Unless you have comments on Questions 6 through 8, I’ll move on to Question 9.
Q9. …most serious offense –
Does your agency use a hierarchy to define which offenses are more serious than others? Can we
obtain a copy of the hierarchy?
g. Other traffic offense [consider eliminating from survey]
 What types of traffic offenses, other than DWI or DUI, are considered the most serious
offense that could lead to someone getting sentenced to community supervision?

If you’re ready, I’d like to look at Question 14 next.
Q14. …placed on probation through –
d. Suspended imposition of a sentence (persons not fully adjudicated, e.g., probation before
verdict)
 What types of probationers would be included in this category? How would your agency
define this group (e.g., persons on pretrial, probationers being supervised while on
diversion)?
 Would your agency include these probationers in the yearend count?

Next, I’d like to talk about Question 15.
Q15. …probationers supervised by your agency had a status of –
b. Active

d. Inactive
 How does your agency define an “active” probationer? How does your agency define an
“inactive” probationer? What types of probationers are included or excluded?

9

 Would your agency be able to provide data on the number of individuals in the yearend
count who are on “active” supervision status? Would your agency be able to provide data
on the number of individuals in the yearend count who are on “inactive” supervision status?

c. Only financial conditions remaining
 Would these probationers be included in the yearend total?
 Would these probationers be included in the number discharged by completion?

e. Absconders
f. Warrant status
 How are absconders different from those that are discharged to a warrant or detainer?
 Would these probationers be included in the numbers reported as discharged for being an
absconder or on warrant status? If not, would they still be included in the yearend
population?

g. Supervised out of jurisdiction
 What types of probationers would your agency include in this category?
 Would this category include interstate compact cases that are reported in Question 10?

Q16. …probationers who had their location tracked through a Global Positioning System
(GPS)
 Would this category include defendants who have a suspended imposition of a sentence
(pretrial)?
 Can you tell me more about how your agency uses GPS to track probationers?
 What other types of electronic monitoring does your agency use? What types of
probationers are tracked in these ways?

For central reporters: Administrative records
 Would your agency be able provide administrative records describing your probation
population?
 What information does your agency maintain in your administrative records?
 What format is the information in?
 What restrictions are there on information-sharing (de-identified data only)?

Agency Head comments: That was the last issue that I wanted to raise.
 Is there anything else that you’ve noted in the questionnaire that might affect how your
agency would categorize or report on any population that you supervise?

10

Attachment B – 2014 ASPP Questionnaires
B1. 2014 Annual Parole Survey
B2. 2014 Annual Probation Survey

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

Attachment C – Respondent Discussion Guides
C1. Parole Respondent Discussion Guide
C2. Probation Respondent Discussion Guide

24

Core Development Work
Parole Respondent Discussion Guide
Thank you for taking time to speak with me today. During our call, I would like to learn about your
experience completing the 2014 APS. The survey has been standardized because it is a national
collection; so some of the content and terminology might not match your agency’s definitions and
practices. It is really helpful to hear how respondents interpret and apply the study definitions and
instructions to their real-life situations. That way, we can better understand the answers we receive
and identify ways to improve the survey.
There are a few specific sections of the survey that I would like to discuss with you. We can go
through the questionnaire page by page, and I’ll raise the issues that I have. Basically, I would like
you to think back to when you were answering the questions and let me know how you interpreted
the questions, any issues that came up as you tried to “fit” your data into the survey categories,
whether you were able to answer questions based on your own knowledge or if you used data from a
tracking system, etc. If you would like to talk about any issues that I don’t raise, please let me know.
The first question that I have on my list is Question 2. Should we begin with that question
or is there anything on the cover page or on the first question that you would like to talk
about?
Q2. …entered parole by –
c. Mandatory release from prison

d. Term of supervised release from prison
 Does your agency use these terms? How are the two groups different?

Q3. …discharged from supervision for the following reasons –
c. Completions
 Can you tell me what types of populations – using the labels that your agency uses – you
included in this category?
 Would you be able to sub-divide the number of completions into the two categories of early
terminations (early positive discharge) and expirations? How would you define early
terminations and expirations?
o CAPSA definition of “Early terminations” or “early positive discharge”- A discharge prior
to the scheduled expiration of a sentence granted in response to the satisfaction of
conditions or earned time credits.
o Definition of “Expirations”- A discharge according to the scheduled expiration of a
sentence granted in response to the satisfaction of conditions of supervision (possibly
with some financial conditions remaining).

25

f.

Other [consider eliminating from survey]
 What other types of discharges did you report? How did you decide whether to put them
into: other completions, unsatisfactory, and other?

Next, let’s look at Question 4.
Q4. On December 31st, what was your agency’s adult parole population?
 What types of populations did you include in your agency’s yearend count?
 Did you (would you) include juveniles sentenced in an adult court?
 When you reported the number of active and the number of inactive, how did you define
those two groups? (Does “active” include absconders, low-risk, those in residential
placements that are/are not still under their jurisdiction?) Did you wonder about if, or how,
you should report on any individuals?
 Did you report the number that are in your custody or the number that are supervised by
your jurisdiction?
 Did you base your answers on information that you already had in your head or did you talk
with others or refer to a tracking system?
 How confident are you that your answers included everyone that they were supposed to
include? Exclude everyone who should not be counted? Tell me more about why you’re
that confident.
 What other populations are supervised by your agency? Did you include them in any survey
category? Why not – what is different about them?
 If asked, could you break-out the yearend count by the following categories?
o Active vs. inactive
o Custody vs. jurisdiction
o Felon vs. misdemeanant populations
If you were able to provide data for the yearend count on the number of POPULATION TYPE,
would you be able to provide the data for the rest of the survey for just these POPULATION
TYPE probationers?

Before we move on to the next page, are there any other issues that you would like to talk
about on Question 1 through 4?

26

Q5. …count of individuals or cases?
 When you answered this question on the survey, how did you define “cases”? Did you
include instances where the person was under supervision for two or more distinct
sentences? Under supervision for two or more offenses as part of the same sentence?
Something else?
 You provide data at the case level? Can you explain why you report cases and not
individuals? Could your agency provide data at the individual level?
 Can you provide an estimate of the number of people with multiple cases? Can you provide
an estimate of the average number of cases per individual?

Unless you have comments on Questions 6 and 7, I’ll move on to Question 11.
Q11. …most serious offense –
In answering Question 11, how did you determine which offenses are more serious than others?
Can we obtain a copy of the hierarchy?
Q12. …parolees supervised by your agency had a status of –
c. Active

c. Inactive
 How did you define an “active” parolee? How did you define an “inactive” parolee? What
types of parolees are included or excluded?
 Would you be able to provide data on the number of individuals in the yearend count who
are on “active” supervision status? Would you be able to provide data on the number of
individuals in the yearend count who are on “inactive” supervision status?

b. Only financial conditions remaining
 Did these parolees get included in the yearend total? Why not?
 Did these parolees get included in the number discharged by completion?

d. Absconders
 Where these parolees included in the numbers reported as discharged for being an
absconder? If not, would they still be included in the yearend population?

g. Supervised out of jurisdiction
 What types of parolees did you include in this category?
 Did this category include interstate compact cases that are reported in Question 6?

27

Next, let’s look at Question 15.
Q15. …parolees who had their location tracked through a Global Positioning System (GPS)



Tell me more about the parolees you thought about or counted for this question.
What other types of electronic monitoring does your agency use? Did you include any of those
parolees in this question? Why/Why not?

Respondent comments: That was the last issue that I wanted to raise.
 Is there anything else that you’ve noted in the questionnaire that might affect how your
agency would categorize or report on any population that you supervise?

28

Core Development Work
Probation Respondent Discussion Guide
Thank you for taking time to speak with me today. During our call, I would like to learn about your
experience completing the 2014 APS. The survey has been standardized because it is a national
collection; so some of the content and terminology might not match your agency’s definitions and
practices. It is really helpful to hear how respondents interpret and apply the study definitions and
instructions to their real-life situations. That way, we can better understand the answers we receive
and identify ways to improve the survey.
There are a few specific sections of the survey that I would like to discuss with you. We can go
through the questionnaire page by page, and I’ll raise the issues that I have. Basically, I would like
you to think back to when you were answering the questions and let me know how you interpreted
the questions, any issues that came up as you tried to “fit” your data into the survey categories,
whether you were able to answer questions based on your own knowledge or if you used data from a
tracking system, etc. If you would like to talk about any issues that I don’t raise, please let me know.
The first question that I have on my list is Question 3. Should we begin with that question
or is there anything on the cover page or on the first two questions that you would like to
talk about?
Q3. …discharged from supervision for the following reasons –
d. Completions
 Can you tell me what types of populations – using the labels that your agency uses – you
included in this category?
 Would you be able to sub-divide the number of completions into the two categories of early
terminations (early positive discharge) and expirations? How would you define early
terminations and expirations?
o CAPSA definition of “Early terminations” or “early positive discharge”- A discharge prior
to the scheduled expiration of a sentence granted in response to the satisfaction of
conditions or earned time credits.
o Definition of “Expirations”- A discharge according to the scheduled expiration of a
sentence granted in response to the satisfaction of conditions of supervision (possibly
with some financial conditions remaining).
b3. Incarcerated, to receive treatment [consider eliminating from survey]
 What types of cases did you include in the category: discharged by incarceration to receive
treatment?

29

b4. Other
 Take a look at Question 3, item b4. There is an instruction to the right that refers to
“probationers incarcerated pending a revocation, trial, sentencing, or others.” What types
of cases are in this category? [Shouldn’t they only be discharged after actual revocation or
sentencing?]
c. Absconder
d. Warrant or detainer
 How did you come up with your answers to these items? What types of cases did you
include in each category?
 How are discharges for being an absconder different from probationers discharged to a
warrant or detainer?
e. Transferred to another probation agency
 Can you tell me more about the probationers in this category? [How can a probationer be
discharged by being transferred to another agency? Even with inter-state compact
agreements, the case is still technically under the jurisdiction of the original court. It could
be considered inactive by the originating jurisdiction but not discharged.]
g. Other [consider eliminating from survey]
 What other types of discharges did you report? How did you decide whether to put them
into: other completions, unsatisfactory, and other?

How confident are you that your answers included everyone that they were supposed to include?
Exclude everyone who should not be counted? Tell me more about why you’re that confident.
What other populations are supervised by your agency? Did you include them in any survey
category? Why not – what is different about them?
Next, let’s look at Question 4.

30

Q4. On December 31st, what was your agency’s adult probation population?
 What types of populations did you include in your agency’s yearend count?
 Did you (would you) include juveniles sentenced in an adult court?
 When you reported the number of active and the number of inactive, how did you define
those two groups? (Does “active” include absconders, low-risk, those in residential
placements that are/are not still under their jurisdiction?) Did you wonder about if, or how,
you should report on any individuals?
 How did you deal with persons not fully adjudicated (pretrial) and with those that are
unsupervised? How would you define “unsupervised”?
 Did you report the number that are in your custody or the number that are supervised by
your jurisdiction?
 Did you base your answers on information that you already had in your head or did you talk
with others or refer to a tracking system?
 How confident are you that your answers included everyone that they were supposed to
include? Exclude everyone who should not be counted? Tell me more about why you’re
that confident.
 What other populations are supervised by your agency? Did you include them in any survey
category? Why not – what is different about them?
 If asked, could you break-out the yearend count by the following categories?
o Active vs. inactive
o Custody vs. jurisdiction
o Felon vs. misdemeanant populations
If you were able to provide data for the yearend count on the number of POPULATION TYPE,
would you be able to provide the data for the rest of the survey for just these POPULATION
TYPE probationers?

Before we move on to the next page, are there any other issues that you would like to talk
about on Question 1 through 4?
Q5. …count of individuals or cases?
 When you answered this question on the survey, how did you define “cases”? Did you
include instances where the person was under supervision for two or more distinct
sentences? Under supervision for two or more offenses as part of the same sentence?
Something else?
 You provide data at the case level. Can you explain why you report cases and not
individuals? Could your agency provide data at the individual level?
 Can you agency provide an estimate of the number of people with multiple cases? Can you
provide an estimate of the average number of cases per individual?

Unless you have comments on Questions 6 through 8, I’ll move on to Question 9.
31

Q9. …most serious offense –
In answering Question 9, how did you determine which offenses are more serious than others?
Can we obtain a copy of the hierarchy?
g. Other traffic offense [consider eliminating from survey]
 What types of traffic offenses, other than DWI or DUI, are considered the most serious
offense that could lead to someone getting sentenced to community supervision?

If you’re ready, I’d like to look at Question 14 next.
Q14. …placed on probation through –
d. Suspended imposition of a sentence (persons not fully adjudicated, e.g., probation before
verdict)
 What types of probationers did you include in this category? How did you define this group
(e.g., persons on pretrial, probationers being supervised while on diversion)?
 Did you include these probationers in the yearend count?

Next, I’d like to talk about Question 15.
Q15. …probationers supervised by your agency had a status of –
d. Active

d. Inactive
 How did you define an “active” probationer? How did you define an “inactive” probationer?
What types of probationers are included or excluded?
 Would you be able to provide data on the number of individuals in the yearend count who
are on “active” supervision status? Would you be able to provide data on the number of
individuals in the yearend count who are on “inactive” supervision status?

32

c. Only financial conditions remaining
 Did these probationers get included in the yearend total? Why not?
 Did these probationers get included in the number discharged by completion?

e. Absconders
f. Warrant status
 How did you decide whether to report probationers as absconders or as discharged to a
warrant or detainer? What is the difference from your agency’s perspective?
 Were these probationers included in the numbers reported as discharged for being an
absconder or on warrant status? If not, would they still be included in the yearend
population?

g. Supervised out of jurisdiction
 What types of probationers did you include in this category?
 Did this category include interstate compact cases that were reported in Question 10?

Next, let’s look at Question 16.
Q16. …probationers who had their location tracked through a Global Positioning System
(GPS)




Did this category include defendants who had a suspended imposition of a sentence (pretrial)?
Tell me more about the probationers you thought about or counted for this question.
What other types of electronic monitoring does your agency use? Did you include any of those
probationers in this question? Why/Why not?

Respondent comments: That was the last issue that I wanted to raise.
 Is there anything else that you’ve noted in the questionnaire that might affect how you
categorized or reported on any population that you supervise?

33

Attachment D – Agency Cover Letters and Topic Lists

34

COVER LETTER TO AGENCY HEADS
<>
«Name1», «Title»
«Agency_Name»
«Address»
«City», «State» «zip»
Dear «Name1»,
Recently, you were asked to assist with a special request from the U.S. Department of Justice,
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) related to the Annual <> Survey (APS). The
main goal of the standard APS collection is to measure and describe the size, composition, and
changes in the <> populations over time, at the national, federal, and state
levels. Westat is helping BJS evaluate the content and focus of the APS to ensure that the survey
continues to meet this goal. We hope to complete this phase of our evaluation by <>,
2015.
As part of this effort, we are contacting the heads of a small number of <>
agencies to discuss the 2014 APS survey content and terminology. The call should take about one
hour. I have enclosed a copy of the survey and a list of specific topics that you can review prior to
the discussion. In addition, we will email a copy to you provided we have your email address. If you
do not receive a copy via email and would like us to send one, please call Westat’s Agency Support
Team at 1-888-371-3718.
A member of the Westat APS project staff will contact you in the next few days to schedule a time
for the telephone discussion. If you have any questions about the APS or about this special request,
please contact me at 301-517-4030 or at PaulaThompson@westat.com.
Sincerely,

Paula Thompson, PMP
Senior Study Director
Westat
Enclosure

35

DISCUSSION TOPIC LIST
ANNUAL PROBATION SURVEY
We would like to discuss the following topics about the Annual Probation Survey. During the call,
please mention any other issues associated with the survey that you would like to discuss as well.


Categories/definitions of population types (Question 3 and Question 15) and whether they are
included in yearend counts.
o
o
o
o
o
o



Incarcerated (e.g., to receive treatment; pending a revocation, trial, sentencing)
Absconder versus warrant/detainer
Transfer to another probation agency
“Active” and “inactive”
Individuals with only financial conditions remaining
Other

Issues affecting the yearend counts (Question 4).
o
o

Types of populations included in the yearend counts
Ability to report counts and other data in the following categories
 Felon versus misdemeanant populations
 Custody versus jurisdiction
 Persons not fully adjudicated (pretrial)
 Unsupervised

INSERT QUESTION 5 IF AGENCY HAS REPORTED CASE LEVEL DATA IN PAST 3
YEARS.


Issues associated with providing counts of cases versus individuals (Question 5).
o
o
o

Agency definition of “cases”
Number of individuals with more than one case, and average number of cases per
individual supervised
Issues affecting ability to report individuals (rather than cases)

INSERT QUESTION 14 IF AGENCY HAS REPORTED SUSPENDED IMPOSITION OF
A SENTENCE IN 2014.


Characteristics of probationers placed on supervision through a suspended imposition of a
sentence (Question 14).
o
o



Types of probationers included in this category
Number in this category

Issues associated with other survey items
o

Counts of completions – Ability to sub-divide into early terminations and expirations
[see Question 3a]

36

o
o

Most serious offense – Other traffic offense (not DWI or DUI) [see Questions 9f and 9g]
General comments about other questions

INSERT IF AGENCY IS A CENTRAL REPORTER.


Capacity to provide administrative records.
o
o

Restrictions on information-sharing (de-identified data only)
Administrative record contents

37

DISCUSSION TOPIC LIST
ANNUAL PAROLE SURVEY
We would like to discuss the following topics about the Annual Parole Survey. During the call,
please mention any other issues associated with the survey that you would like to discuss as well.


Categories/definitions of population types (Question 2 and Question 12) and whether they are
included in yearend counts.
o
o
o
o
o



“Mandatory release from prison” and “term of supervised release from prison”
“Active” and “inactive”
Individuals with only financial conditions remaining
Individuals supervised following special conditional release from prison
Other

Issues affecting the yearend counts (Question 4).
o
o

Types of populations included in the yearend counts
Ability to report counts and other data for 1) population in custody versus under
jurisdiction of your agency and 2) felon versus misdemeanant populations

INSERT QUESTION 5 IF AGENCY HAS REPORTED CASE LEVEL DATA IN PAST 3
YEARS.


Issues associated with providing counts of cases versus individuals (Question 5).
o
o
o



Agency definition of “cases”
Number of individuals with more than one case, and average number of cases per
individual supervised
Issues affecting ability to report individuals (rather than cases)

Issues associated with other survey items

INSERT IF AGENCY IS A CENTRAL REPORTER.


Capacity to provide administrative records.
o
o

Restrictions on information-sharing (de-identified data only)
Administrative record contents

38

Attachment E – Respondent Cover Letters

39

COVER LETTER TO SURVEY RESPONDENTS
<>
«Name1», «Title»
«Agency_Name»
«Address»
«City», «State» «zip»
Dear «Name1»,
Recently, you were asked to assist with a special request from the U.S. Department of Justice,
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) related to the Annual <> Survey (APS). The
main goal of the standard APS collection is to measure and describe the size, composition, and
changes in the <> populations over time, at the national, federal, and state
levels. Westat is helping BJS evaluate the content and focus of the APS to ensure that the survey
continues to meet this goal. We hope to complete this phase of our evaluation by <>,
2015.
As part of this effort, we are contacting those who responded to the 2014 APS from a small number
of <> agencies to speak with us about the survey content and terminology, and
the process they used to compile and report the information on the survey. The call should take
about one hour. I have enclosed a copy of your 2014 APS that you can review prior to the
discussion. In addition, we will email a copy to you provided we have your email address. If you do
not receive a copy via email and would like us to send one, please call Westat’s Agency Support
Team at 1-888-371-3718.
A member of the Westat APS project staff will contact you in the next few days to schedule a time
for the telephone discussion. If you have any questions about the APS or about this special request,
please contact me at 301-517-4030 or at PaulaThompson@westat.com.
Sincerely,

Paula Thompson, PMP
Senior Study Director
Westat
Enclosure

40