Community Resource Directory

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

As part of its mission to hold offenders accountable and facilitate their rehabilitation, the San Diego County Probation Department created the Web-based Community Resource Directory (CRD). The CRD helps probation officers link probationers to community-based intervention services such as substance abuse treatment or work readiness training. The directory is a catalog of all approved services officers can refer adults and juvenile probationers to as part of an offender’s overall case plan. Community-based agencies apply to become approved providers by completing information about their programs, agreeing to specific terms and conditions, and providing proof of insurance. The CRD interfaces with the department’s computer-based case management system to facilitate and enrich probation officers’ interactions with providers. When an officer creates a referral in a probationer’s case plan, the referral is automatically sent to the provider, who determines if the offender can be served by the program. As part of the computer-based exchange, providers report weekly on an offender’s progress and the information populates directly into the probation case management system. The CRD can also generate data about how probationers use and benefit from services to help the department set and measure overarching case management and rehabilitation goals.