 Community Corrections Software AIMs For Greater Efficiency
By Marshall Dury - July 9, 2003
Money and what to do with current resources is often the topic of heated
debate among correctional agencies. With this in mind, Sageful Corporation
has created a program to compile information, increase community corrections
efficiency and do more with fewer resources - a task that puts many aspects
of the correctional community at odds with budget demands.
The program, named Attendee Information Manager (AIM), has the ability to
monitor a parolee's supervision conditions and drug test results, with the
goal of reducing paperwork in community corrections offices. Keith Loris,
CEO of Sageful Corp., based in Concord, Massachusetts, thinks the program
provides a service that people in the corrections community don't always
have time to do - follow a person's progress.
"Probation and parole officers have many things to track after a person
has been through the court [or correctional] system and it's hard to keep
everything straight when you're monitoring up to 50, maybe 100 people," said
Loris. "Keeping track of a person's drug testing record and even program
truancy is what AIM was designed for - to save some of that valuable time."
The program thrives on a simple-to-use interface, according to Loris, in
hopes that it will one day make manual forms of recording the information
of those under community supervision nearly obsolete. The program's electronic
filing system allows correctional employees access to a central database
with permanent information on an offender's history, possible substance abuse
or even dates of incarceration.
Choosing and Operating AIM
AIM was designed to collect and create a permanent record of each offender's
personal information. As a software package, the program can be used on
most current computers and is offered in two forms. The Work Station Edition's
price ranges from $5,000 to $15,000. The $5,000 model allows a limited
number of trackers -- such as drug test results or AA meetings -- for any
given person and can only be used on designated computers. The $15,000
model simply allows a greater number of trackers on the same number of
computers.
The second form of AIM's program is the Enterprise Edition, which costs
$50,000 for unlimited computers at the first site and $5,000 for unlimited
computers at each additional site. A major benefit Loris notes about the
Enterprise Edition is its ability to be used on an unlimited number of computers.
The only additional cost is for agencies with no network to link different
locations to the same network.
"For example, community corrections department 'X' could buy the Enterprise
Edition and put the program on as many computers as they wanted. The same
department would only pay [$5,000] if a location, 25 miles away, wanted to
tie into the same network information and capabilities," said Loris.
AIM's ability to customize an individual's past offenses and alert officers
to information on domestic abuse, for example, makes it a valuable product
in a field that requires attention to personal details about reforming lifestyles,
according to Loris. An offender's file, using the Enterprise Edition, can
include biographical information, personal identifiers (such as tattoos or
piercing) and, one of the most widely used features, a record of drug tests.
Methods of drug testing can differ from state to state and certainly are
not always an ironclad form of testing. Using AIM, however, community corrections
officers can receive instant notification regarding drug tests. After the
test is completed, a lab technician can scan the specimen and record the
result in AIM, with the information of a pass or a fail being sent immediately
to his or her correctional supervisor. The program also allows testing facilities
to link their instruments directly to AIM, integrating machines with software,
cutting out the "sometimes imperfect data-entry process of drug tests," Loris
said.
With its Chain-of-Custody feature, AIM can follow the results of a drug
test or offer an officer QuickNotes (virtual post-it notes) for pertinent
information about an offender. AIM's features are designed to decrease office
paperwork but it gives community corrections so much more.
Captain John M. Flynn II, Chief Operating Officer for the Worcester County
(Mass.) Community Corrections Center, has been using the program since early
2000 and thinks the testing and notification capabilities of AIM are both
valuable and necessary in community corrections.
"AIM makes it easier to investigate a person's past and understand where
they are coming from and how to treat them as a past offender," said Flynn. "We
have a zero-tolerance policy if a drug test comes back positive, so if we
need to be alerted immediately of someone who's violated their probation
- we know."
In May 2003, the Suffolk County, Mass., Sheriff's Department incorporated
the Enterprise Edition of AIM to their Men's Center in Boston and Women's
Center in Jamaica Plain to service 1,000 clients and help perform 30,000
annual drug and alcohol tests.
"An operation like Suffolk's is great because you're linking community corrections
with individual facilities that give an actual service to offenders," said
Loris. "Suffolk is making a gradual transition into the AIM program and it
will pay for itself in money, but more importantly [in community safety over]
time."
The Benefits of AIM & Improving On It
AIM's tracking abilities and different databases for specific types of information
makes the program versatile and valuable in community corrections because
it's "not just a piece of software. This will actually increase the effectiveness
of some community corrections officer," according to Loris.
For example, the program's ability to calculate statistics and make it easier
for community corrections managers to notice trends is something Flynn has
found to be vital in his work with AIM.
"The program [saves] about a quarter of a staff member-per week because
I'm not telling an officer to spend an entire day compiling information into
something that can be looked at and then analyzed," said Flynn. "AIM makes
it easier to analyze data because the information is already readable, you
just have to know what you're looking for."
Flynn, while pleased with the program, does not consider its ability to
create new reports or abridge old ones to be as easy as it could be. He notes,
however, the difficulty may simply be due to "not having a chance to learn
the process all the way through."
While AIM boasts of creating a lower rate of recidivism in community corrections,
Flynn thinks that there may not be a direct link between the two.
"There's no doubt that this program is money well-spent, but I don't know
if the program itself lowers recidivism," said Flynn. "It's a great tool
but what it actually does is free up time - time for my case workers and
officers to do more, so they aren't stuck behind a desk doing paperwork all
day."
As Sageful Corp. gears up to possibly sell more Enterprise Editions to Texas,
Michigan and the remaining 12 counties in Massachusetts, Loris can't help
but wonder how popular AIM will become simply because "it does what it says
it can do."
"We're looking to expand our [company's] operations but the program [AIM]
thrives on one thing: empowering employees with all the information they
need at their fingertips," said Loris. "This program helps community corrections
officers and judges make the right decision [based on detailed information]
in terms of the public's safety and it helps any struggling community corrections
offices in terms of dollars and cents."
Resources:
To look at product information for Sageful Corporation, go to www.sageful.com
Keith Loris, President / CEO of Sageful Corporation, (508) 529-4300, kloris@sageful.com
Capt. John M. Flynn II, Chief Operating Officer for the Worcester County Community Corrections
Center, (508) 752-1221.
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