Policy Statement
6		 Establish a range of sanctions and incentives that agencies responsible for collections can exercise when a person released from prison or jail does not meet his or her child support and court-ordered financial obligations.
Recommendation
A		 Design sanctions, such as increased supervision and mandatory service at a restitution center, to compel people under community supervision to meet their financial obligations.

When evaluating an individual’s failure to meet his or her financial obligations, court personnel, probation officers, and others responsible for enforcing collections must make a determination: Has the individual had the financial resources to meet his or her obligations, or the ability to work, and been unwilling to comply with the court’s order? Or has the inability to find employment or another legitimate reason contributed to the individual’s failure to meet his or her financial obligations?

Court personnel, probation officers, and others responsible for enforcing collections who find that an individual is essentially disregarding the court’s orders should consult victims and families and then initiate graduated sanctions as appropriate. Options short of incarceration should be explored first because the limited ability of prisoners to meet their financial obligations during periods of incarceration can further delay payments of child support and restitution. While sanctions should be applied consistently, they should also consider what the individual perceives to be a significant sanction.

Agencies responsible for collections should provide individuals who are able and unwilling to meet their financial obligations with a range of appropriate sanctions to compel payment1:

  • Written, verbal, and in-person reminders.
  • In-depth financial assessments.
  • Mandatory budget classes.
  • Mandatory service in the community or at a restitution center.

    • Restitution Center, Department of Corrections, Multnomah County, Oregon

    At the Multnomah County Restitution Center, residents live and work under community correctional supervision and participate in educational, vocational, and behavioral programs. Their wages are collected and divided among a variety of expenses, including room and board, court fees, victim restitution payments, and family support.1

  • Special appearances before a judge.
  • Revocation of driving, hunting, and fishing licenses (with exemptions to find and maintain employment).
  • Restricted liberty (e.g., curfews, restrictions on interstate probation transfers, and electronic monitoring).

    • Interstate Compact, Interstate Commissions for Adult Offender Supervision

    The interstate compact agreement between the probation and parole departments of member states requires that people under probation or parole supervision be in "substantial compliance" with the requirements of supervision to qualify for a transfer of probation supervision to another state.2

  • Increased supervision, including reincarceration.

Financial Compliance Program, Adult Probation Department, Maricopa County, Arizona

As part of the Financial Compliance Program, 14 full-time probation officers dedicated to collections review individuals’ assets and obligations at the first probation contact, set up payment plans, and advise individuals of the sanctions associated with nonpayment. Probation officers employ a graduated list of responses to nonpayment based on the number of days a payment is delinquent:

  • 15 days: written reminder of payment schedule and amounts.
  • 30 days: seven-page Payment Ability Evaluation form—administrators report that the length of the form alone often acts as a payment incentive.
  • 60 days: mandatory five-week budgeting class—administrators report that 80 percent of individuals who reach this sanction make a payment to avoid taking the budgeting class.
  • 90 days: referral to a collection agent for further monitoring.
  • 180 days: referral by collection agent to probation officer for intervention or probation revocation.
  • 210 days: probation revocation for willful noncompliance with court-ordered financial sanctions if the case remains unresolved.

Probation officers also use the revocation of driving, hunting, and fishing licenses as a sanction. Administrators report that the use of incentives and sanctions of personal importance to the individual has been a particularly effective enforcement strategy.3

1 For more information on the use of incentives and sanctions in community supervision, see Policy Statement 29 of the Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council at www.reentrypolicy.org.

2 Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision, “Rules,” effective January 1, 2006, retrieved at www.interstatecompact.org/Legal/RulesStepbyStep.aspx, May 17, 2006.

3 Administrative Directive. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-801 – 13-812, 13-902, 33-967. Administrative Order of the State Supreme Court of Arizona No. 94 -16. Personal communication, Barbara Broderick, Chief Probation Officer, Adult Probation Department, Maricopa County, Arizona, December 6, 2005. Personal communication, Julie Begoña, Field Division Director, Maricopa County Probation Department, Arizona, April 26, 2006.