The Legislative Audit Bureau makes 27 recommendations to the Department of Corrections.

Risk Needs and Assessment (p. 23)

We recommend the Department of Corrections:  

1. ensure initial risk and needs assessments are completed in a timely manner; (p. 27)
2. consider modifying its policies to specify situations when parole and probation agents are permitted additional time to complete initial risk and needs assessments; (p. 27)
3. ensure supervision levels of individuals under community supervision are consistently reviewed in a timely manner; (p. 32)
4. consider modifying its policies to specify additional situations when agents are permitted additional time to review supervision levels; (p. 32)

Program Services (p. 33)

We recommend the Department of Corrections:

5. comply with statutes by providing day reporting center services throughout the state; (p. 38)
6. develop a plan to regularly review contract logs maintained by each region in order to ensure interactions with providers of services are consistently documented; (p. 42)
7. centrally collect non-confidential data on all court-ordered program services provided to individuals under community supervision; (p. 49)
8. develop a multi-year plan for complying with statutes by evaluating the effectiveness of program services, including all court-ordered program services, at decreasing the rates of arrest, conviction, and imprisonment; (p. 49)
9. use the evaluation results to improve program services; (p. 49)

Violations (p. 51)

We recommend the Department of Corrections:

10. ensure alleged violations are consistently investigated; (p. 58)
11. ensure investigation reports are consistently completed within 10 days; (p. 59)
12. consider modifying its policies to specify additional situations when parole and probation agents are permitted additional time to complete investigation reports; (p. 59)

Violation Consequences (p. 61)

We recommend the Department of Corrections:

13. ensure parole and probation agents consistently identify aggravating or mitigating factors when requesting to override a recommended consequence level; (p. 66)
14. ensure its electronic monitoring center consistently issues holds or apprehension requests when individuals under community supervision exhibit assaultive or threatening behavior or law enforcement indicates it intends to file felony charges against individuals; (p. 69)
15. consistently identify in its data all community-based alternatives to revocation; (p. 73)
16. develop a multi-year plan for complying with statutes by reviewing consequences it imposed in order to assess differences among consequences, evaluate the effectiveness of consequences, and monitor the effect of consequences on the number of revocations; (p. 74)
17. use the results of these reviews to improve its use of consequences; (p. 75)

Improving Program Administration (p. 91)

We recommend the Department of Corrections report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee by June 30, 2023, on the status of its efforts to promulgate statutorily required administrative rules for:

18. defining and evaluating violation consequences, as required by s. 301.03 (3), Wis. Stats.; (p. 93)
19. contracting with vendors to supervise certain individuals, as required by s. 301.08 (1) (c) 5., Wis. Stats.; (p. 93)
20. allowing entities that provide services to charge a percentage add-on profit and including certain information in rate-based service contracts, as required by s. 301.08 (2) (em) 6., Wis. Stats.; (p. 93)
21. specifying requirements for providing parole and probation agents with training and skill development, as required by s. 301.068 (5), Wis. Stats.; (p. 93)

We recommend the Department of Corrections:

22. examine programmatic differences among the regions, as well as among the races and ages of individuals under community supervision; (p. 96)
23. assess whether such differences indicate that individuals may not have been supervised appropriately; (p. 96)
24. develop and implement a plan, if necessary, to address the differences and ensure that individuals are supervised appropriately; (p. 96)
25. develop a written plan for comprehensively evaluating whether its evidence-based response to violations project has been successful; (p. 97)
26. provide community corrections program staff with additional IT security training; (p. 98) and

Audit Follow-Up Reporting

27. We recommend the Department of Corrections report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee by June 30, 2023, on its efforts to implement all of these recommendations.