One in 55 U.S. Adults is Under Community Supervision, and a New Software Solution Aims to Improve Their Outcomes

DENVER, March 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SCRAM Systems®, a global leader in electronic monitoring, announced the launch of Nexus, a first-of-its-kind software platform that makes community supervision data actionable.

SCRAM Nexus™ empowers officers to do their job more efficiently and gives departmental leadership the information needed to make decisions based on science and real-time information by bringing together data from clients, treatment providers, other client touchpoints and data systems into one platform.

The real-time response recommendations automated in the system—based on each client's own supervision and treatment plan—allow officers to better address client behavior with the proper magnitude of rewards or interventions that lead to improved outcomes. As a result, the system makes evidence-based engagement possible to help people on community supervision access needed services and successfully exit the criminal justice system.

As a trusted name in the community corrections monitoring and technology market, SCRAM Systems has leveraged its experience working with agencies to build a platform designed to meet the needs of an evolving field and address top challenges. Systemic issues facing community corrections include:

• Officers typically manage large caseloads of clients and often must cull client information from disparate sources and manually enter it into static systems. This process can consume up to 60 percent of an officer's time on administrative work. In addition, client information is not only difficult to obtain, but when it is available it is outdated and incomplete. At best, officers are unable to respond to client behavior swiftly or with the proper magnitude—both critical to improving client outcomes. At worst, responses are uninformed or inaccurate. 
• Department leaders lack data and analytics to understand how their own policy, procedures and evidence-based practices (EBP) initiatives are being carried day-to-day or how they impact clients. Without a baseline understanding of the effect of existing policies, it is impossible to identify areas for departmental improvements.
• People under community supervision are obliged to participate in activities or services that may not meet their specific risk profile or clinical needs, increasing the chances that they will violate and not successfully complete their supervision.

Nexus addresses each of these challenges by providing a central portal for all client information, including risk and need profile, supervision criteria and participation, and automating tracking of treatment attendance and progress, drug test results, electronic monitoring data and more.

The web-based interface and mobile access also allow officers and treatment providers to report data in real time. For example, when a client attends a treatment meeting, the provider can record attendance and make comments in the purpose-built portal. Nexus then automatically notifies the officer when that information is submitted and prompts a positive response to the client.

Without Nexus, treatment providers must manually submit information about a client's attendance and participation, creating a delay of weeks or months before the officer is aware. This delay prevents the officer from responding to the client in a timely way that could effectively improve the client's behavior.

SCRAM Systems CEO Mike Iiams says, "Parole and probation departments play a vital role in public safety, yet they lack the tools needed to maximize client success. Nexus fills a substantial gap by giving departments the ability to answer their most essential questions: Is what we are doing working? Who is it working for? What steps can we take to improve outcomes and better help clients?"

The data and information collected in Nexus also allows for unparalleled insights into officer and client performance. For the first time, parole and probation department leadership will have a tool for assessing how their own policies are being implemented and how they are impacting client outcomes. Developed to integrate with departments' existing case management software systems, Nexus allows for seamless implementation across platforms.

"SCRAM Nexus provides departments with the most up-to-date technology to implement and deploy the latest in evidence-based solutions to improve outcomes for clients and communities. Increased officer and client engagement, combined with analytic capabilities and evidence-based recommendations will make meaningful, positive changes for clients and communities across the county," Iiams says.

West Huddleston, SCRAM Systems Vice President for Business Development and former CEO of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, notes, "Throughout my 30-year career, I have seen firsthand the challenges that courts and community correction agencies face in providing the services, guidance and accountability clients need to succeed. With a counsel of community correction leaders, behavioral scientists and software engineers, Nexus was created to help pretrial, probation and parole officers ensure that their decision-making is grounded in data and evidence. Nexus will not only make them more efficient and effective at their jobs but will also help clients make the changes needed to succeed and exit the criminal justice system for good." 

Nexus is currently undergoing beta testing in El Dorado County, CA, and Miami County, IN.

About SCRAM Systems
SCRAM Systems is the world's leading provider of electronic monitoring and software solutions for the criminal justice industry. The company's flagship Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (CAM) technology, launched in 2003, revolutionized the way courts, agencies and treatment providers monitor and manage alcohol-involved offenders. In 2013 the company launched the industry's most comprehensive suite of electronic monitoring technologies, which includes SCRAM Remote Breath^®, SCRAM GPS^® and SCRAM House Arrest^®. Last year the company introduced its first license-based software platform, SCRAM 24/7, to support probation and pretrial sobriety programs. SCRAM Systems employs 280 people worldwide and is a privately-held company headquartered in Littleton, Colorado.

SOURCE SCRAM Systems

Related Links

http://www.scramsystems.com