Swift, Certain, and Fair (SCF) is an approach to criminal-justice supervision involving probation, parole, pre-trial diversion, and/or incarceration.

Features

SCF implementations typically have the following features: * Limited set of rules * Clear warnings * Close monitoring * Swift response to violations * A modest consequence for every violation

HOPE

One of the first SCF programs was ''

Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) is an intensive supervision program that aims to reduce crime and drug use while saving taxpayers' dollars spent on jail and prison costs. HOPE deals with offenders who have been identified as l ...

'' (HOPE), created in Honolulu in 2004 by Judge

Steven Alm Steven S. Alm is an American lawyer who is the current Prosecuting Attorney of Honolulu. A former Hawaii circuit court judge and United States Attorney, he was sworn into the position of prosecutor on January 2, 2021. Early life and educati ...

. In 2009 the program was evaluated by

Angela Hawken Angela Hawken is a professor of public policy and director of Litmus at the Marron Institute of Urban Management at New York University. Her research focuses primarily on drugs, crime, and corruption, and combines experimental and quantitative ...

and

Mark Kleiman Mark Albert Robert Kleiman (May 18, 1951 – July 21, 2019) was an American professor, author, and blogger who dealt with issues of drug and criminal justice policy. A professor of public policy at New York University, in 2015, Kleiman became th ...

. They found that, compared with probationers supervised as usual, HOPE probationers were: * 55% less likely to be arrested for a new crime * 72% less likely to use drugs * 61% less likely to skip appointments with their supervisory officer * 53% less likely to have their probation revoked.

Demonstration Field Experiment (DFE)

To assess the universality of the Hawaii results, the

Bureau of Justice Assistance The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, within the United States Department of Justice. BJA provides leadership and assistance to local criminal justice programs that improve and reinforce the nat ...

and

National Institute of Justice The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development and evaluation agency of the United States Department of Justice. NIJ, along with the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Juvenil ...

funded a replication and randomized control trial at four mainland sites. Findings were expected by 2016.

Other implementations

SCF programs have been implemented in at least 28 states and an American Indian nation.

References

Other sources

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Pepperdine and Department of Justice Announce Swift Certain Fair Resource Center
Law enforcement in the United States {{law-enforcement-stub