The glossary terms found below relate to the CAPS Standard and commonly used words within the community supervision field.

Alignment
The degree to which the elements of an organization, such as its people, processes, resources, and structures, are arranged and coordinated to support and achieve its strategic goals and objectives. Also called organizational alignment.

Assess
One of the four foundational competencies identified in the CAPS Standard model. Assessment is the process of collecting and analyzing information that will be used to develop plans. Assessment tools can include actuarial risk assessments, structured decision-making tools, fidelity tools, culture assessments, and staff engagement assessments.

Behavior Change
The process of changing an individual's behaviors, attitudes, mindsets, beliefs, and actions to be in alignment with their future goals and aspirations. This concept is crucial in community-based supervision programs, probation, parole, and other spaces aimed at reducing risk factors.

Best Practices
Practices based on the collective experience and wisdom of the field rather than scientifically tested knowledge. They may be required by law or based on past practice that produced good outcomes. Sometimes used interchangeably with the phrase "evidence-based practices."

Case Conceptualization
The comprehensive analysis and holistic understanding of an individual's background, circumstances, and factors contributing to their justice system involvement. It involves integrating information from various sources, including assessments, social history, support networks, records, and future goals. This information is then used to develop a tailored intervention or case plan aimed at addressing the root causes of behavior and reducing the likelihood of recidivism.

Case Plan
A structured, individualized program designed to address the specific needs and risks of a person under supervision. It outlines goals, interventions, and strategies for rehabilitation, supervision, and support, aiming to facilitate someone’s successful reintegration into society and reduce the risk of recidivism.

Community Supervision
The support and supervision of people under a criminal justice sanction or pretrial release who are not incarcerated but instead live in the community. It includes probation, parole, and other forms of supervised release, where compliance with specific requirements, such as regular check-ins, employment, and attending rehabilitation programs, is mandated to ensure public safety and support a person’s reintegration.

Connect
One of the four foundational competencies identified in the CAPS Standard model. Connecting with another person is the necessary first step in fostering any type of individual or organizational change. Connection and belonging are at the core of the work in community supervision and serve as the foundation of trust and psychological safety that promotes positive change.

Criminogenic Needs
Dynamic factors or conditions in an individual's life that directly contribute to their likelihood of committing crimes in the future. Addressing these needs through targeted interventions can reduce the risk of reoffending. Examples include substance abuse, employment, peer influences, and mindset.

Evidence-Based Practices (EBP)
Research-supported and validated tools, techniques, interventions, and programs that have been proven to achieve desired outcomes. Commonly incorporated into community supervision work as well as other social services such as healthcare and education.

Evidence-based practices emerged in the 1990s in the medical field. Several major studies found poor patient outcomes that resulted largely from a lack of use of clinically proven treatments by frontline practitioners. Efforts began to more clearly identify effective practices including how to communicate with practitioners and create incentives for their use in routine practice. Other fields, such as education, psychology, social work, and substance abuse treatment, began similar examinations of their practices and outcomes. They also began to catalog and communicate to practitioners information about programs and strategies that achieved desired outcomes.

Evidence-Informed Practices
Further development of evidence-based practices. The term recognizes that not all functions of community supervision have been rigorously tested and evaluated. For these functions, the evidence that does exist can be used to inform program design and operations, even if there is not a complete match between the evidence and the program. Evidence-informed practices, particularly as practiced in social work and psychology, also incorporate the experience and expertise of practitioners. That knowledge can be used to enhance decision-making at the case level, as well as to inform program design. Sometimes used interchangeably with the phrase "evidence-based practices."

Fidelity
Refers to the degree to which you are doing what you say you are doing AND doing it well.

Foundational Competencies
As defined in the CAPS Standard, the four foundational competencies – connect, assess, plan, and supervise – flow from proven practices within the field and help organize the model. The foundational competencies are consistent across all job groupings in CAPS, creating a common language and frame of reference for all practitioners, no matter their role within the community supervision organization.

Functional Competencies
As defined in the CAPS Standard model, job-specific applications of the foundational competencies. CAPS identifies 32 functional competencies, eight for each of the four job groupings identified in CAPS (officer, supervisor, executive, and implementation staff).  Each job grouping has two functional competencies within each of the four foundational competencies (connect, assess, plan, and supervise).

Implementation Capacity
The ability of an organization to effectively and sustainably put into practice desired programs, policies, and interventions. It encompasses the people, data, leadership, culture, and feedback support necessary to achieve desired outcomes in crime prevention, rehabilitation, and community safety.

Implementation Science
A method of approaching organizational change deliberately and strategically to ensure lasting, sustainable improvements in outcomes. Implementation science directs attention to both designing the intended intervention and carefully planning the processes to be followed in implementing the intervention. This includes delineating specific strategies for planning, communicating, and transitioning to the intended new state of the organization so that systems and personnel will accept and support the change.

Implementation Support
Guidance, resources, training, and assistance provided to facilitate the successful adoption and execution of new programs, policies, or practices. This support aims to enhance the capacity for effective implementation, ensuring that interventions are carried out as intended and achieve their goals of reducing crime, improving rehabilitation, and enhancing community safety.

Intervention
Specific programs, strategies, or actions designed to address the criminogenic needs of people under supervision, promote positive behavioral change, and prevent recidivism. Interventions can include counseling, substance abuse treatment, educational and vocational training, and cognitive behavioral activities, among others. These interventions are tailored to the individual's needs to support successful reintegration into society.

Measurement
In community supervision, measurement is the intentional selection of specific indicators or metrics that align with the most important objectives. These should be measurable, relevant, and actionable.

Needs Assessment
A systematic process used to identify and evaluate an individual’s criminogenic needs and risk factors. The aim is to inform the development of a personalized intervention plan that addresses these needs to reduce the likelihood of recidivism and support successful community reintegration.

Person-Centric
Refers to an approach that prioritizes the needs, preferences, and experiences of individuals. It emphasizes tailoring services, products, or interventions to meet the unique characteristics and circumstances of each person. In a person-centric approach, individuals are active participants in decision-making processes, and their perspectives are valued and respected. This approach aims to empower individuals, enhance their autonomy, and promote outcomes that are meaningful and relevant to them.

Performance Feedback
The process of providing people with constructive information about their progress toward goals. For persons under supervision, feedback can focus on specific behaviors, choices, and compliance with the terms of their supervision. This feedback aims to reinforce positive behaviors, correct negative ones, and support ongoing rehabilitation and successful reintegration into the community.

Performance Measurement
The systematic tracking and evaluation of indicators related to supervision programs and practices. This process aims to assess how well community supervision agencies meet their goals, such as reducing recidivism, ensuring compliance with supervision conditions, and facilitating successful reintegration of people under supervision into society, enabling data-driven improvements and accountability.

Plan
One of the four foundational competencies identified in the CAPS Standard. In planning, knowledge gained by connecting with others and assessing relevant information is applied.

Proven Practices
A working synonym used in CAPS to describe the “sweet spot” between best practices, evidence-based practices that have been rigorously evaluated, and other methods that can be seen to produce good results. Some community supervision methods reduce reoffending and increase positive outcomes but do not (yet) have the formal research evidence in place to back them up.

Responsivity
Refers to factors that influence a person’s willingness or ability to respond to supervision and services and make behavioral changes. Some responsivity factors are generally relevant for a subgroup of the supervised population. Others are specific to an individual being supervised. In CAPS, case conceptualization and planning incorporate what is known about a person’s responsivity to support their engagement and participation. This enhances the overall effectiveness of supervision and intervention programs Similar to taking a person-centric approach, responsivity is about tailoring interventions and approaches to match the learning styles, motivations, abilities, and strengths of the individual.  

SMART Goals
Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). SMART goals are concrete and achievable. In CAPS, people under community supervision define SMART goals in collaboration with their CSO to address criminogenic needs, promote positive behavior change, and support successful reintegration into the community.

Supervise
One of the four foundational competencies identified in the CAPS Standard model. In CAPS, supervision can involve managing people and monitoring processes. On the individual case level, a supervision approach includes reinforcing desired behaviors, providing critical and constructive feedback, and addressing problems as they arise. How individuals and organizations approach supervision affects outcomes, requiring self-reflection about biases, preferences, and comfort with the myriad expectations and types of work in community supervision.

Sustainability
Refers to the integration of practices and policies that promote long-term practices that bring positive results. It requires embedding the most important things into decision-making processes, operations, and strategies at various levels, from individual actions to organizational policies and beyond. It involves setting clear goals, establishing metrics for tracking progress, engaging stakeholders, and continuously improving practices to ensure ongoing relevance and effectiveness. It requires a holistic approach that considers the interconnectedness of everything done at all levels within an organization to create enduring positive impacts.

‘The Why’
The purpose behind every activity. A “why” statement expresses and guides the work of an individual or an organization. It states the mission.

In the diagram of the CAPS Standard, the center represents the “why,” the statement of purpose for community supervision. CAPS encourages and assists organizations in making a fundamental shift in the goals of community supervision - away from routine behavior monitoring toward responsive, incentive-based behavior change.

Clearly stating an organization’s purpose is the first step in building effective supervision strategies and interventions. Efforts to become a more effective organization are unlikely to succeed unless everyone in an agency understands and embraces this purpose.

‘What Works’
“What works” is a term developed in the late 1970s in response to Robert Martinson’s finding that “nothing works” in correctional treatment (Martinson, 1974). It refers to research that showed that there were indeed effective correctional treatment programs and strategies. The “what works” research was the predecessor to evidence-based practices in corrections. It began to identify through rigorous empirical research the correctional programs and strategies that reliably produced positive results.