Malinda LaMontagne proves that hard work and a commitment to change leads to success. After being placed on probation, Malinda was selected to participate in a randomized control trial for the IDOC’s Dosage Probation program. In 2019, the Idaho Department of Correction received a $1M Federal Bureau of Justice Administration Innovations in Supervision grant to develop, pilot, and implement dosage probation in Idaho judicial districts 2, 5, and 7.
Rather than thinking of probation in terms of a specified length of time, Dosage Probation assigns individuals to a prescribed number of hours of treatment, programming, and cognitive-behavioral skills training. In Malinda’s case, she successfully completed 170 hours of treatment and programming through community providers and an additional 30 hours with her probation officer, Alyssa Lind, doing skill-building activities that address specific criminogenic needs.
Upon completion of these 200 hours, Officer Lind reported Malinda's achievements and asked the court to consider early termination of probation. That request was granted on February 25, 2022. Officer Lind noted Malinda had an improved ability to recognize high-risk areas in her life and was using newly learned skills to navigate through them. Officer Lind also reported that Malinda had significantly expanded her support system and built positive relationships around her.
Malinda reported that she felt that knowing the number of hours she needed to complete was a motivator as it gave her a clear and achievable goal to strive for. She expressed some concerns about her work schedule keeping her from completing her dosage hours but felt that her PPO was open to working around her schedule and helping her get her hours completed. Malinda also reported that she enjoyed the one-on-one interactions with her PPO and felt they were a lot more collaborative then she was expecting. Malinda was excited to share her success story with Officer Lind and provided us valuable feedback on how to improve upon the Dosage Probation model.
Congratulations Malinda!
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