Virtual Delivery of Cognitive Behavioral Interventions

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

The Maricopa County Adult Probation Department (MCAPD) supervises more than 46,000 justice-involved individuals (JII) in the community. Part of the Department’s mission includes “…providing research-based prevention and intervention services.” Thinking for a Change (T4C) and Decision Points (DP) are two evidence-based cognitive behavioral interventions designed for justice-involved individuals. Both programs are offered through the Department, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, and community partners such as, Terros Behavioral Health, and La Frontera – Empact. In March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a sudden and drastic change in how the Department engaged individuals under its supervision, including how programs were delivered. Understanding the stress the pandemic created on all individuals, let alone those who were still building prosocial coping mechanisms, T4C Program staff immediately identified the need to develop an alternative to the in-person delivery of these classes to the population the Department serves. Over 40 T4C classes have been delivered online with over 400 graduates across T4C and Decision Points. The resulting virtual delivery of both T4C and DP was one of the first of its kind nationally and MCAPD has hosted community corrections officials from across the country interested in replicating the delivery method developed by Department staff.