HOW WE SERVE
DCS employs evidence-based practices to hold offenders accountable and reduce the state’ s recidivism rate. We also help offenders access opportunities to make positive changes while in the community by providing individual support, programming, and connections to resources.
In addition, DCS is responsible for providing oversight to private and governmental misdemeanor probation entities. While the supervision responsibility of misdemeanor probation cases does not reside with DCS, we do provide the oversight infrastructure needed to ensure the integrity of Georgia’ s misdemeanor probation system.
The Georgia Commission on Family Violence is administratively attached to DCS. The alignment of our agencies allows us to better identify and respond to domestic violence and its impacts within the families we serve.
EVIDENCE-BASED SUPERVISION
DCS’ s Enhanced Supervision Program( ESP) is a supervision model that enables our CSOs to serve as agents of change for the offenders they supervise.
Traditional officer-offender interactions primarily focus on the officer’ s responsibility to monitor offenders’ compliance, which can create a tone of confrontation. Meanwhile, research shows that the quality of the relationship between the officer and offender and the content of the discussions they have during their interactions are significant factors in offenders’ chances of success.
ESP replaces the traditional, often ineffective model of officer-offender interactions with one designed to facilitate strong, trust-based relationships that encourage offenders to choose positive changes for themselves.
More than 300 DCS officers have completed ESP training. DCS now includes ESP as part of the Basic Community Supervision Officer Training course for all incoming CSOs.
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Georgia Department of Community Supervision