Management of Restitution
It is true that many time offenders have extreme financial problems and are not able to
earn adequate funds to pay full restitution; however, this should not excuse them from
their responsibility to reimburse victims. Research suggests that offenders who work,
live at a stable address, and attend school are more likely to comply with their restitution
orders. Therefore, these and other issues affecting an offender’s ability to pay restitution
should be considered and addressed by supervising agents when developing case plans.
For example, if an offender is unemployed, the initial goal would be to help an offender
obtain marketable job skills. Once that is accomplished, the plan would be adjusted to
concentrate on making the offender a regular payer.
Following are promising practices some probation agencies have implemented to help
offenders manage their money and obtain and maintain employment, thereby increasing
their capacity to pay restitution.
Personal Budgeting Course
The goal of this 3 hour course is to assist probationers to improve their budgeting, so that
they will be able to pay their court-ordered fees as well as other essential financial
obligations. Probationers are referred to the program if they fall in arrears on their court
ordered fees in an amount that is equal to 3 monthly payments.
All probationers are required to fill out a budget worksheet within 60 days of being
placed on probation. This is used as a reference tool throughout the probationer’s
supervision period. Prior to attending the Personal Budgeting Course, the offender
completes an updated budget worksheet for use during the course. During the course,
probationers analyze their financial resources to create a manageable budget that takes
into consideration monthly expenses as well as nonmonthly expenses and establishes a
money management plan. The course also helps probationers identify strategies for
economizing and cutting expenses and provides them with information on community
resources to which individuals can turn for financial assistance. At the end of the class,
the probationer completes another worksheet which s/he takes to his/her supervising
agent. The agent and the probationer then negotiate a payment schedule. The new
schedule is included in the case supervision plan.
Employment Services Program
The Employment Services Program is designed to assist offenders in acquiring and
maintaining stable, full-time employment and increasing their chances of succeeding
under community supervision.
The Employment Services Program develops placements in the private and public sectors
for employment with regard to the offender’s respective interests, needs, and skill levels.
The Employment Service Program notifies the agent of an offender’s activities while s/he
is in the program. Records are developed and maintained, and information is gathered
from a variety of sources on local business conditions in relation to openings, expansions,
and closures. This information is shared with other agencies who, in turn, share their
information on job openings with the Employment Services Program. The Employment
Services Program is marketed through public service announcements and multimedia
presentations.
Offender Employment Program
The Offender Employment Program is available to any probationer under supervision
who needs or wants employment assistance. It is designed to provide life long skills to
increase the probationers’ success at securing and maintaining employment. The
program is staffed by a Job Specialist who is responsible for coordinating the program,
networking with local businesses, and providing one-on-one assistance to probationers in
securing and maintaining employment. Initial assessments and the job readiness training
portion of the program typically are handled by the Educational Assistants in the
department’s Day Resource Center. The OEP is a service offered to augment other
services being provided to the offender while on supervision.
The program consists of four main components:
1. An assessment of employability
2. Classes to teach probationers job readiness skills
3. Assistance in securing employment
4. Follow up with the probationer and the employer to increase the probability of
successful job placement.
Once a probationer has secured employment, OEP staff continue to monitor the progress
of the probationer for a period of 2 years or until the offender is removed from probation.
During this time period, OEP staff is available to counsel probationers who may be
having difficulties adjusting to the demands of the job and to help address other
employment problems that might arise.
Restitution Funds/Grants
Numerous counties across the state have secured juvenile restitution fund/grant monies.
Juvenile offenders perform community service work and are credited an hourly rate of
pay for their work. Those monies are then taken from the restitution grant monies and
paid directly to their victims. While grant monies are not available for adult offenders,
some counties have established funds for adult restitution programs. Monies for those
funds have come from court ordered surcharges, assessment fees, and supervision fees.
McLeod County has established an adult misdemeanor/gross misdemeanor restitution
fund using previously collected supervision fees. The monies are used to pay restitution
amounts up to $500 during the first 30 days of a probation period. The standard court
order for restitution remains unchanged; however, when the defendant pays restitution to
the Court Administrator, the payment is instead forwarded to the restitution account
rather than the victim.
Converting Restitution to Community Service
In extreme cases where offenders are truly indigent and unable to pay restitution, another
option is to have offenders perform community service hours in lieu of paying restitution.
Victims can have input into the type and location of the community service performed.
Offenders may perform direct services for the victim to repair the damage caused by their
actions or perform their community service hours for a favorite charity of the victim.
Reimbursing Victims of Deceased Offenders
In December of 1996, officials in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania decided to pay more than
$41,000 to 61 crime victims whose restitution had not been fully paid and whose
perpetrators had died. Some of the cases dated back over 20 years. The money being
used to reimburse these victims came from the revenue of a local recycling center, jointly
operated by the city and county. Juvenile offenders of the Juvenile Probation Department
in Allentown, PA work at the center as part of their community service sentence. The
youth “earn” the equivalent of minimum wage salary for the hours they work which is
then paid to victims in cases where restitution has been ordered. Money to reimburse the
victims comes from the revenue the city and county gets from recyclables. Due in part to
the increased value of newsprint, recycling revenue was higher than expected over the
past few years, thus creating a surplus of money. In an effort to encourage an appropriate
use for the extra money, the probation department presented the innovative plan to
reimburse victims of deceased offenders to county officials, who enthusiastically
supported the idea.
Automating the Restitution Process
Automation can relieve many of the burdens associated with management and collection
of restitution.
o Automatically generating letters of reminder or bills to offenders related to
restitution and other court ordered fees
o Increasing the ability of probation officers, supervisors, and department
administrators to access information on the status of an individual offender or of a
group of offenders
o Enabling agencies to prepare statistical reports quickly and easily to analyze and
report their progress
o Utilize garnishment of offenders’ wages as well as employer agreements for
payroll deductions to recapture the amounts it has paid to victims.
o In Florida and Alabama, the court may issue an income deduction order at the
time it orders restitution.
o In Oregon, the court can report any default in the payment of restitution to the
consumer reporting agency
o In Washington, individualized monthly billings and weekly notice of payments by
offenders are provided by the county clerks to the Department of Corrections
o Acceptance of credit card payments
o Forfeiture of bond money for restitution obligations
o Holding parents or legal guardians liable for restitution orders resulting from their
children’s delinquent acts
o Throughout Colorado, probation departments train their officers to examine the
entire financial situation of offenders when looking at issues concerning their
ability to pay restitution. For example, if an offender owes restitution and owns
expensive, non-necessity items (e.g., boats, cars, tv, stereo equipment), then the
probation officer may ask the judge to order the offender to sell their possessions
to pay restitution to the victim(s).