Dani Hourani served twenty-eight years of a mandatory life sentence before being granted compassionate release on the basis of “extraordinary and compelling reasons” under the First Step Act. Dani is now Director of Community Development for Team Wellness Center, a provider of social and health care services to the Detroit area’s low-income community, including wrap-around services for returning citizens. We hear Dani’s story through his voice and those of his case’s lead prosecutor, the sentencing judge, Dani’s defense attorney, and the chief U.S. probation officer and intensive supervision probation officer specialist who supervised him after his release. Dani also discusses what can be done to enable others like himself to return successfully to their communities.

Dr. Marie Garcia is a Senior Social Science Analyst at the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. She is co-author, with Jay Whetzel and Scott Anders, of the article “All Hands on Deck! Toward a Reentry-Centered Vision for Federal Probation,” published in the December 2020 issue of Federal Probation. In this episode of Off Paper, Dr. Garcia and host Mark Sherman discuss the outcomes of NIJ’s many years of reentry research and how those outcomes translate to the reentry-centered, holistic, systems-oriented approach to probation and pretrial practice recommended in the Federal Probation article. 

To officers, understanding how they are trained and educated, and finding the right training opportunity among those offered by multiple agencies and actors can be confusing. Educators from the Federal Probation and Pretrial Academy, the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and the Federal Judicial Center discuss the training and education available to help officers navigate the complex issues they face every day, and to also help officers remain successful throughout their careers. Stephanie Denton, Chief of the Training and Safety Division of the Probation and Pretrial Services Office at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and Raquel Wilson, Director of Education and Sentencing Practice at the U.S. Sentencing Commission, join Mark Sherman, Assistant Division Director of Probation and Pretrial Services Education at the Federal Judicial Center, to untangle the what, where, and why of Probation and Pretrial Services Officer training and education. Also featured in this episode are Training Specialist Julie Capsambelis (Florida Middle Probation Office), Special Offender Specialist and Training Coordinator January Welks (Connecticut Probation Office), and Chief U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Officer Robin Grimes (Ohio Northern Probation Office). 

U.S. probation and pretrial services professionals discuss the wellness challenges facing the system and the National Wellness Committee’s work to address them. Chair of the National Wellness Committee, Melinda Torres Felix discusses what it means to be physically and mentally well, where the Wellness Committee has been, where it wants to go, and the resources and help available to officers. Monica Mannino, Supervisory U.S. Probation Officer in the Eastern District of Missouri and Vice Chair of the Wellness Committee, Chief Wade Warren of the District of North Dakota, Chief Melissa Alexander of the Middle District of North Carolina, Tiffany Vega, U.S. Probation Officer from the Northern District of Illinois, and Johnny Alexander, U.S. Probation officer from the Western District of Kentucky, also share their unique perspectives.