Helene Creager (C.D. Cal.), informed by her time as central California’s Critical Incident Stress Management Team, shares not only what officers need to know about the science behind mindfulness, compassion, self-compassion, and positive neuroplasticity, but how to incorporate them into our daily lives as well. Drawing upon her twenty-three years as a U.S. Probation officer, including as a founding member of the National Wellness Working Group, Creager makes the case that intentional self-care is crucial in creating satisfying personal and professional lives.

Wade Warren, retired Chief U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Officer from the District of North Dakota, discusses the changes he has seen and spearheaded during his 25 years in service, along with lessons learned from 28 years of service in the Army National Guard, which included deployment to Iraq. Wade was an early adopter of evidence-based practice and worked to implement it in partnership with Canadian counterparts and researchers. He received the AO Director’s Leadership Award for his efforts to destigmatize officer stress and trauma, create opportunities for officers to seek help, and make officer wellness a national priority.

Jay Whetzel, criminal justice consultant and former Probation Administrator at AOUSC, Scott Anders, Director of the St. Louis (Mo.) County Jail and former Chief U.S. Probation Officer, and Marie Garcia, Senior Social Science Analyst at the DOJ National Institute of Justice, talk about their article “All Hands on Deck! Toward a Reentry-Centered Vision for Federal Probation,” published in the December 2020 issue of Federal Probation. The article describes a holistic approach to reentry work, from pretrial through presentence and postconviction. Chris Dozier, retired Chief U.S. Pretrial Services Officer for the district of New Jersey, describes why she believes that “Reentry Begins at Arrest,” and Clark Porter, former inmate now M.S.W. and Community Resource Specialist for the Eastern District of Missouri U.S. Probation office, shares his reentry experience and what he thinks could make the process better for others.

Constitutional Criminal Law. Experts discuss the Supreme Court’s elimination of the Watershed Exception for procedural rule changes in Edwards v. Vannoy, and the lack of need for specific findings in life without parole sentencing of juveniles in Jones v. Mississippi.