Russell Sage College in Albany is starting a new graduate program to train probation officers.
Russell Sage College President Christopher Ames says the first-of-its-kind Master’s in Criminal Justice and Community Corrections will train officers to work in a system that is reducing its reliance on jails and prisons.
“The curriculum responds to a changing field by highlighting offender rehabilitation, reentry and reintegration, restorative justice and the contributions of psychology to Criminal Justice best practices,” Ames said.
A shift toward community corrections, which involves probation or parole but not time behind bars, comes as New York state has closed 24 correctional facilities, reducing its prison population by 44 percent since 2011.
Ames says that necessitates a modern program.
“That requires people who work with them through probation and counseling and, and so forth. And as a result, they have a real acute workforce need. We have the faculty and the ability to address that we have very good undergraduate program in criminal justice,” Ames said.
Speaking in Albany Tuesday, Ames says Russell Sage will be providing community outreach, including training for those working in the field, as part of the program.
William Connors, Albany County’s Probation Director, says the new program fills a need.
“Probational officer minimum qualifications are set by New York State Civil Service, and currently for a probational officer trainee, the minimum requirement is a one-year bachelor’s degree, but for full probation officer, a master's degree is required. This will enable us to get more qualified people readily available at a faster pace and unable to pay those people or higher wage right away,” Connors said.
Connors says the program was developed with criminal justice in mind while also taking into account bail reform laws and Raise the Age, which increases the age of criminal responsibility to 18 from 16.
Carol DiMambro, Program Director for the new master’s program, says the college developed the curriculum with the educational changes ushered in by the COVID pandemic in mind.
“We had consultants that were recommending certain online graduate programs. And one of the areas they talked about was corrections. And I said, you know, we're moving away from prisons and more alternative incarceration. So why don't we look at community corrections, and that got the ball rolling,” DiMambro said.
DiMambro says the degree format is a strong point.
“It basically means that a group of students start together and end together, there are- In the program, you take two courses fall spring, summer for two years,” DiMambro said.
DiMambro says it’ll build strong relationships.
“The cohort model, where students are going through the same program together, they're taking every course together, they're experiencing it together, I think the networking that they're going to be able to do, I think the experience that professionals that are in the program are going to be able to exchange,talking about self-care and the profession, something like that is really when I look back, I want those that are in the program to really feel like they got something from it,” DiMambro said.
DiMambro says of the classes in the program, one on restorative justice is her favorite.
“I'm a restorative practitioner. What that means is I bring people who have caused harm as a result of crime and people who have harmed, I bring them together to have a conversation,” DiMambro said.
DiMambro says there are misconceptions about what community corrections means.
“People think of community corrections as probation and parole; they're the people that are out in the community being supervised. So probation is actually, they're serving their sentence in the community, and parole is meaning they were in prison, and now they're returning from prison and being supervised,” DiMambro said.
DiMambro says despite criminal justice reform efforts, jails and prisons will still exist.
“There's always going to be an interest in incarcerating people who have committed violent crimes. Part of the problem with how we define violence in our laws, is not the same as what most of us think about as violent crimes,” DiMambro said.
In order to be eligible for the graduate program, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree. DiMambro says classes begin Monday, but if students are still interested in enrolling for the fall, they can still apply. DiMambro adds the college is already accepting applications for the spring semester.
For any Albany County employees interested in the program, DiMambro says they’re eligible for a 10 percent tuition discount, as well as a tuition deferral program.
