Public Information Office 210 S. McDonald Street Suite 626 McKinney, Texas 75069 www.collincountytx.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 17, 2008

Collin County observes Probation, Parole & Community Supervision Week

(McKINNEY, Texas) – During the week of July 13 through 19, officials here are reminding county residents of the vital role that probation, parole and community supervision professionals carry out in our communities and neighborhoods.

In Collin County alone, the 107 probation officers, caseworkers and staff members of the Community Supervision and Corrections Department (CSCD) directly oversee some 5,600 people currently serving probation from felony and misdemeanor courts. Nationwide, that figure amounts to more than 5 million adults who are under community supervision, and makes community corrections professionals a critical part of each community's public safety system.

For their dedication and tireless work, probation officers here and across the country are being lauded during National Probation, Parole & Community Supervision Week.

The CSCD primary objective is to protect the community and enforce the conditions of an offender's supervision. But probation officers and caseworkers also act as problem-solvers, crime prevention specialists, counselors, motivators, educators, facilitators and often become the only support system some offenders may have.

In the next eight years, county probation authorities estimate that their officers' direct-supervision caseloads will grow by almost 65 percent - 10,000 people - and that those figures do not include thousands more whose probation periods are monitored indirectly because they live in other states and counties.

For more information about the extensive probation programs offered through Collin County's CSCD, please logon to www.co.collin.tx.us/supervision_corrections/index.jsp

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