While research on the amount of dosage to assign when using cognitive tools (e.g., the Carey Guides, BITS, etc.) has not been conducted, we do have experience from three national sites that are piloting the concept of dosage probation under an NIC-sponsored project. The following approach has been used in these sites:
- One-on-one appointments count toward dosage if they consist of skill building around one of the five most influential criminogenic needs, providing an assessment indicates those criminogenic needs are risk factors for the person. The amount of dosage is equal to the amount of time spent working on the need. For example, if 15 minutes of a 20-minute appointment are spent teaching and skill building, the person would receive 15 minutes of dosage.
- Take-away assignments around criminogenic needs that are identified risk factors for the person also count toward dosage. To avoid tedious computations, most agencies give people 30 minutes of dosage per take-away assignment. Note that some tools are longer than others and may be assigned in parts. Each part would be considered a separate assignment, and people would receive 30 minutes of dosage for each part. This is just a guideline, though; in the end, staff should use their judgment.
- Assigning dosage when cognitive behavioral tools are used in groups works similarly: the amount of time the group devotes to addressing one of the five most influential criminogenic needs counts toward dosage. For example, if a group lasts an hour and 45 mintues are spent addressing antisocial associates, and the people in the group have this as a criminogenic need, then 45 minutes count toward dosage. Note that time spent addressing the criminogenic need could be discussion, skill practice, observing others do skill practice, completing a cognitive behavioral tool, and so on. This would be no different than the way a T4C or ART cog class might work.