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PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
The majority of Idaho's Hispanic population resides in 11 of
the state's 44 counties. These include Bingham, Canyon, Cassia, Clark,
Gooding, Jerome, Minidoka, Owyhee, Payette, Power and Washington. Hispanic
residents comprise between 9.0 and 25.8 percent of the population of
each of these counties.
According to a 1997 survey conducted by the Bingham County Adult Probation
Department, of the 188 residents on county probation for impaired driving,
69 (37 percent) were Hispanic. Of further concern was the fact that
14 of these Hispanic offenders (21 percent) were re- offenders. Although
Hispanic residents comprise only 11 percent of the Bingham County population,
they were clearly over-represented in impaired driving offenses.
In 1998, Hispanic offenders in Bingham County were supervised by probation
officers that were not bicultural or bilingual. An interpreter was used
for all court requirements resulting from impaired driving offenses,
including probation visits. Due to the high cost of the interpreters,
their use was severely limited. Although interpreters improved the level
of communication, they were not useful in building increased rapport
between Bingham probation officers and Hispanic offenders, or the Hispanic
community. As a result of this lack of communication and understanding
of cultural issues, barriers to supervision and effective intervention
were created, and impaired driving offenses by Hispanic motorists continued
to increase.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
To address the high rate of impaired driving offenses among
the growing Hispanic population of Bingham County, the Idaho Office
of Highway Safety developed the Hispanic DUI Probation Project in October,
1998. Program objectives include:
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Hiring a bilingual, preferably bicultural probation officer for
the Bingham County Probation Department, to expand interpreting
services, and to better serve Hispanic offenders
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Providing culturally sensitive services to more effectively supervise
Hispanic offenders, and reduce the rate of impaired driving recidivism
in this population
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
In 1999, the Bingham County Probation Department selected and
hired a bilingual/bicultural probation officer to serve the county's
Hispanic impaired driving offenders. Cases involving Hispanic residents
were transferred from other officers' caseloads to the bicultural officer.
Services provided by the bicultural probation officer included the following:
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Community networking and case staffing with appropriate community
agencies
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Conducting home visits, and establishing employer and collateral
contacts
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Assisting in the development and implementation of resources for
Hispanic offenders, to help reduce the probability of recidivism
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Collaborating with the county supervisor to develop a statistical
form that provided a tracking number for referrals made to community
resources, recidivism and a personal profile for each offender
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