The STICS is a model of community supervision based on the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) principles, designed specifically to implement these principles into sustainable everyday action at the organizational and officer level. STICS was developed in 2006 by a Canadian team of researchers (James Bonta, Guy Bourgon, and Tanya Rugge) after their meta-analysis that found the effectiveness of probation services in reducing recidivism was minimal.

The STICS model shifts community supervision practices away from the traditional case-management model to one that emphasizes officers taking a more active role by teaching prosocial cognitive and behavioral skills to their clients. STICS incorporates a holistic cognitive behavioral model of human behavior with the RNR principles as the foundation. Implementing the STICS model begins with a formal 4-day training to officers, which ...