NYC Probation is assisting the Philadelphia Department of Probation in their efforts to create a kiosk-based automated reporting system modeled on the system developed and used in New York City. The University of Pennsylvania Department of Criminology had asked NYC Probation to provide them with a demo kiosk. The automated system, which takes reports from relatively low-risk adult probationers, allows probation officers to focus maximum attention on the most high-risk probationers.

The director of the University of Pennsylvania Criminology Center praised NYC’s reporting system in testimony before the US House Judiciary Committee.

The following is an excerpt taken from an article about Philadelphia Probation that was published in the Philadelphia Daily News: “(Philadelphia Probation is) also exploring a kiosk check-in method for low-risk probationers, much like one used in New York, to help reduce caseloads. Rather than take up the time of a probation officer to answer routine questions, a probationer checks in monthly at a kiosk that's like an ATM. It identifies him through a hand scan and a personal identification number. He answers the questions, gets a receipt and is off. Failure to report monthly is similar to failure to report to a probation officer. The caseload ratio in New York is 65 to 1, less than half of Philadelphia's average.”