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Get Smart About... Rewards and Sanctions: The Facts about Contingency Management

“A risk-based Incentives and Sanctions program is an evidence-based intervention where supervising officers apply sanctions or rewards in response to specific behaviors of the offender. The goal is to increase positive behavior change related to behavior such as reducing drug use or applying for jobs” (p. 1). This primer covers what contingency management is; how it works; why it works; who to use it with; important things to remember; what the research says; the immediate, certain, relevant, and consistent sanctions or rewards; and implementation ideas.