To run a rolling-enrollment anger management group, schedule the group as one recurring weekly class, enroll each participant on the date they start, and count each person's sessions individually against their own required total (for example 8, 12, 26, or 52 sessions). Record attendance as attended, absent, or unmarked every week, and track make-ups on the participant's record. COPS handles each of these steps.
Most court-referred anger management programs cannot wait for a full cohort to start a new class. Referrals arrive every week, so groups run continuously and people join at different points in the curriculum. That keeps the group full, but it makes record-keeping harder: on any given night, one person is on session 2, another on session 11, and a third is making up a missed week. Here are the questions providers ask about running open groups, with direct answers.
How do you count sessions when everyone starts on a different week?
Count per participant, not per group. Each person's enrollment holds their own start date and attendance, so "sessions completed" is calculated from their record, not from the group's calendar.
The problem
Group sign-in sheets list who was in the room but not what number session it was for each person. Staff end up counting sheets by hand every time a court asks for an update.
How COPS solves it
- One program per curriculum and one recurring weekly schedule per group.
- Each participant enrolled on their own start date, with attendance recorded on their enrollment.
- Custom fields for the required session count from the referral, since courts do not all order the same length.
- Attendance reports per participant for any date range.
Where does a new participant start in the curriculum?
In an open group, a new participant starts on whatever topic the group covers that week. Design the curriculum as self-contained weekly topics that repeat in a cycle, and record which topics each person has covered in session notes.
The problem
If session 1 is "introduction" and only runs once per cycle, late joiners miss it. Some programs solve this with a short individual orientation before the first group.
How COPS solves it
- One-off appointments for an individual orientation, separate from the weekly group.
- Session notes per class to record the topic covered that week.
- Appointment types and statuses so orientation, group, and make-up sessions are distinguishable on the record.
How should make-up sessions be handled?
Write the make-up policy down (how many absences are allowed, how soon a make-up must happen, and what counts as a make-up), then record each make-up as its own attended session so the original absence stays visible.
The problem
Overwriting an absence with "attended" after a make-up erases the history a court or auditor may ask about later.
How COPS solves it
- Tri-state attendance keeps the original absence on record.
- Make-up sessions scheduled as one-off appointments or additional group sessions.
- Automated alerts and reminders so staff follow up on an absence while a make-up is still possible.
- The full staff audit log shows any change to attendance and who made it.
How do you know who is close to finishing?
Run an attendance report for the group and compare each participant's attended sessions with their required total. Review anyone within two sessions of completion each week so their completion letter is ready on time.
The problem
In open groups, people finish on different weeks. Without a weekly check, completion letters go out late and participants miss court deadlines.
How COPS solves it
- Attendance reports exportable to CSV, Excel, or PDF.
- Saved custom report definitions you can rerun every week.
- Completion letters from merge-tag templates, with generated-document history.
Open-group checklist
- One recurring weekly schedule per group, with a named facilitator.
- Required session count captured at intake from the referral.
- Orientation step for new participants before their first group.
- Attendance marked every session: attended, absent, or unmarked.
- No unmarked sessions left at the end of the week.
- Written make-up policy; make-ups recorded as separate sessions.
- Weekly "close to completion" review.
- Completion letters generated from the record and reviewed before sending.
- Fees and balances on the same participant record.
Where COPS fits
COPS (Court Ordered Program Supervisor) is program software for court-ordered anger management providers: recurring and one-off scheduling, tri-state attendance, kiosk check-in with signature capture, session notes, fee schedules and online card payments in the client portal, and merge-tag completion letters. For the full intake-to-completion workflow, read how to track court-ordered anger management classes. See anger management software, or explore COPS software. Programs that also run domestic violence curricula can compare batterer intervention program software.