NEW NEW DAYS WAYS
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WAYS THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS JUSTICE CENTER HAS EVOLVED THIS YEAR
January 2018 - December 2018
5 Ways the CSG Justice Center Has Evolved This Year
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We engaged federal, state, and local partners in new ways. The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center prides itself on providing our partners with the information and tools they need to successfully improve their criminal justice systems. Engaging those partners often requires new and different approaches, and we saw no shortage this year of new materials, initiatives, and activities to make these vital connections.
50 States, 50 DataFilled Workbooks
Top: Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper shake hands. Below left: Justice Boggs moderates the roundtable. Below right: Crystal Peterson of Brown-Foreman Corporation speaks to attendees.
Employment Roundtable at The White House With support from the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge, the CSG Justice Center hosted Putting People with Criminal Records to Work: A National Business Roundtable in February 2018. The discussion featured a bipartisan pair of governors, executives from large and small businesses, and senior staff from the White House’s Domestic Policy Council engaging about the challenges and benefits of hiring people who have criminal records at a time when workers are in high demand and the labor pool is shrinking. 2
The CSG Justice Center worked with top officials from all 50 states to produce individual, state-specific workbooks that contain more than 60 data visualizations showing historical trends and data comparisons related to crime, arrests, recidivism, and correctional populations. The workbooks also provide policymakers with key questions to help identify opportunities to increase public safety and consider the public safety challenges in their state and possible solutions. This effort was the first time the CSG Justice Center provided local criminal justice trends to each of the 50 states at one time. These workbooks contained information that was critical to individual public safety forums the CSG Justice Center facilitated with policymakers in 15 states throughout the year, including in Illinois, Iowa, and Vermont. These forums were attended by nearly 1500 people.
Celebrating the 10-Year Anniversary of the Second Chance Act Following President Donald Trump’s designation of April 2018 as “Second Chance Month,” the CSG Justice Center sponsored an event in conjunction with the Association of State Correctional Administrators, the National Association of Social Workers, the National Association of Counties, Prison Fellowship, and the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys to celebrate and reflect on the impact of the Second Chance Act—a law passed in 2008 that has supported work to improve reentry outcomes in communities throughout the country. The event was held April 17, 2018 on Capitol Hill and attended by a bipartisan group of members of Congress and other honorees who contributed to helping push forward the bill 10 years ago. In December, Congress passed The Second Chance Reauthorization Act, which improves upon the original legislation.
Top to bottom: U.S. Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) speak at the SCA 10th Anniversary Event.
More Governors Connecting “Face to Face” with People in the Justice System
Expanding “Stepping Up” Efforts to Reduce Mental Illness in Jails Building on the successes of the first two years, the Stepping Up initiative—formed jointly with the National Association of Counties and the American Psychiatric Association Foundation to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jails—expanded its efforts to provide counties with the tools they need to systematically identify people who have mental illnesses who enter their jails. As part of the national effort—which officially launched April 6, 2018—nine rural and urban “Innovator Counties” were selected as models for their expertise in collecting baseline data.
Launched in August 2017, the Face to Face initiative—a project of the CSG Justice Center and the National Reentry Resource Center—encourages policymakers to personally engage with the people who are closest to the correctional system. In 2018, five more governors on both sides of the aisle participated in Face to Face activities, including meeting with people with mental illness successfully diverted from jail (below), visiting a women’s correctional facility, and meeting with people incarcerated at maximum security prisons. Below: AR Gov. Hutchinson hugs Richard King during June visit.
As part of this new phase, the CSG Justice Center also launched the Stepping Up County Self-Assessment, designed to assist counties interested in evaluating the status of their current efforts to reduce the prevalence of people who have mental illnesses in jails. The online tool guides counties to determine their implementation progress. 5 Ways the CSG Justice Center Has Evolved This Year
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We maintained our impact in states and local jurisdictions across the country. The CSG Justice Center made its name by working with leaders on the front lines to help create meaningful policy change in both states and counties. We continued this year to identify those opportunities and offer data, research, and assistance to help usher in new improvements to a variety of systems.
The working group meets in Massachusetts to discuss Justice Reinvestment approach.
Justice Reinvestment Legislation Enacted in Massachusetts and Missouri In Massachusetts, the CSG Justice Center worked with a bipartisan, interbranch steering committee and working group to support a datadriven Justice Reinvestment approach to address issues within the state’s criminal justice system. The process led directly to two major pieces of criminal justice legislation being signed in April 2018 that represent the most significant changes to the state’s criminal justice system in decades. In Missouri, the CSG Justice Center participated in a bipartisan, interbranch task force that was established to support the development of policies to prevent violent crime, enhance support for victims, increase the availability and effectiveness of community-based behavioral health treatment, reduce recidivism, and invest in strategies to increase public safety. In June 2018, comprehensive criminal justice legislation that includes Justice Reinvestment policies was signed into law. 4
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Reentry Services Analyzed in Erie County, NY
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To gain further insight on the needs of the community and how to improve reentry efforts in Erie County, the Greater Buffalo Racial Equity Roundtable partnered with Erie County officials in 2016 to request an assessment of the county’s reentry services and resources. The CSG Justice Center—with financial support from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance—conducted a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the county’s reentry services in 2017 and focused its efforts largely on four overall core challenges: (1) Lack of coordination across reentry agencies, providers, and populations; (2) unequal access to high-quality, evidencebased services across the reentry populations; (3) lack of evidence-based practices in the selection of reentry service provider contracts; and (4) low participation in pre- and post-release programs due to lack of funding, incentives to participate, and promotion. A CSG Justice Center report was released in March 2018, highighting these challenges and providing recommendations to assist the county leaders in the development of a coordinated, comprehensive strategy to improve the quality and delivery of their reentry services.
Recommendations Made to Improve Police and Mental Health Collaboration in Baltimore County, MD
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In partnership with the Baltimore County Police Department, the Baltimore County Health Department, and the Affiliated Santé Group, the CSG Justice Center reviewed Baltimore County’s law enforcement and behavioral heath collaboration for its effectiveness, comprehensiveness, and adherence to national best practices. There were six main focus areas: (1) jurisdictional and law enforcement leadership; (2) protocols, policies, and procedures for identifying and responding to calls involving people who have behavioral health needs; (3) mental health and de-escalation training; (4) crisis stabilization and follow-up services; (5) data collection and tracking; and (6) performance reviews and mechanisms to make improvements. Based on the findings of the assessments, CSG Justice Center staff reported recommendations in April 2018 to better position the collaboration to provide an effective and comprehensive response that is available at all times and maximizes both public safety and health outcomes.
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Ways to Reduce Mental Illness in Jails Identified in Dauphin County, PA
At the request of Dauphin County’s elected officials and criminal justice and behavioral health leaders—represented by the county’s Criminal Justice Advisory Board (CJAB)—the CSG Justice Center conducted an in-depth, cross-systems data analysis of the flow of people who have serious mental illnesses through the Dauphin County criminal justice system. County commissioners and the CJAB also asked the CSG Justice Center to identify ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of policies, programs, and practices to achieve better public health and safety outcomes. Based on a quantitative and qualitative analysis, and with the guidance of members of CJAB and other senior county and state leaders, the CSG Justice Center reported five key findings in April 2018 that prompted the development of a set of strategic policy recommendations to improve outcomes for people in Dauphin County’s criminal justice system who have serious mental illnesses. 5 Ways the CSG Justice Center Has Evolved This Year
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We expanded the issues we address and the ways we approach our existing policy areas. As times change, so must our focus and approach. The CSG Justice Center this year established new strategies for existing policy work and made significant strides in establishing our organization in burgeoning issue areas.
A New Roadmap for Juvenile Justice Improvements In partnership with the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, the CSG Justice Center developed six innovative strategies that states and localities can follow to make sweeping changes to their juvenile justice systems. To begin this work, the CSG Justice Center and CJJR conducted interviews and focus groups with nearly 50 researchers, national experts, and system leaders to identify innovative ideas for building upon recent system improvements by reorienting juvenile justice systems to improve public safety and outcomes for youth. Following this work, the partners released a publication to highlight these strategies and set the stage for future work in the CSG Justice Center’s juvenile justice portfolio.
A Concept of Cross-Systems Behavioral Health Diversion While working with their grantees, CSG Justice Center staff noticed that many communties implement behavioral health diversion programs as alternatives to conventional criminal justice case processing and incarceration. But their use of these alternatives is largely limited to individual, well-known programs that are insufficient to meet the needs of the community and reduce the over-representation of people who have behavioral health needs in the criminal justice system. To address this concern, the CSG Justice Center began working on a portfolio of content to help communities develop strategic, systems-wide approaches for behavioral health diversion that span the community’s criminal justice system and determine which agencies have the resources and best opportunities to lead the programs and practices. This information will be used to further the CSG Justice Center’s work in behavioral health diversion, including in technical assistance and new materials.
New Insights and Direction on Opioid Addiction With corrections officials battling high numbers of people with substance dependence and addictions in their facilities and a growing crisis of opioid use in the U.S., the CSG Justice Center began developing a portfolio of work around the intersection of the criminal justice system and opioid addictions. This work currently includes a webinar series on topics such as best practices for successful reentry for people who have an opioid addiction and screening and assessment recommendations for people in the criminal justice system. In the coming year, the CSG Justice Center plans to highlight the prevalence of opioid addiction through videos and other media, as well as intensively helping jurisdictions examine their processes inside correctional facilities, including addressing withdrawals. 6
New Data-Driven Approaches to Improve Victims’ Services The CSG Justice Center is embarking on new work to provide states with a data-driven approach to the three primary ways they can assist victims of crime: managing victim restitution, compensating victims for certain expenses incurred as a result of a crime, and funding victim services through state and federal grants. It is critical that the policy and practice that directs these three systems is methodically and regularly assessed to ensure that the needs of all victims are met in a consistent, timely, and compassionate manner. Top: Victims panel at conference held at Cheshire Correctional Facility in CT
Law Enforcement Strategies to Reduce Homelessness In August 2018, the CSG Justice Center and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness hosted an event with law enforcement and homeless service system leaders from 10 jurisdictions to discuss ways to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness in their communities. The convening supported critical dialogue about what’s working related to law enforcement and homeless service partnerships, as well as documenting where there are opportunities for local, state, federal and national partners to strengthen these strategies. The information from this convening will be used to continue expanding the CSG Justice Center’s housing portfolio to include the ways law enforcement agencies and homeless response systems can partner to quickly connect people experiencing homelessness to permanent housing and needed services.
Cataloging the Consequences of Incarceration Collateral consequences are legal and regulatory restrictions that limit or prohibit people convicted of crimes from accessing employment, business and occupational licensing, housing, voting, education, and other rights, benefits, and opportunities. After collecting and analyzing the collateral consequences in all U.S. juridisctions, the CSG Justice Center launched an online searchable database that identifies and categorizes the statutes and regulations that impose collateral consequences in all 50 states, the federal system, and the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. The National Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Conviction is a project of the National Reentry Resource Center: niccc.csgjusticecenter.org.
5 Ways the CSG Justice Center Has Evolved This Year
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We welcomed a new director who redefined the vision of our organization. The success of an organization starts with its leadership; and the addition in March of our new director, Megan Quattlebaum, brought with it a fresh take on past practices, new ideas, a thorough examination of our organization’s culture, and an in-depth look at what we stand for. Below are updated vision, mission, and values statements--created in consultation with our staff, board members, and senior leadership. Learn more at csgjusticecenter.org/about-jc/.
Director Megan Quattlebaum speaks at the SCA 10th Anniversary event.
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A society that upholds justice, offers second chances, and ensures safe and healthy communities.
We are committed to: • Being independent and nonpartisan in every aspect of our work; • Providing rigorous, trusted, high-quality analysis; • Developing practical and innovative solutions informed by data and research; • Promoting collaboration and building consensus; and • Being inclusive and respectful of diverse views and experiences.
mission We develop research-driven strategies to increase public safety and strengthen communities. 8
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