Analysis Area 1: (A) Examine the parole supervised population in Sedgwick County (Wichita) using Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) data to determine any trends pertaining to their supervision and criminogenic risks and needs. (B) Examine the criminal offending pattern of the parole supervised population using WPD data to understand the scope of the public safety challenges this population presents in Sedgwick County.
Background: According to KDOC data, in November 2019, there were 2,214 individuals being supervised on parole in the Wichita area. Nearly half of these people were originally convicted outside of Sedgwick County and hail from outside the South-Central Kansas region. In 2019, people supervised on parole were involved in 2,693 WPD police reports and were responsible for 316 violent crimes, 300 property crimes, 58 weapon possession offenses, and 202 drug offenses. Additionally, in 2019, individuals supervised on parole in Sedgwick County were listed as victims of crime in 450 WPD reports.
Update: In October, CSG Justice Center staff analyzed city-level revocation data for people on parole to understand key trends and engaged stakeholders to understand challenges and barriers that may lead to revocations. Engagement and data analysis conducted revealed several key trends and findings including a large majority of people on parole in Wichita who are revoked for conditional violations regardless of the offense type, and—when analyzing revocation rates for new sentences over the past five years—a large majority of people who were revoked for the same offense type as their original parole offense. In October, CSG Justice Center staff also engaged six people on parole in Wichita to understand challenges and barriers they have experienced accessing services, programming, and supports in Wichita; understand where they have seen success; and solicit input on potential improvements to be made to existing parole processes. These analyses and findings will be presented to and discussed by members of the Wichita Local Leadership Council on November 17, 2020, via remote video conference.
Analysis Area 2: Work to understand the system of social and tangible supports in Sedgwick County and whether in their current form they have the capacity to function effectively by: (A) examining the system of medical, behavioral health, mental health, and substance use treatment services available to the parole population in Sedgwick County; (B) examining the available housing for individuals supervised on parole, including the available housing for specialized populations (i.e., individuals convicted of sex offenses; people with severe mental illnesses, physical disabilities, etc.); (C) examining the parole population’s use of emergency services such as EMS, emergency departments, and fire department deployment.
Background: Unlike many other areas of Kansas, Sedgwick County has numerous behavioral health, medical, mental health, and housing services that are available to the parole population. These services have seen their budgets reduced in recent years and report being overwhelmed by the ever-increasing demand. As a result, many of the people who seek services in Wichita are not able to access them. Even when community service providers are able to serve an individual, the person is often placed in temporary living situations in high-crime areas, which leads to lower likelihoods of successful rehabilitation and higher rates of victimization.
Update: In October, CSG Justice Center staff engaged the Executive Director of the Substance Abuse Center of Kansas (SACK) to understand substance use programming pressures and barriers to receiving substance use disorder programming for people on parole in Wichita. Engagement revealed various areas for improvement as it pertains to behavioral health services and programming in Wichita, including a lack of treatment beds reserved for people with criminal histories, a need for programming and treatment options for people with co-occurring disorders, and a need for increased information sharing between KDOC and behavioral health service providers.
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• 10/5: Discussion with one woman in parole in Wichita to understand challenges and barriers she has experienced accessing services, programming, and supports in Wichita; understand places where she has seen success; and solicit input on potential improvements to be made to existing parole processes.
• 10/19: Discussion with Executive Director (Substance Abuse Center of Kansas) to understand substance use programming pressures and barriers to receiving substance use disorder programming for people on parole in Wichita.
• 10/21: Discussion with Deputy and Secretary Deputy (KDOC Work Release Facility in Wichita) to understand workforce needs of people on parole, programming and resources offered in the Wichita facility, and barriers to reintegration for people on parole in Wichita.
• 10/22: Discussion with Wichita City Attorney and Wichita City Probation Officer to understand use of domestic violence assessments in court procedure and prosecution processes.
• 10/5: Focus group with five men on parole in Wichita to understand challenges and barriers they have experienced accessing services, programming, and supports in Wichita; understand places where they have seen success; and solicit input on potential improvements to be made to existing parole processes.
• 10/29: Meeting with Wichita City Council Member to provide an update on technical assistance activities, understand past city initiatives to address domestic violence and violent crime, and solicit feedback on considerations for final recommendations.
In October, CSG Justice Center research staff analyzed parole revocations data for Wichita from the Kansas Department of Corrections and arrest data provided by the Wichita Police Department. Research staff also created visualizations of the results of this analysis to be shared at the Local Leadership Committee meeting on November 17.
New Insights Gleaned:
• In 2018, city leaders led roundtables to understand and address violence, which revealed two primary themes related to drivers of violent crime in Wichita: increases in domestic violence and increases in gang-related violence among youth.
• While city leadership have discussed initiatives to increase affordable housing for returning citizens through tenant education classes, less has been done to incentivize landlords and bring landlords into discussions about renting to people with criminal histories.
• 10/9: Analysis of Kansas Department of Corrections data on parole revocations in Wichita.
• 10/12: Analysis of arrest data provided by the Wichita Police Department.
• 10/19: Analysis of arrest data provided by the Wichita Police Department; development of slides summarizing results of analysis.
• 10/26: Analysis of arrest data provided by the Wichita Police Department, comparing arrest activity for young adults (aged 18–29) to activity for older adults (30 and older); development of slides summarizing results of analysis.
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