Analysis Area 1: Detail the impact and cost/benefit of Iowa Department of Corrections’ (IDOC) revocation-reduction efforts on public safety by determining how violations, revocations, and offending patterns by people on community supervision changed during the pandemic and estimating the impact of that change on public safety. The cost/benefit of the revocation-reduction efforts will be assessed by working with IDOC to estimate a cost of the revocation-reduction efforts in terms of staffing, caseloads, and other related costs, then balancing those costs against the impact on public safety.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued conversations with a research consultant and IDOC research staff to verify our understanding of the preliminary data that were shared and to map out our next series of descriptive analyses. CSG Justice Center staff continued to clean and sort the data, as well as produce visualizations to explore variation in violations, revocations, supervision caseloads, and PO/client contacts prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. CSG Justice Center staff continued to build out an analytic file that will be used to develop and run statistical models to test the impact of revocation reductions on public safety as well as disaggregate key metrics by supervision type, race, ethnicity, age, gender, and criminal history for subgroup analysis. Additionally, CSG Justice Center staff updated visualizations for IDOC and district directors based on feedback from the 2/25 launch presentation and further discussion. CSG Justice Center staff also received updated data from IDOC, both aggregate and case-level, to help address specific questions from stakeholders about the population in jail awaiting administrative hearings as well as the population in prison that is parole eligible.
Analysis Area 2: Evaluate the implementation of recent IDOC efforts to reduce revocations; estimate their impact on community-based corrections officers’ ability to supervise effectively, case management activities, officer and supervisee needs, and utilization of community-based services and programs; and identify which efforts to keep (and which to adjust or modify).
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued the Community Supervision Assessment by finalizing an internal report on the recurring themes across the district director, supervisor, and front-line officer focus groups. CSG Justice Center staff also convened a focus group with administrative law judges to understand the impact of the pandemic and how they can contribute to reducing revocations CSG Justice Center staff also drafted a survey for supervision officers to get more details on their resource needs across districts.
Analysis Area 3: Connect with criminal justice stakeholders (law enforcement, courts, community-based corrections, etc.) and review available data to better understand larger criminal justice responses and changes implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff have been meeting with key Oversight Committee members and project stakeholders to discuss project updates and the recent presentation and to develop a plan for convening focus groups with county attorneys and sheriffs across the state.
Research Monthly Status:
CSG Justice Center staff continued conversations with a research consultant and IDOC research staff to verify understanding of the preliminary data that were shared and to map out the next series of descriptive analyses. CSG Justice Center staff continued to clean and sort the data as well as produce visualizations to explore variation in violations, revocations, supervision caseloads, and PO/client contacts prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. CSG Justice Center staff also received updated data from IDOC, both aggregate and case-level, to help address specific questions from stakeholders about the population in jail awaiting administrative hearings as well as the population in prison that is parole eligible.
Research Monthly Log:
- 3/21: Call with Sarah Fineran (IDOC Director) to discuss possible ways that IDOC could pull data on the number of individuals in prison who are parole eligible.
- 3/31: CSG Justice Center staff continued to clean and sort the data, as well as produce visualizations to explore variation in violations, revocations, supervision caseloads, and PO/client contacts prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. CSG Justice Center staff continued to build out an analytic file that will be used to develop and run statistical models to test the impact of revocation reductions on public safety as well as disaggregate key metrics by supervision type, race, ethnicity, age, gender, and criminal history for subgroup analysis. Additionally, CSG Justice Center staff updated visualizations for IDOC and district directors based on feedback from the 2/25 launch presentation and further discussion.
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