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In July, CSG Justice Center staff continued to socialize the guidelines and engage key partners in the field, further develop outreach strategies, and update language to be used for rolling applications for technical assistance (TA). CSG Justice Center staff also submitted the draft of the presentation to be used at the APPA annual conference in August 2023 and identified project next steps.
CSG Justice Center staff reviewed self-assessment tool submissions and produced results pages for each past respondent, which the team will use for further outreach.
TA applications for the national guidelines project will be available on a rolling basis. Edits are being finalized to the language and will be shared with BJA for updating.
On July 5, 2023, CSG Justice Center staff connected with the senior policy advisor for Corrections, Reentry, and Justice Reform at BJA to provide a project overview and project updates and discuss pending documents being submitted and timelines. An update will be shared with the other senior policy advisor for Corrections, Reentry, and Justice Reform.
The presentation draft for the APPA annual conference in August 2023 was shared with the BJA policy team on July 18. Feedback was provided to the CSG Justice Center project team on July?26. Edits are being applied, and the updated presentation was shared with the BJA policy team at the end of July.
CSG Justice Center staff continue to identify opportunities for recruitment and work with partners in the field.
TA States:
Massachusetts Probation Service (MPS) -?On July 6, CSG Justice Center staff met with the deputy commissioner of field services at MPS to finalize working group recommendations and upcoming site visit details and logistics.
CSG Justice Center staff conducted a site visit with MPS in Boston, MA, on July 26. During the in- person meeting, CSG Justice Center staff provided an extensive overview of the National Guidelines project, provided an in-depth analysis of the agency?s self-assessment results, and began discussing the goals, objectives, and challenges of the TA plan. In concluding the site visit, CSG Justice Center staff provided the stakeholders with action items and determined the next steps to focus on during the remainder of the TA process.
Minnesota Department of Corrections (MN DOC), Minnesota Association of Community Corrections Act Counties (MACCAC), and Minnesota Association of County Probation Officers (MACPO)?-?The Minnesota Corrections systems receive TA from the CSG Justice Center as a Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) state. In this application, all three probation delivery systems?MN DOC, MACCAC, and MACPO?have come together to collaborate and support one another with the adoption of the national guidelines. On July 6, 2023, CSG Justice Center staff conducted a formal meeting with the MN DOC interstate director, field services director, Aitkin County director for MACCAC, and the Otter Trail County probation director for MACPO to initiate the?agency?s TA efforts and discuss TA strategies and next steps. CSG Justice Center staff provided?introductions and role clarification for the respective staff members affiliated with the agency?s advancing work. An overview of the agency?s application materials and self-assessment results were provided to ensure that no edits needed to be made to the TA plan or goals. The target goals for MN include developing a universal community supervision risk and needs assessment that is normed for the MN population and reduces racial disparities; developing consistent?cutoffs for levels of supervision to improve different agencies? use of scores to determine low,?medium, or high levels of supervision; as well as providing implementation science training to all agency leaders and holding joint meetings of all agencies to continue to learn and use shared experiences to advance agency initiatives through a thoughtful, planned approach, with transparency to staff. CSG Justice Center staff presented a brief overview of working group standards and requirements for the agency to be able to select the appropriate members. Communication standards for the TA project were also established and provided to MN to employ more effective communication streams for all parties. CSG Justice Center staff concluded the meeting by establishing a deadline for all three delivery systems to provide names of working group members to the CSG Justice Center by July 21, 2023.
On July 13, 2023, CSG Justice Center staff held a meeting with the MN DOC Field Services director; Aitkin County director for MACCAC; Otter Tail County probation director for MACPO; public safety policy analyst, AMC, and director for MACCAC; and the Waseca County Court Services director to discuss the construction of the working groups and committees and CSG Justice Center?staff?s roles and responsibilities.
On July 20, 2023, CSG Justice Center staff met with the director of Field Services at the State of Minnesota to discuss the potential site visit in September for TA.
New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJ DOC) -?On July 10, CSG Justice Center staff held a kickoff meeting with the NJDOC team representatives, including the NJ DOC supervisor for the Grants Management Unit, director of Classification Services, administrative analyst for the Grants Management Unit, director of Compliance and Strategic Planning, and the assistant commissioner of?Women?s Services to initiate the agency?s TA efforts and discuss TA strategies and next steps.
On July 18, CSG Justice Center staff connected with the research director for?Women?s Risk and?Needs Assessment (WRNA) (associate professor, University of Utah) and the president of Policy Research Associates, Inc. to discuss the WRNA instrument, plans for NJ DOC, and the TA process for the NJ DOC team.