Priority Area 1: Work with state agencies to receive and analyze data to identify drivers of Arkansas's high recidivism rates and understand how recidivism contributes to overall crime and incarceration rates.
Update: The Arkansas Department of Corrections shared 93 data files with CSG Justice Center staff in mid-May that included files on facility and supervision populations as well as parole board decisions. All files were checked for completeness and quality to ensure that additional data uploads would not be needed. At this point, it appears that the data is ready to be processed and analyzed, with very few (if any) errors or omissions in the data. Additionally, analysis of the AOC data files and the ACIC data file began in May.
Priority Area 2: Work with practitioners and justice-impacted individuals around the state to engage in qualitative assessments of the effectiveness of supervision practices, identify barriers to successful reentry, and determine potential gaps in needed services for individuals reentering society.
Update: Following the community supervision assessment visit in April, CSG Justice Center staff met with DOC leadership to review the assessment findings. Generally, DOC leadership was receptive to our concerns regarding probation officer retention. Additionally, DOC leadership acknowledged challenges with transitional living facilities, primarily the limited programming offered that is not targeted to residents' individual needs, but explained that the DOC has less control over the operation of privately owned transitional living facilities. The secretary of corrections was supportive of CSG Justice Center staff's continued assessment and suggested that we focus on Malvern and Hot Springs given the number and variety of the facilities in those areas.
Priority Area 3: Cultivate strong relationships with policymakers and stakeholders in the state to ensure that Arkansas's JRI project has the greatest possible impact on the criminal justice challenges facing the state.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued to meet with legislators and other legislative staff as part of the CSG South region's annual legislative site visit. During these meetings, CSG Justice Center staff introduced the project's goals and objectives. Legislators appeared to be receptive to the project and offered their support in establishing avenues for future conversations with stakeholders (e.g., sheriffs, local law enforcement, etc.). Additionally, CSG Justice Center staff followed up with representatives of the ARData team within Arkansas's Department of Transformation and Shared Services, to learn more about their attempts to establish a repository of data across the state and the predictive models they developed relating to recidivism. We believe the work done by ARData is relevant to the task force's scope of work and we reiterated to task force leadership that it would be beneficial to have ARData present their work to the task force. Towards the end of May, the legislative fiscal session ended, and a new speaker of the House of Representatives was elected. After meeting with him last month, CSG Justice Center staff reached out to congratulate him. He reiterated his enthusiasm for our visit and offered his continued support.
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