20240723-74259-52

Priority Area 1: Data Analysis
Analyze data from the Department of Corrections (DOC), KSP, AOC and other state agencies (where appropriate and available) to quantify the number of people involved in Kentucky's criminal justice system for DV- and IPV-related offenses, with the goal of identifying the full scale and impact of these offenses on the state's criminal justice system and the potential for reducing prison and jail populations and improving interventions. CSG Justice Center staff will also quantify the prevalence of domestic violence by identifying the number of people on community supervision with current or historical IPV-related offenses or protective orders.
Background: Kentucky has historically struggled to consistently collect and comprehensively analyze relevant data to effectively evaluate and address the state's DV challenges. This is especially troubling given that lifetime prevalence rates of DV in Kentucky are far higher than the national average. About 45 percent of all women and 36 percent of all men in Kentucky experience DV during their lifetime compared to the national averages of 37 percent and 31 percent, respectively. Additionally, the Department of Corrections (DOC) is unable to adequately quantify how many people are incarcerated or on community supervision with a domestic violence-related history, which creates a missed opportunity for the state to comprehensively address the DV related population with programs and intervention. Because the DOC is contracted to handle misdemeanor probation in Jefferson County, the largest county in the state, additional information will be available for the analysis.
Update: In May, CSG Justice Center staff completed the cleaning and data preparation of the KSP files and nearly all KSP data has now been reviewed for quality assurance. CSG Justice Center staff continued developing charts and tables for a presentation around domestic-violence related crime trends, which compiles data findings from the KSP JC-3 forms and from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data. Quality assurance of DOC incarceration and supervision data files continued in May; some outstanding data questions have been shared with the research contact at DOC and staff are still waiting on feedback for a few data questions.
Priority Area 2: Assess Community Supervision
Conduct a qualitative assessment of community supervision systems in Kentucky, with a focus on DV caseloads. CSG Justice Center staff will assess the effectiveness of current policies and practices in reducing revocations and promoting successful and safe community reintegration. CSG Justice Center staff will conduct interviews and focus groups with DOC leadership, probation district supervisors, probation and parole officers, and clients on supervision with a DV-related charge (if available) to understand and assess the implementation practices for evidence-based supervision.
Background: Kentucky had the 14th-highest rate of people on probation or parole supervision in the country in 2019, with nearly 64,000 people under state or local supervision. Before the start of the pandemic, over 45 percent of the prison population was incarcerated due to supervision violations, which was the seventh highest percentage in the country at that time. Resources for people who are incarcerated or supervised in different parts of the system vary and may not support ensuring people receive the treatment and programming they need to reduce recidivism. Additionally, while the commonwealth is currently unable to identify the exact number of people on community supervision with underlying DV or IPV offenses, stakeholders in Kentucky report that people cycle through probation--especially misdemeanor probation--for DV offenses, which could be another driver of their prison and jail population growth. The DOC is contracted with Jefferson County, which includes Louisville, to manage those on probation with misdemeanor offenses, which could provide an estimate of the total misdemeanor population with an underlying DV or IPV offense and how that population fares on supervision.
Update: Having met with representatives of Kentucky's private probation industry in April, CSG Justice Center staff began finalizing our takeaways on Kentucky's probation and parole system in May. As part of our plans for the project launch, we are internally developing a presentation schedule and discussing which portions of the data analysis should be paired with our probation and parole assessment findings. While we plan, CSG Justice Center staff are actively drafting the presentation for a future working group meeting.
Priority Area 3: Assess Responses and Interventions to Those Who Commit Domestic Violence
Conduct a qualitative assessment of the efficacy, accessibility, and availability of services, treatment, and programming aimed at those who commit domestic violence, with an emphasis on Batterer Intervention Programs (BIP), to better understand if the interventions for the incarcerated and supervised populations reduce supervision failure and repeated criminal behavior. CSG Justice Center staff will evaluate the use of evidence-based programming, funding for such programming, the use of risk and need assessments, and reentry processes. This assessment work will inform evidence-based solutions for the commonwealth's DV population.
Background: Kentucky stakeholders report that it is common for people convicted of IPV-related offenses to be sentenced to misdemeanor probation multiple times where they receive little support or services beyond the requirement to participate in a Batterers Intervention Program (BIP). However, stakeholders suspect that BIP may not be effective and have expressed interest in assessing these programs and developing recommendations for improvements. DOC leaders have explained that when a person is incarcerated, the DOC does not receive background information on that person's either victim or perpetrator history with DV or IPV (beyond criminal convictions), which inhibits their ability to adequately manage and serve that person. Further, while DOC provides cognitive behavioral therapy and anger management, BIP is not available, which may indicate key areas of missing programming for people with criminal histories that include DV and IPV. Resources for people who are incarcerated or supervised in different parts of the system vary and may not support ensuring people receive the treatment and programming they need to reduce recidivism.
Update: In May, CSG Justice Center staff continued our outreach to local judges. Following our presentation before Louisville's Domestic Violence Prevention Coordinating Council, CSG Justice Center staff were put in contact with several judges from Jefferson County's Family Court. During our conversations with the Chief Judge and Court Administrator, CSG Justice Center staff learned the following: Family court judges have high caseloads, which continue to increase. One of the first concerns the Chief Judge brought up was the high caseloads that family court judges face. There are 10 family court judges in Jefferson County and each one devotes one day a week to domestic violence cases, and some of those judges are exploring expansion into a second day. Additionally, the responsibility of hearing interpersonal violence orders was shifted to the family court judges recently, which has expanded their dockets. The Chief Judge indicated that judges need more time to consider these cases, and sometimes feel rushed. Jefferson County judges have access to quality information. In Jefferson County, cases are sent to case managers who assemble a full criminal history of the respondent and any previous protective orders against them. The Chief Judge expressed that they receive information on previous no-contact orders and any ordered services like BIP. She indicated that she has access to more information, if she needs it. Services are well monitored in Jefferson County. Once judges have found that domestic violence occurred, they send the respondent to a division that provides them with a list of service providers. That division then monitors whether the respondent is following through with the order. Through contempt proceedings, the Court can compel compliance, however the Chief Judge indicated that they generally don't have to resort to that. With respect to BIP, both the Chief Judge and court administrator felt that there are high-quality providers and low-quality providers, and that more needed to be done to ensure the quality of a provider's services.
Following our April meeting with the Kentucky Jailer's Association, CSG Justice Center staff began developing a list of which jails provided quality programming in May. We heard back from a few jail representatives who were willing to meet virtually and are in the process of setting up those meetings.
Priority Area 4: General Stakeholder Engagement
Connect with criminal justice stakeholders (law enforcement, judges, defense attorneys, prosecuting attorneys, corrections staff, lawmakers, victim and their advocates, and community-based organizations) across the commonwealth to fully understand the DV challenges and how it impacts the criminal justice system at different points and in different regions of the state. CSG Justice Center staff plan to engage with a diverse array of stakeholders at every step of the project to ensure proper context to CSG Justice Center's data analysis, qualitative assessments, and policy recommendations.
Background: Despite various local and regional efforts to address DV, it continues to be an issue that permeates the commonwealth. Louisville has a Criminal Justice Commission Domestic Violence Coordinating Council that meets to discuss domestic violence and has published reports on addressing domestic violence. Lexington created a Special Victims Unit to support survivors of domestic violence. The Attorney General's Office created the Domestic Violence Resource Prosecutor position under the Prosecutor's Advisory Council. CSG Justice Center staff can connect these efforts from across the commonwealth, help break down silos, and guide possible policy discussions.
Update: At the beginning of the month, the acting director of Kentucky's CJ-SAC provided CSG Justice Center staff with more information on their requested Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). CSG Justice Center staff stressed the importance of maintaining equilibrium between the three branches, as a foundational requirement of any JRI project, and the need to meet the project timeline. We are currently awaiting the MOU and have set up an internal process to ensure we can review it quickly.
CSG Justice Center staff also provided an update to the judicial co-chair of the working group, who provided us with the list of the judicial appointments to the working group. Throughout the conversation, the co-chair was supportive of the progress made and requested that we continue to keep her updated with our judicial outreach and that we move beyond Jefferson County. CSG Justice Center staff are scheduling introductory meetings with those members.
Priority Area 5: Assessing the need for broader criminal justice reforms
Build momentum for fostering support for another JRI project focused on the broader criminal justice challenges. CSG Justice Center staff believe that the initial DV- and IPV-focused analyses will lay the foundation for the commonwealth's understanding of larger criminal justice challenges and trends and motivate state leaders to request additional and broader analyses through another round of JRI.
Background: Kentucky jail and prison populations are increasing. From 2000 to 2018, the state's prison population increased 13 percent, with a prison incarceration rate of 428.9 per 100,000 adult residents in 2018.iv During the same period, the jail population increased by 70 percent, and the jail incarceration rate reached 792.7 per 100,000 adult residents in 2018.v Following the pandemic, the commonwealth saw a 24 percent decrease in the number of individuals incarcerated by DOC in prisons, jails, and other state-funded facilities. Starting in 2022, the number of incarcerated people began to rise again.vi From 2021 to 2022, the DOC population incarcerated in jails increased 12 percent. In addition to housing people who are sentenced to incarceration for misdemeanor offenses, local jails in Kentucky house nearly half of people sentenced to incarceration for felony offenses. Without relying on local jails, Kentucky would be unable to house the total prison population in existing state facilities.
Update: No update.