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: In September, CSG Justice Center research staff completed analysis of the NIBRS and ACIC data for the first data-focused presentation. Staff continued analysis and development of visualizations of the AOC case filing and disposition data in preparation for the second data-focused presentation. The researchers also began aggressively analyzing the DOC data in anticipation of the third and final data-focused presentation. Analysis of prison and community correction center trends is underway, with some visualizations already developed. The recidivism cohorts that will be a main part of the third presentation are being developed.
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: In September, CSG Justice Center staff traveled to northeast Arkansas to assess community supervision and reentry services. While onsite, staff visited the Jonesboro and Osceola community supervision offices, In His Wings treatment facility, the Northeast Arkansas Community Correction Center, and the Mississippi County Work Release Center. Several key themes emerged through meetings and focus groups: As with the community supervision offices in northwest and central Arkansas, low wages are the primary driver of staffing shortages. This leads to high caseloads and undermines officers' abilities to implement best practices for supervision. There is a lack of targeted programming within the reentry treatment facility. Additionally, family reunification - a key factor in effective intervention - is lacking in the reentry program. CCCs offer a significantly more therapeutic environment for incarcerated individuals than state prison facilities, but mental health services are lacking. The work release program enables incarcerated individuals to gain work experience and accrue considerable savings; however, there are logistical challenges (housing and parole requirements) in remaining with their employers upon release.
In addition to conducting meetings and focus groups, CSG Justice Center staff toured the CCC and work release facility to learn more about facility operations and available programming.
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 delivered a presentation on crime and arrest data at the September meeting of the Legislative Recidivism Reduction Task Force. While Task Force members were receptive to the findings, they also raised concerns about the need to contextualize the analysis of crime and arrest data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and Arkansas Crime Information Center (ACIC), respectively. They also had several questions, including: Does the proportion of people on supervision at the time of arrest match the recidivism rate? One Task Force member clarified that DOC's most recent recidivism report is for the 2018 release cohort; CSG Justice Center staff clarified that the arrest data is only for the year 2022. How does Arkansas compare to the national average on the percentage of arrests that are people on supervision? Staff explained that we do not have that figure for other states, as it would require us to have case-level data for the other states. Is there a figure for the percentage of arrests for people who have been on supervision at any point in the past, rather than only at the time of arrest? Staff indicated that an individual's supervision history is not available in the case-level data set that the state shared with us.
Apart from the presentation to the Task Force, in September, CSG Justice Center staff also met with a county sheriff to learn how he brought programming into his county jail. While the programs are currently being funded by opioid settlement money, the sheriff expressed concerns about the feasibility of sustaining the programs upon depletion of the settlement fund. Staff also met with a former Parole Board Commissioner and current Task Force member to hear his insights on recidivism reduction efforts in Arkansas.
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