Between January and June, the CSG Justice Center continued to give Phase II intensive technical assistance to Hawaii. Phase II intensive technical assistance focused on successfully implementing the new policies and practices that the state enacted. A critical priority for CSG Justice Center staff is to sustain the justice reinvestment momentum after legislation is passed. To accomplish this, CSG staff has worked closely with each of the Phase II states to create detailed systems to track the impact of justice reinvestment legislation each month, as well as establish a process to monitor criminal justice trends in these states for years to come. These expanded efforts at state monitoring are critical to enable the CSG Justice Center staff to identify concerns early and share this information and recommendations for adjustments with the state.
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CSG Justice Center worked with staff to advance the planning of subaward-funded trainings, including trainings for judges, prosecutors, and public defenders on evidence-based pretrial practices and policy.
Project Coordination
CSG Justice Center staff strategized with the Department of Public Safety's (PSD) JRI Coordinator regarding the first quarter of 2015 and the end of Hawaii's subaward contract. PSD plans to request a no cost extension for sufficient time to execute the incomplete trainings funded by BJA's subaward. CSG Justice Center staff drafted a table of all remaining subaward tasks, and shared it with JRI Coordinator, to clarify outstanding activities and ensure continued coordination in the final months of grant-funded activity.
CSG Justice Center staff continues to work with JRI Coordinator to identify opportunities to meet and brief new leadership including PSD Director and the Governor. JRI Coordinator reported that she is planning to provide a JRI brief to PSD Director and try to determine his level of interest in JRI. CSG Justice Center staff have conducted initial outreach to the PSD Director, but have not yet been able to connect with him. JRI Coordinator also informed CSG Justice Center that new Deputies of Corrections and of Administration have been named in Hawaii. CSG Justice Center staff will plan to conduct outreach to these two Deputies in the coming weeks.
Remaining Subaward-funded Activities
There are several trainings that were included in the recently approved budget modification, which need to be executed.
Trainings include:
• Evidence-based pretrial practices for prosecutors and public defenders
• Evidence-based pretrial practices for judges
• University of Hawaii training series on promising corrections practices, program management, program evaluation, and program planning
The initial judges’ training, to be conducted by President Emeritus of the National Judicial College is scheduled for the first week of March 2015. It is hoped that this training will support implementation of the pretrial risk assessment by increasing judicial reliance on risk assessment information in release decision-making. Similarly, the training for prosecutors and public defenders is intended to garner additional support for the pretrial risk assessment process and expedited release for low-risk detainees.
Legislative Changes to Maximize JRI Policies
CSG Justice Center staff also worked with 19th District Senator (Chairman, Public Safety, Military, & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee) to draft legislation for the 2015 legislative session to further the impacts of two justice reinvestment policy changes: pretrial legislation to address continuing delays in Hawaii's pretrial decision-making process and parole legislation to address the under-utilization of the six-month parole revocation cap. Pretrial legislation addresses delays in pretrial decision-making by automating release hearings to be held ten days after arraignment, requiring intake service centers to verify housing and sponsors within seven days of their identification and during non-business hours, and requiring judges to grant bail, release on own recognized, or release on supervision absent a risk assessment score indicating a high risk of failing to appear or being arrested. The parole legislation provides for greater eligibility for a revocation cap by limiting the definition of absconding and expanding caps to repeat violators.
Through technical assistance efforts, CSG Justice Center staff have learned that the pretrial process in Hawaii includes several steps (e.g., filing a motion for a release hearing, verification of a sponsor) that contribute to long periods of pretrial detention prior to supervised release. Draft legislative language will limit the amount of time spent in verifying sponsors and will make release hearings automatic- both with the hope of reduce pretrial detention for detainees eventually released on supervised release.
Far fewer parole violators are eligible for the six-month parole revocation cap than was originally projected. Data from CY2014 show that out of 408 technical parole violators, more than half were ineligible for the caps due to being a repeat violator (n=119) or an absconder (n=108). Data reveals that those who do not receive the 6-month cap are detained for an average of 499 days. In conversations with the parole board chair, he has expressed that despite the lengthy violation stays, the current board is the more lenient than boards in the state's recent history and he would not be supportive of expanding eligibility or reducing the length of the caps. In order to address the under-utilization of the six-month cap, and despite Parole Board Chairman defense of the status quo, CSG Justice Center staff worked with 19th District Senator to limit the definition of an absconder and introduced graduated revocation caps.
• (01/05) Call with Intake Services Branch Manager on O'Ahu to discuss the pretrial process. Discussed those areas where legislation could continue to expedite pretrial release for detainees who are released on supervised release, bail, or on own recognizance.
• (01/05) Call with First Circuit Court Judge (Hawaii State Judiciary) regarding the recent changes in leadership in Hawaii. He reported that he was planning to contact new PSD Director to discuss his potential role as the JRI Steering Committee Co-chair.
• (01/06) Call with Coordinator (Community Alliance on Prisons) regarding the recent changes in leadership in Hawaii. She Brady expressed concerns over recent changes and over PSD's continuing focus on building a new prison.
• (01/20) Call with 19th District Senator (Chairman, Public Safety, Military, & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee) about possible legislation that could maximize the impacts of the JRI policies. The Senator requested draft legislation to expand eligibility of the parole violator caps and to further expedite the pretrial process for those ultimately released during the pretrial period. Draft language provided on January 28, 2015.
• (01/22) Call with Chairman (Hawaii Paroling Authority) regarding implementation of JRI policies, and specifically, how the parole violator caps are applicable to far fewer parolees than originally projected.
• (01/26) Call with State Public Defender to discuss factors contributing to delays in pretrial decision-making and obtain information regarding his office's role in the pretrial decision-making process to inform the drafting of a bill to address continuing delays in pretrial decision-making and the growing pretrial detention population.
• (01/29) Call with JRI Coordinator (Department of Public Safety) to discuss additional changes in PSD's leadership and next steps regarding various trainings funded by the BJA subaward.
CSG Justice Center staff worked with staff to advance the execution of subaward-funded trainings, including trainings for judges, prosecutors, and public defenders on evidence-based pretrial practices and policy. CSG Justice Center staff coordinated conversations between the state and trainers to determine curricula for each of the trainings on evidence-based pretrial practices. CSG Justice Center staff also worked with PSD to create a timeline of the remaining trainings and determined that PSD would have to request a no-cost extension to spend down their subaward grant.
The timeline of judicial trainings follow:
• Statewide: March 6, 2015
• Hawaii (Hilo): March 30
• Hawaii (Kona): April 6
• Oahu: April 10
• Kauai: May 1
• Maui: not confirmed
CSG Justice Center staff conducted an introductory phone call with newly-appointed Director of the Department of Public Safety. In the briefing, CSG Justice Center staff provided an introduction to justice reinvestment implementation, a breakdown of continuing implementation challenges, and an overview of potential impacts of successful implementation. CSG Justice Center staff also discussed scheduling the next Steering Committee meeting and briefed PSD Director on the legislative changes being pursued by 19th District Senator to tackle challenges to the implementation of JR legislation.
• CSG Justice Center staff are in the process of obtaining and analyzing probation, corrections, risk assessment, and parole data for new insights.
• JRI Coordinator notified CSG Justice Center staff that Hawaii plans to apply for the Maximizing JR grant, although no specific details of the plan have been shared.
• (02/13) Call with JRI Coordinator (Department of Public Safety) and the Justice Management Institute to discuss upcoming pretrial and smarter sentencing trainings for prosecutors and public defenders.
• (02/18) Introductory call with Director (Department of Public Safety) and JRI Coordinator (Department of Public Safety) to discuss justice reinvestment implementation and next steps.
• (02/27) Call with former director of National Judicial College to discuss his curriculum for the first of a series of judicial trainings on pretrial in Hawaii.
In March, CSG Justice Center staff worked with Hawaii stakeholders to ensure that there would be a strategy in place to spend down the remaining funds in their BJA subaward and to sustain implementation efforts beyond the end of the subaward contract. CSG Justice Center staff spoke with JRI Coordinator (PSD) to discuss the timeline and strategy to execute the remaining subaward-funded trainings, including the training on evidence-based pretrial practices and sentencing for prosecutors and defenders, and offered advice on how to engage key stakeholders such as the City and County of Honolulu Prosecutor and State Public Defender to encourage participation in the trainings.
In March, President Emeritus (National Judicial College) delivered the first of six trainings funded by the BJA subaward to train judges on evidence-based pretrial practices. Judges from each circuit participated either in-person or via phone conference, and the trainer delivered an introductory lesson on evidence-based pretrial practices. President Emeritus will now visit each circuit over the course of the next few months to deliver trainings in-person that incorporates circuit-specific data on progress in addressing delays in Hawaii's pretrial decision-making process. CSG Justice Center staff are working to compile and analyze circuit-specific data to be used in the President Emeritus’ trainings.
CSG Justice Center staff also checked in with newly-appointed Deputy Director of Administration for the Department of Public Safety to discuss her role in implementing justice reinvestment legislation. Moving forward, the Deputy Director of Administration has demonstrated interest in connecting with departments in other states working on developing process flows and systems to improve efficiency and performance. CSG Justice Center staff has agreed to connect PSD to stakeholders in Pennsylvania in the near future.
In February, 19th District Senator introduced legislation to sustain implementation of two justice reinvestment policy changes including pretrial legislation to address continuing delays in Hawaii's pretrial decision-making process and parole legislation to address the under-utilization of the six-month parole revocation cap. The legislature did not pass either bill.
In February, 19th District Senator introduced legislation to augment the impact of two justice reinvestment policy changes including pretrial legislation to address continuing delays in Hawaii's pretrial decision-making process and parole legislation to address the under-utilization of the six-month parole revocation cap. As a result of the bills' late introductions, there was little time to engage potential champions and opponents of the bill. The legislature did not pass either bill.
The pretrial bill was drafted to increase reliance on the pretrial risk assessment tool and reduce discretionary overrides from being used, which ultimately result in lengthy periods of pretrial detention for low and moderate risk detainees. The Department of Public Safety expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed bill, as they felt it could reduce their discretion in making release recommendations to the court. Similarly, the Parole Chairman had previously expressed that he would (and later did) oppose the legislation aimed to increase the pool of eligible parolees receiving the six-month revocation caps for technical violations as he felt that the current board is more progressive than the last and is not willing to adopt more progressive policies (e.g., either shortening the length of the caps or increasing number of people eligible). In March, CSG Justice Center staff communicated with Executive Director (Crime Victim Compensation Commission), who was concerned with the potential impact of the pretrial legislation on victims of person crimes. Moving forward, if the state were to introduce legislation to address continuing pretrial delays, it is important to ensure stakeholders are involved in conversations regarding the bill and the shaping of legislation.
• (03/06) First call of six BJA subaward-funded judicial trainings on evidence-based pretrial practices by President Emeritus (National Judicial College). This initial statewide training covered an introduction to evidence-based pretrial practices for judges in each of the four circuits in the State of Hawaii.
• (03/12) Call with Deputy Director of Administration (Department of Public Safety) to provide an implementation update, discuss her new role as the Deputy Director of Administration in implementing Justice Reinvestment, check in on subaward activities, and discuss Hawaii's plan to apply for the Justice Reinvestment maximizing grant.
• (03/13) Call with Deputy Director of Administration (Department of Public Safety) to discuss remaining subaward-funded trainings to be executed.
• (03/24) Call with Executive Director (Crime Victim Compensation Commission) to discuss the pretrial bill introduced by 19th District Senator to address continuing delays in pretrial process.
• (03/27) Call with JRI Coordinator (Department of Public Safety) to check in on the progress of spending down Hawaii's BJA subaward.
CSG Justice Center staff continued working with the Department of Public Safety to execute the remaining subaward-funded trainings, including the training on evidence-based pretrial practices and sentencing for prosecutors and defenders, and offered advice on how to engage key stakeholders such as Honolulu Prosecutor and State Public Defender to encourage participation in the trainings.
President Emeritus (National Judicial College) delivered the second of six trainings funded by the BJA subaward to train judges on evidence-based pretrial practices. The second training focused on judges in Maui. President Emeritus will continue to visit the remaining circuits over the course of the next few months to deliver trainings in-person that incorporate circuit-specific data on progress in addressing delays in Hawaii's pretrial decision-making process. CSG Justice Center staff have compiled and analyzed circuit-specific data to be used in President Emeritus’ trainings.
• (04/02) Call with Coordinator (Community Alliance on Prisons) to discuss recent developments including an update on the bills to address parole and pretrial implementation barriers and the current legislative session.
• (04/09) Call with former director of National Judicial College in preparation for the first island-specific pretrial training in Maui and to share relevant pretrial data.
• (04/17) Follow-up call with former director of National Judicial College in preparation for the first island-specific pretrial training in Maui and to share relevant pretrial data.
• (04/28) Call with Intake Service Center Administrator (Department of Public Safety), Hawaii ISC Branch Manager (PSD), Oahu ISC Branch Manager (PSD), and Maui ISC Branch Manager (PSD) to share data pertaining to the progress of pretrial risk assessment implementation and reducing delays in pretrial detention length of stay.
In May, CSG Justice Center staff continued to work with the Department of Public Safety to executive a strategy for spending down the BJA subaward. CSG Justice Center staff also worked with key stakeholders in the state to schedule and prepare a presentation for a final Justice Reinvestment Steering Committee meeting. The final Justice Reinvestment Steering Committee meeting in Hawaii will take place on Tuesday, June 23. The final Steering Committee meeting will focus on current progress, opportunities for maximizing JRI impacts, and building sustainability in HI. CSG Justice Center staff have been analyzing thousands of case-level records to determine the impacts of the JRI policies in the state and preparing the final presentation.
In advance of the meeting, CSG Justice Center staff will finalize a presentation, brief key stakeholders, and preview the presentation for leaders.
The PSD population at the end of May 2015, was 5,998, nearly back to the baseline population of 2012 (6,060). Despite early reductions in the population during 2012-2013, the custodial population has been steadily increasing over the past year. This increase is partly due to an unanticipated increase in the number of pretrial felony admissions and stubbornly long lengths of stay in detention.
The JRI policies are working to increase the amount of restitution being collected. CVCC collected more than double the amount of the restitution each month in FY2015 compared to each month in FY2014.
The JRI Coordinator continues to report difficulty in coordinating with the prosecutor’s office and office of public defense on O’ahu to set up pretrial trainings. Despite repeated outreach, the JRI Coordinator has been unsuccessful in scheduling trainings. CSG Justice Center staff have worked with JRI Coordinator to leverage other stakeholders to assist in generating interest in providing the trainings to staff.
In June, CSG Justice Center staff delivered the final presentation to the Hawaii Justice Reinvestment Steering Committee remotely. The presentation covered a history of the justice reinvestment process in Hawaii, implementation successes, data updates on implementation progress covering each policy change, and recommendations to sustain and maximize projected impacts of justice reinvestment legislation. Prior to the meeting, CSG Justice Center staff conducted data analyses in preparation for the presentation and previewed the contents of the presentation with key stakeholders including Steering Committee co-chairs 1st Circuit Judge and 19th District Senator.
• The pretrial felony population has grown 28 percent, from 806 individuals to 996 individuals, since enactment due, in part, to an increase in admissions. The pretrial misdemeanant population decreased by 30 percent. Length of stay for pretrial felony detainees remains lengthy, at an average of 84 days for supervised releases, 69 days for releases on own recognizance, and 32 days for bail.
• On average low-risk offenders in prison who are in prison past their minimum sentence dates are held for an average of 547 days beyond their minimum sentence date at an average cost of $75,000 per inmate.
• Only 1/3 of eligible technical parole violators received the six-month sanction since enactment to December 2014.
• Many felony B and C sentences to probation are four-year terms. Justice reinvestment legislation requires that all felony B and C sentences be four-year terms, yet some remain five-year terms. Four-year term probation sentences were barely used in 2012, but now exceed the number of five-year probation sentences. Few second-time drug possession offenses are sentenced to probation despite JR legislation allowing judges to sentence these offenses to probation.
• Restitution collections have nearly doubled, from a monthly average of $1,478 in FY2012 to $2,910 in FY2015. Despite increased collections, only about 12% of restitution ordered in FY2013 was collected.
• (06/12) Call with 1st Circuit Judge to update him on the progress of justice reinvestment implementation and to prepare him for the upcoming final Steering Committee meeting.
• (06/17) Call with 19th District Senator / previous Chair, current member of Public Safety and , Intergovernmental and Military Affairs Committee to update him on the progress of justice reinvestment implementation and to prepare him for the upcoming final Steering Committee meeting.
• (06/19) Call with Coordinator (Community Alliance on Prisons) to update her on the progress of justice reinvestment implementation, to preview the upcoming final Steering Committee meeting, and to obtain input.
• (06/23) Webinar for the final Justice Reinvestment Steering Committee to review implementation progress and establish a plan for the state to sustain and maximize the potential impacts of legislation beyond the end of technical assistance delivery.
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