The Center is working with the Utah court system to: 1) assess the impact of recent sentencing reforms on the state's drug courts, and 2) help drug courts respond effectively to the state's changing legislative landscape.
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Center staff hosted a conference call with Rick Schwermer, Utah's statewide drug court administrator, to discuss a TTA plan for the next 9-12 months. The result of the call was a 2-phase TTA plan that involves: 1) spending approximately 6 months gathering court system data and assessing the impact of recently-enacting sentencing reforms on Utah's drug courts, and 2) spending the next 3-6 months developing effective responses to these impacts. Responses may include altering drug court intake and referrals procedures, broadening eligibility guidelines, developing new drug court tracks for lower-risk offenders, or other strategies to be determined.
Center staff held additional meetings with Rick Schwermer, technology staff with the Utah court system, and Center research staff to discuss data collection protocols. The focus of these meetings was to continue to develop the research plan for the evaluation phase of the program, and to discuss strategies for data collection.
From January 1 to June 30, 2016, the Center designed and administered a SurveyMonkey survey to help Utah gauge the impact of sentencing reform. In January, February, and March, Center research and TTA staff worked closely with Rick Schwermer, via emails and phone calls, to create a survey which included questions about target population, deterrence and incentive strategies, and problem solving court caseloads. The final version had approximately 40 questions. On March 24th, Mr. Schwermer sent the survey link to approximately 30 judges and court staff (representing approximately 35 courts) with instructions to complete the survey. During the month of April, reminder emails were sent and responses were gathered. In May, Center staff counted 33 received responses, and the survey was closed. In June, the Center sorted through the responses prior to analyzing them, and consulted with Mr. Schwermer via email to sort out issues with duplicate and incomplete responses. Steps were taken to organize the data in preparation for analysis, which will occur at the beginning of the next reporting period. Once the results are analyzed and reviewed with Mr. Schwermer, next steps regarding training and technical assistance will be discussed.
The week of August 22nd, 2016, Center staff sent the sentencing reform data analysis report to Rick Schwermer, Utah's statewide drug court administrator. Mr. Schwermer reviewed the report with his colleagues and had follow-up communication with Center staff throughout September. Center Research staff member Amanda Cissner is revising the report, including removing the Mental Health Court data. Center staff will send the revised report back to Mr. Schwermer, as well as plan to present the data at conferences over the coming year.
Center Research and Treatment Courts staff collaborated to revise the sentencing reform report, by removing the Mental Health Court data from the spreadsheet and writing a revised memo. Center Treatment Courts staff sent Rick Schwermer, Utah's statewide drug court administrator, the revised report on October 31st, 2016. Center staff followed-up with the jurisdiction to offer support for next steps, such as developing materials for advocacy work or going to District Judges’ meetings. Center staff will continue to act as a resource if the jurisdiction reaches out for the aforementioned support.
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