Recidivism

In August, CSG Justice Center staff presented at the final Justice Reinvestment Implementation Coordinating Committee (JRICC) meeting. The 24-member committee, chaired by the Governor, Speaker, and Chief Justice, reviewed implementation progress and data metrics on the seven main LB 605 policies expected to impact the prison population and received recommendations for maximizing the impact of justice reinvestment reform efforts.

In August, North Dakota’s core implementation team continued to make progress towards establishing the new Community Behavioral Health Program (CBHP). The core implementation team conducted interviews as part of the hiring process for the three full-time Department of Human Services (DHS) positions to staff the CBHP). The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR) hired a licensed clinical social worker to serve as the clinical lead on the program, as appropriated in SB 2015.

In August, the Governor participated in the Face-to-Face initiative, which offers policymakers the opportunity to participate in public activities through which they can interact with people who have first hand experience with the criminal justice system, including corrections officers, formerly or currently incarcerated people, and victims of crime. The Governor was very positive about his experience with the initiative, in which he and Montana Department of Corrections (MDOC) leadership met with the incarcerated women at a secure care facility which focuses on trauma informed services.

Over the month of July, CSG Justice Center staff provided office-based technical assistance to support non-SCA grantees and projects. Staff conducted approximately 10 phone calls, 14 emails, 5 information requests, and 5 NRRC Helpline requests.

Over the month of July, CSG Justice Center staff provided office-based technical assistance to Second Chance Act grantees and responded to inquiries from the field. Staff conducted approximately 124 phone calls and 80 emails, and 3 information requests.

In August, CSG Justice Center staff continued to engage agency leaders during implementation of Georgia’s justice reinvestment policies, with a focus on the study of the Georgia Department of Corrections’ (GDC) Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program, early termination pilot, and assessing their capacity-building needs for the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) subaward.

In August, CSG Justice Center staff assisted agency leaders as they convened the first meeting of the Act 423 Interagency Task Force, hosted a Technical Assistance Day for counties selected to receive funds to establish Crisis Stabilization Units, and held the first meeting of the County Planning and Data Collection Issue-Specific Team.

In August, CSG Justice Center staff communicated with staff of the Sentencing Commission to discuss continued progress on implementation and trends in justice reinvestment data.

CSG Justice Center staff also communicated with agencies regarding subaward spending as related to agreements with the Governor’s Office and Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles (ABPP) ending on September 30, 2017.

CJI will help Utah its second annual JRI report.

After passage of a package of 10 JRI bills in 2017, CJI began working with Louisiana to prepare to implement the bills.