Recidivism

In May, Nebraska continued to make strides towards justice reinvestment sustainability and worked to analyze current data that shows an uptick in the prison population. First, the steering committee had their monthly meeting. Along with reviewing implementation progress, the steering committee discussed ongoing collaboration, sustainability, and supporting each other in the current legislative environment.

In May, CSG Justice Center staff continued to refine justice reinvestment policies. In collaboration with the District Attorneys Association and county officials in Philadelphia, CSG Justice Center staff explored potential implementation changes related to sentences to County Intermediate Punishment (CIP) programs, and confirmed for stakeholders that proposed policy changes would allow for counties to have discretion on how to administer these programs.

In May, CSG Justice Center staff officially launched post-enactment technical assistance activities in North Dakota and conducted two site visits to facilitate implementation planning. On May 4, North Dakota was approved to receive Phase II implementation technical assistance by the Justice Reinvestment Steering Committee. Subsequently, the eight-member Justice Reinvestment Oversight Committee (JROC) met for the first time to jumpstart the Phase II process and discuss ameliorating barriers to implementation.

In May, all nine justice reinvestment bills that had been adopted by the Montana State Legislature were signed by the Governor.

In May, CSG Justice Center staff continued to lay groundwork for implementing justice reinvestment legislation once enacted by finalizing a technical assistance scope of work and strategy and identifying data metrics to track the outcomes of justice reinvestment legislation.

In May, the Governor signed Senate Bill (SB) 174 at the 1st Annual Department of Community Supervision (DCS) Reentry Summit in Macon, Georgia. CSG Justice Center staff attended the bill signing ceremony. CSG Justice Center staff were onsite in May to attend another strategic planning meeting with DCS to discuss progress updates, the development of an implementation structure and reporting mechanisms, and next steps in the implementation planning process.

In May, CSG Justice Center staff participated in a monthly check-in of the core implementation team to discuss agency updates and review monthly data. The JR Coordinator prepared an initial draft of a monthly metrics report to review data and trends associated with key policies, including 45-day prison sanctions, Class D sentences to Community Corrections Programs (CCPs), parole release decision-making and the parole grant rate.

In May, CSG Justice Center staff continued working with state leaders to prepare for Phase II of justice reinvestment and continued providing technical assistance to agencies on implementing key areas of Arkansas’s justice reinvestment policy framework, including developing parole guidelines, incorporating administrative sanctions into violation response policies for probation and parole, and establishing crisis stabilization units to divert individuals with mental illness from county jails.

More than 2.3 million people are confined in correctional facilities across the United States and over 90 percent will return to the community. Employment is a key aspect of successful reentry, but simply placing people returning home from incarceration in a job is not the ultimate solution for preventing reoffending. Although there is a foundation of research on effective strategies for both reducing recidivism and engaging hard-to-employ adults in the workplace, these efforts are often implemented on parallel tracks with limited coordination.

Are you having money conversations with the justice-involved individuals you serve? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a U.S. government agency that makes sure banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat you fairly, developed Your Money, Your Goals financial empowerment toolkit to help frontline staff and volunteers have that conversation.  And now they bring you a companion guide, Focus on Reentry, to help with financial challenges facing individuals pre- and post-reentry.  

CSG Justice Center staff met with FDOC Sec Jones in Tallahassee to provide an overview of the project goals and review of accomplishments, plus discuss pre-release engagement opportunities for people returning to PBC from FDOC;

· Met with construction employer about opportunities for programming;

· Steering Committee meeting to provide a recap of the project goals and review of accomplishments;

· Webinar training on Transitional Job best practices;

· Core planning team meetings to discuss plan for project evaluation