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New Report Combines Unprecedented Data Analyses, Case Studies to Help States Reach Public Safety Goals
The CSG Justice Center recently released a first-of-its-kind, web-based resource that combines extensive data analyses, case studies and recommended strategies from all 50 states to help policymakers address their state’s specific public safety challenges. -
WATCH: Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson Meets Face to Face with Client at Newly Opened Crisis Stabilization Unit
Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas became the latest elected official to participate in Face to Face (#MeetFacetoFace), an initiative that encourages policymakers to connect with people closest to the correctional system. -
Stepping Up Initiative Expands Push for Counties to Collect Data on Number of People in Jails Who Have Mental Illnesses
The Stepping Up initiative recently launched a national effort to help counties collect accurate, accessible data on the number of people entering their jails who have mental illnesses. -
For the Record: Candid Conversations about Criminal Record Clearance—Episode 2, Esta Bigler
The director of the Cornell University Industrial and Labor Relations School's Labor and Employment Law program discusses her work regarding record clearance as a lawyer. -
10-Year Anniversary of the Second Chance Act Celebrated on Capitol Hill
As policymakers continue to focus on the importance of safe and successful reentry among people leaving prisons and jails, a group of national leaders paused recently to reflect on the impact of the Second Chance Act.
New Report Combines Unprecedented Data Analyses, Case Studies to Help States Reach Public Safety Goals
Recent CSG Justice Center Posts
WATCH: Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson Meets Face to Face with Client at Newly Opened Crisis Stabilization Unit
Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas became the latest governor to participate in Face to Face (#MeetFacetoFace), an initiative that encourages policymakers to connect with people closest to the correctional system. He joins 13 other governors—7 Republicans and 6 Democrats—that have participated in the initiative.
For the Record: Candid Conversations about Criminal Record Clearance—Episode 3, Bettie Kirkland
Bettie Kirkland, the executive director of Project Return in Nashville, joins For the Record to discuss her organization’s work connecting hundreds of people who have criminal records to employment each year and reflects on what it means to ensure they have a chance at success.
New Report Combines Unprecedented Data Analyses, Case Studies to Help States Reach Public Safety Goals
The CSG Justice Center today released a first-of-its-kind, web-based resource that combines extensive data analyses, case studies and recommended strategies from all 50 states to help policymakers address their state’s specific public safety challenges.
Hawaii Holds State Forum on Public Safety
On July 16, Hawaii held a state forum on public safety as a continuation of the 50-State Summit on Public Safety that took place in November 2017 in Washington, DC.
New Mexico, Iowa, Connecticut Convene State Forums on Public Safety
New Mexico, Iowa, and Connecticut are the latest in a series of states to hold state forums on public safety as a continuation of the 50-State Summit on Public Safety that took place in November 2017 in Washington, DC.
WATCH: Gov. Malloy Leads Connecticut Policymakers on Face to Face Visit at the Cheshire Correctional Institution
After 24 visits to Connecticut prisons, Gov. Dannel Malloy decided it was time others got to see what he’d seen. “After the experiences I’ve had,” Malloy said, “we just got to thinking that it would be good to have people experience it for a day.”
Highlights
- Hawaii Holds State Forum on Public Safety
- Reentry Essentials: Reducing Recidivism and Improving Other Outcomes for Youth and Young Adults
- Colorado Launches Comprehensive Review of Juvenile Justice System
- Outagamie Mental Health Court Celebrates Six Years of Cross-System Collaboration Benefitting Participants, Community
- From Jailhouse to Coffeehouse, SCA-Funded Program Supports People in Omaha During and After Incarceration
Announcements
Four CSG Justice Center Staff Members Receive Training to Help Jurisdictions Implement Assessment Tool
The Public Safety Assessment (PSA) was developed by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation as part of a larger effort to improve decision making and fairness in the criminal justice system and increase public safety. When implemented correctly, the PSA can help eliminate subjective decision making at the judicial level. The training was administered by LJAF staff.
Register for Webinar: Effectively Engaging the Community in Juvenile Record Clearance
In this webinar the presenters will discuss overcoming the challenges to effective community engagement and explore how to increase the number of young people your office assists in clearing their juvenile records.
Register for Webinar: Addressing Vicarious Trauma for the Individual
The Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center will present information on secondary traumatic stress for victim service providers.
WEBINARS
Addressing Barriers to Occupational Licensing for People Who Have Criminal Records
This webinar discusses some of the barriers to occupational licensing that people who have criminal records face, and presenters share best practices and policy options for policymakers to help address these barriers.
Best Practices for Successful Reentry for People with an Opioid Addiction
This webinar includes information on planning and coordination, behavioral health treatment, cognitive interventions, and community supervision practices as well as community resources such as housing and recovery support services.
Best and Promising Practices in Integrating Reentry and Employment Interventions
This webinar is based on lessons learned from integrating reentry and employment interventions to help people returning home after incarceration find and keep employment. The presentation is especially useful for corrections, reentry, and workforce development administrators and practitioners that are interested in maximizing scarce resources and improving recidivism and employment outcomes.
Opioid Addiction Screening and Assessment for People in the Criminal Justice System
This webinar focusses on best practices for screening and assessment of people in the criminal justice system who have opioid addictions.
Understanding Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in People Involved with the Criminal Justice System
In this webinar, Leigh Ann Davis, director of the National Center on Criminal Justice & Disability, discusses differences and similarities between various kinds of behavioral health diagnoses and I/DD, how to identify someone with I/DD, and tips for to work more effectively with people with I/DD in correctional settings.
PUBLICATIONS
Financial Support for Victims of Crime: A Quick Guide for Corrections and Community Supervision Officers
This brief outlines the role that corrections, probation, and parole officers can play in informing victims of the supports to which they are entitled and how they can pursue restitution, compensation, or other means of financial support.
Strengthening Correctional Culture: Eight Ways Corrections Leaders Can Support Their Staff to Reduce Recidivism
This brief highlights eight ways corrections leaders can set their staff up for success in implementing approaches that have been shown to reduce recidivism, including examples of how grantees of the Second Chance Act Statewide Adult Recidivism Reduction Program have applied these strategies in practice.
Justice Reinvestment in Ohio: Third Presentation
This presentation provides groundbreaking analysis of Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation arrest data. Topics covered include a review of sentences for property and drug felony offenses, a probation population recidivism analysis, exploration of effective violence-reduction strategies, and improvements to criminal justice data.
Justice Reinvestment in Wyoming: Overview
This publication outlines criminal justice trends in Wyoming—including crime trends, increases in drug arrests, prison population growth and resulting costs, and revocations from probation or parole—and summarizes the stages involved in using a Justice Reinvestment approach to address criminal justice system challenges.
Strategies to Engage Employers in Conversations about Hiring Applicants with Criminal Records
This tip sheet from the National Reentry Resource Center offers suggestions on how organizations and agencies that provide support to people who have criminal records—including parole and probation agencies, reentry service providers, and educational and occupational training programs—can engage employers in conversations about hiring people who have criminal records, which will help improve the employment outcomes of the people they serve.
JUSTICE CENTER IN THE NEWS
50-State Report Offers ‘Playbook’ on Meeting Public Safety Challenges
The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center has issued what it calls a first-of-its-kind, web-based resource combining data analyses, case studies and recommended strategies for all 50 states to help policymakers address public safety challenges.
In Rural America, Violent Crime Reaches Highest Level in a Decade
“Rural areas, which traditionally have had lower crime rates, have seen dramatic increases in incarceration rates,” says Jacob Kang-Brown, a senior research associate with the Vera Institute of Justice. “We see them now having the highest incarceration rates in the country.”
Missouri Officials Approve $5 Million Prison Program
Missouri was faced with an alarming report in 2017 that said either spend $189 million over the next five years — primarily by improving treatment options for people with behavioral health problems — or risk paying $485 million to build and run two new prisons.
Pennsylvania’s Bail System Keeps Poor People in Jail
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — John Z. Murphy Jr. spent 42 days in Northampton County Jail on misdemeanor charges because he couldn’t come up with $800 in bail money.
In fact, the 34-year-old Allentown man would still be in prison awaiting his unresolved case, if not for an initiative the county court recently implemented.
Groups at Opposite Ends of Political Spectrum Hosting Panel on Mass Incarceration
Two organizations that are often on opposite sides of political issues have joined forces for a panel discussion Friday evening.
Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the libertarian group bankrolled by the billionaire Koch network, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which defends the Bill of Rights and has been associated with progressive policies, have teamed up to host a bipartisan panel to discuss ways to end mass incarceration in Missouri.
More Funding for Public Defenders, Push for Clemency among Measures to Be Pursued to Stem Mass Incarceration in Missouri
Measures expected to be pursued to stem the number of people behind bars in Missouri include pushes for granting more clemency petitions, defending a law that limits the amount of money municipalities can take in from fines, and better funding public defenders.