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New Report Combines Unprecedented Data Analyses, Case Studies to Help States Reach Public Safety Goals
The first-of-its-kind, web-based resource 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
North Dakota Explores Expanding Alternatives to Incarceration and Behavioral Health Services for People in the Criminal Justice System
At a recent North Dakota Justice Reinvestment Oversight Committee meeting, CSG Justice Center staff highlighted recent decreases in prison admissions that resulted from alcohol and drug offenses and probation revocations. These declines seem to be the cause of a 6.5-percent drop in the state’s total prison population in FY2018, which exceeded expectations, and have reinforced the state’s efforts to increase behavioral health services for people in the criminal justice system.
Reentry Programs and the Researchers Who Evaluate Them: What it Takes to Build an Effective Partnership
CSG Justice Center staff spoke with four Second Chance Act Innovations in Reentry Initiative grantees about their experiences fostering effective partnerships between criminal justice practitioners and the researchers evaluating their programs. These programs span the country and the justice system, serving clients within courts, prisons, jails, and in the community.
Second Chance Act Spotlight: Darius Dennis, Norfolk, Virginia
“I have the motivation to be in control of my own choices—for how I see my future and how I see my children’s future,” Darius Dennis said. “That’s what the program taught me. So it was absolutely the right thing for me at the right time.”
Alamance County (NC) ‘Steps Up’ to Reduce Number of People with Mental Illnesses in Jail
“Every time that a law enforcement officer brings someone in and helps get them connected to services instead of taking them to jail, we’ve done one good thing,” said Sara Huffman, clinical director for the county’s crisis service contractor, RHA Health Services.
Reentry Essentials: The Role of Corrections in Reentry
The primary function of correctional supervision was once seen as control and custody; however, corrections agencies have increasingly come to recognize that focusing on rehabilitation and planning for reentry are fundamental to their missions to increase public safety.
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.
Highlights
- North Dakota Explores Expanding Alternatives to Incarceration and Behavioral Health Services for People in the Criminal Justice System
- 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
Volunteer Law Enforcement Officer Alliance Conference
The conference will include sessions on topics such as implicit bias training, race in policing, and recruitment and retention.
20th Global Youth Justice Training Conference
The 20th Global Youth Justice Training will offer information on Teen/Peer/Youth/Student/Court and Peer Jury diversion programs, which are volunteer-driven programs that harness positive peer pressure in a peer judgment setting.
49th Annual National Tribal Judicial and Court Personnel Conference
The 2018 National Tribal Judicial and Court Personnel conference will provide quality culturally-appropriate continuing legal education to more than 200 tribal judges, peacemakers, and court personnel.
WEBINARS
Technology and Criminal Record Clearance
This webinar explores how technology has influenced criminal record clearance processes and improved service delivery around the country.
Effectively Engaging the Community in Juvenile Record Clearance
The presenters of this webinar discuss overcoming the challenges to effective community engagement and explore ways to increase the number of juvenile record clearances.
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.
PUBLICATIONS
In Focus: Implementing Mental Health Screening and Assessment
This brief is designed to help counties identify the number of people booked into jails who have serious mental illnesses (SMI) and to better connect these individuals to treatment. Determining the number of people who have SMI in jails allows counties to develop or refine strategic plans that will have the greatest impact on addressing this population’s needs.
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.
Stepping Up County Self-Assessment
The Stepping Up County Self-Assessment is designed to assist counties interested in evaluating the status of their current efforts to reduce the prevalence of people who have mental illnesses in jails.
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 CENTER IN THE NEWS
Five States Prove That ‘Substantial’ Cuts in Prison Populations Are No Pipe Dream
Bipartisan collaboration and consistent funding of evidence-based reforms helped slash prison populations in five states with dramatically different demographics and political leanings, according to a study by The Sentencing Project.
Initiative to Reduce Fort Smith Recidivism Sees Success
A state initiative to reduce recidivism in the Fort Smith region has yielded positive results in its first year, one official said.
Reforms Seem to Be Helping Justice System
The Bismarck Tribune has supported justice reforms for some time and believes last week’s report showing the penitentiary population declined 6.5 percent is a sign of improvement.
Activists Urge Sentencing Reform
A speaker told listeners Wednesday night at Lincoln University that Missouri is one of eight states whose prison populations have continued to grow in recent years, putting pressure on state revenue and resources.
Recidivism Reduction Effort Shows Signs of Success in Fort Smith
A state initiative to reduce recidivism in the Fort Smith region has yielded positive results in its first year, one official said.
Reforms Expected to Help Slow Prison Growth in North Dakota, Report Says
BISMARCK — North Dakota’s prison population is expected to grow at a slower pace under a package of reforms state lawmakers passed last year, according to a new report presented to legislators Thursday, Aug. 23.