RPC Newsletter - 2/20/2007

Council of State Governments Justice Center Presents Justice Reinvestment Policy Options to the Texas Legislature

 On January 30, 2007, Senator John Whitmire (D, Chair, Criminal Justice Committee) and Representative Jerry Madden (R, Chair, Corrections Committee) convened an unusual joint hearing that Texas newspapers described as "historic," in which representatives of the Council of State Governments Justice Center presented justice reinvestment policy options for state officials' consideration.

According to projections by the Texas Legislative Budget Board, the state's prison population will increase 9.3 percent and the state will be short more than 17,000 beds by 2012 – if current policies remain unchanged. This year, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has recommended the construction and operation of 5,000 additional prison beds, and it has submitted an appropriations request which includes nearly $1 billion in additional funding.

Chairmen Whitmire and Madden, seeking ways both to increase public safety and to manage the growth of the prison population, requested technical assistance from the Justice Center through its Justice Reinvestment Initiative. The initiative receives funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, among other federal agencies and private foundations.

"We're trying to do some things we believe will change the course of Texas in ways that will make this a better state," said Representative Madden. "We're going to be looking at alternatives to actually building hard prisons."

Senator Whitmire said, "We're at a crossroads. There's a strong consensus to do things differently, to continue being tough, but to be smart about inmates who need a different kind of treatment."

At the hearing, Dr. Tony Fabelo presented the results of months of analysis of the state's prison, parole, and probation populations. Four summary reports are now available on the Justice Center's web site: Recent and Projected Growth of the Texas Prison Population, Texas Justice Reinvestment Scenarios, and Policy Options to Increase Public Safety and to Manage the Growth of the Prison Population.

The reports reflect that high rates of probation revocation, the absence of mental health and substance abuse treatment (both for people in prison and for those in the community), and low parole grant rates are important factors contributing to the recent and projected growth of the prison population. Maps, which Eric Cadora of the Justice Mapping Center prepared, analyzed neighborhoods in Houston and Austin that are receiving disproportionately large numbers of people released from prison. These maps illustrated opportunities for reinvestment strategies in these communities that could increase public safety and improve conditions in these neighborhoods generally.

During the hearing, lawmakers reviewed potential strategies for increasing the availability of substance abuse and mental health treatment to people awaiting release from prison or jail and those recently returned to the community. People with mental illness are significantly overrepresented in the state's prison population, and co-occurring substance abuse / mental health disorders are common among people who are incarcerated. In Texas, 59 percent of prisoners are chemically dependent, but only 5 percent of eligible inmates are admitted to substance abuse programs each year.

For more information on the reports and recommendations presented at the hearing, or on the Justice Center's work in Texas, please contact LaToya McBean.

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CSG Convenes National Legislative Briefing on Sex Offender Management Policy; Justice Center Moves Forward with Sex Offender Housing Policy Guide

 The Council of State Governments, in partnership with the Association of Paroling Authorities International, the American Probation and Parole Association, and The Center for Sex Offender Management, hosted a National Legislative Briefing on Sex Offender Management Policy in the States on January 27 - 28, 2007 in Little Rock, AR.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance, this two-day meeting for state policymakers. State legislators, legislative staff, practitioners, and national experts explored current and promising policies for the management of people convicted of sex offenses, identified critical implications of sex offender management policies for the states, and promoted multistate collaboration and cooperation on this critical issue.

Keynote speakers at the briefing included Laura Rogers, director of the U.S. Department of Justice's Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) Office and Patty Wetterling, child advocate and mother of Jacob Wetterling, who was abducted near his home in Minnesota in 1989 and remains missing.

In addition, the Council of State Governments Justice Center is developing a policy guide to help state and local governments address the issue of housing for people convicted of sex offenses. This guide, which is also funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, is scheduled for release in the fall of 2007. Information presented at the Legislative Briefing in Arkansas will be used to inform the policy guide. For more information on this project, please contact Jordie Hannum.


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Council of State Governments Justice Center Launches New Project to Promote Collaboration between State Governments and Community and Faith-Based Organizations

 The Council of State Governments Justice Center is undertaking a new project supported by the Departments of Justice and Labor to help state officials improve collaboration with community and faith-based organizations on prisoner reentry initiatives.

The goal of the project is to help improve the environment for collaboration between state governments and community and faith-based organizations. The Justice Center will develop a comprehensive policy guide for state policymakers and community-based service providers to highlight real, everyday challenges; provide practical recommendations and identify policies and programs that illustrate how particular state governments; and communities have operationalized these recommendations.

Last week Justice Center staff presented the project overview at the Presidential Prisoner Reentry Initiative Kick-Off meeting sponsored by the Departments of Justice and Labor in St. Louis, Missouri. Conference attendees participated in a discussion of the challenges they face in collaborating with other partners, including community and faith-based organizations and Corrections Departments.

The project is a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a division of the Office of Justice Programs in the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Office of Community and Faith-Based Initiatives in U.S. Department of Labor.

To learn more about the Community and Faith-Based Collaboration Project see the project overview or contact Sara Paterni.


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Announcements

 Website on Reentry Issues Launched

Legal Aid of Western Michigan's Reentry Law Project and the Michigan Poverty Law Project have launched a website to help formerly incarcerated individuals navigate obstacles they may face as they make the transition from prison to the general population. The "Michigan Reentry Law Wiki" provides visitors with answers to frequently asked questions, current case law, statutes, trends regarding prisoner reentry, and forms for obtaining a state identification card and expunging criminal records. The website also contains information to help lawyers, judges, social service providers, and others involved in the reentry process.

To view the website, click here.


Funding Opportunity: Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program

The Bureau of Justice Assistance is accepting applications for funding under the Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program. State, local, and tribal governments and state and local courts seeking to establish or enhance drug courts and systems for people who have substance abuse problems and have been convicted of nonviolent offenses.

Drug courts help reduce recidivism and substance abuse among people convicted of nonviolent offenses and increase an individual'slikelihood of successful rehabilitation through early, continuous, and intense judicially supervised treatment, mandatory periodic drug testing, community supervision, and appropriate sanctions and other services.

Deadline for applications: March 6, 2007
For more information on this funding opportunity, click here.


Upcoming Events:

United States Probation Office: Road to Reentry – Defendant / Offender Workforce Development Conference
March 5-7, 2007
Charlotte, NC
http://www.ncwp.uscourts.gov/owdconf/

The Performance Institute: 2007 National Summit on Prisoner Reentry
March 7-9, 2007
Phoenix, AZ
http://www.performanceweb. org/centers/sp/events/s218/s218.htm

Forensic Mental Health Association of Cailifornia: Treatment and Management of Forensic Populations - A Pragmatic Approach
March 14-16, 2007
Seaside, CA
http://www.fmhac.net/

National Corrections Industries Association Enterprise 2007 National Training Conference
March 25-28, 2007
Jacksonville, FL
http://www.nationalcia.org/e2007/e2007.html< /a>

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Recent Media Coverage of Reentry Issues

  • 2/14/07- "Study predicts rise in inmate populations" (USA Today)

    The number of inmates in U.S. prisons likely will rise nearly 13 percent during the next five years, costing states up to $27.5 billion in new operating and construction expenses, according to a new analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Pew analysts said the growth is being fueled by mandatory minimum sentences that have stretched prison terms, declines in parole releases, and other policies that states have passed in recent years to crack down on crime.

  • 2/12/07 – "Kansas resists buffer zones" (Kansas City Star)

    In the national push to keep children safe from sex offenders, Kansas has been as aggressive as any state. But when it comes to laws restricting where offenders live - a key part of other states' strategies - Kansas so far has said no. Lawmakers on a Senate panel now are suggesting that the state steer clear of popular buffer zones and continue to keep cities and municipalities from adopting their own.

  • 2/11/07 – "Little Hoover Commission Releases Report on Corrections Crisis" (Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice)(pdf)

    After months of receiving testimony, soliciting input from its advisory panel, and holding public hearing on California's prison crisis, the Little Hoover Commission has completed its latest report on the issues plaguing California's correction system. The Commission makes three broad recommendations to mitigate the current crisis.

  • 1/31 /07 – "Report identifies prison problems" (Austin American Statesman)

    The Texas criminal justice system came under intense criticism Tuesday as legislative leaders made clear that business as usual - building prisons every few years - will no longer be a solution to an increasing shortage of cells and operating problems. A study undertaken by the Council of State Governments Justice Center found that if Texas were to expand treatment and rehabilitation programs, it could avoid building new prisons.

Click here to see more collected reentry news from the Reentry Policy Council.

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Recent Published Resources on Reentry Issues

To suggest additional resources for inclusion in the RPC newsletter, please email editors@reentrypolicy.org.

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