Transcript Document

Juvenile Justice Technical
Assistance
Coalition for Juvenile Justice
Webinar
October 23, 2014
The Pew Charitable Trusts is a nonprofit
organization that applies a rigorous, analytical
approach to improve public policy, inform the public,
and stimulate civic life.
Pew’s public safety performance project works
with states to advance data-driven, fiscally sound
policies and practices in the criminal and juvenile
justice systems.
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Public Safety Performance Project
Works with states to examine their juvenile
justice systems to get a better public safety
return on their juvenile justice spending.
States are focusing on:
 Protecting public safety by improving
outcomes for youth, families and the public
 Holding juvenile offenders accountable
 Controlling juvenile justice costs
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Process of Pew’s Technical Assistance
State
selection
Task force
facilitation
Legislative
assistance
Implementation
support
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State Selection: Alignment of Goals
Undertake a comprehensive analysis of West Virginia’s
juvenile justice system and data, and develop system-level
recommendations, including proposals for statutory, budgetary,
and administrative changes, to protect and promote public
safety by
–Improving outcomes for youth, families, and communities
–Enhancing accountability for juvenile offenders and the
system
–Containing taxpayer costs by focusing system resources
on serious juvenile offenders
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Task Force Facilitation: Membership
Executive branch
• Governor/Governor’s
Designee
• Juvenile Justice agency
director
• Children and Families
agency director
Judicial branch
• Chief Justice/Designee
• AOC Director
• Judges
• Probation
Legislators
Stakeholders
• Education
• Prosecutor
• Defense attorney
• Law enforcement
• County officials or local
government
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Task Force Facilitation: Key Components
State
selection
Task force
facilitation
Legislative
assistance
Implementation
support
Step 1: Data analysis and system assessment
Step 2: Policy development
Step 3: Consensus building
Ongoing: Stakeholder engagement
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Task Force Facilitation: Report
“The task force was vital to the process because it gave us that
credibility and that unified voice to speak with when rolling out a package
of legislative reforms.” John Tilley, Kentucky House of Representatives
Judiciary Chair, Task Force Co-Chair
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Legislative Assistance
Georgia: HB 242
House: 173-0
Senate: 47-0
Governor signed on May 2, 2013
Reinvestment: $5 million
Hawaii: HB 2490
House: 50-0
Senate: 24-0
Governor signed on July 2, 2014
Reinvestment: $1.26 million
Kentucky: SB 200
House: 84-15
Senate: 32-6
Governor signed on April 25, 2014
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Key Information Pew Provides
Data
Analysis
Research
State
Examples
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Data Analysis: Findings
For example, in Georgia, the data revealed
 Low-level youth in out-of-home placement: 45
percent of youth in nonsecure residential beds
were misdemeanants, 8 percent were status
offenders;

June 30th, 2011 Snapshot, Non-Secure
Residential Placement in Georgia
Status
8%
Increasing length of stay: Between 2002 and
2011, designed felon length of stay increased 13
percent;

Poor outcomes: 65 percent of youth released
from those beds recidivated after three years; and

High taxpayer costs: Each secure bed cost
Georgia $90,000 per year.
Misd.
45%
Felony
47%
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Data Analysis: Implications
“It was a surprise to learn the facts about our juvenile population
because you want to think that you are just committing those
‘bad’ kids and the fact is we really weren’t.” Judge Lisa Jones,
District Court judge, Daviess County, Kentucky
“When I started to look at the type of kids that we had at the
correctional facility, I realized that the overwhelming majority of
them were not a risk to public safety. So why did we have them
in a correctional facility? Which got me looking at our entire
system, and realizing that reform was just a must.” David Hipp,
Executive Director, Office of Youth Services, Department of
Human Services
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Research: High Cost, Low Return of Residential
Placements, Importance of Community Options
Residential placements:
• Generally fail to produce better
outcomes than alternative sanctions,
• Cost much more, and
• Can increase reoffending for certain
youth.
Community programming and practices
are effective when systems:
• Use evidence-based tools,
• Match placement, supervision, and
treatment to risk and need,
• Include treatment with surveillance,
and
• Ensure quality service delivery
Kentucky was spending its money in all the wrong ways. We were
spending a lot of money on detention, particularly for low-level
offenders, when we see that that's not a productive or an effective
way to invest in the lives of those kids.” Whitney Westerfield,
Kentucky Senate Judiciary Chair.
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State Examples: Focus Out-of-Home Facilities on
Higher-Level Offenders
Georgia
 Creates a two-class system within the Designated Felony Act
 Prohibits status offenders and certain misdemeanants from residential
commitment
Kentucky
 Establishes an alternative, pre-court process for status cases
 Restricts commitment of lower-level felony offenders and misdemeanors
 Limits the length of out-of-home placement and length of supervision
based on seriousness of the offense and risk to reoffend
 Requires graduated sanctions for probation violations and limits out-ofhome to 30 days.
Hawaii
 Prohibits misdemeanants from HYCF placement
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State Examples: Build Community Options that
Reduce Recidivism
Georgia
 Establishes a voluntary fiscal incentive grant program
 Require evidence-based practices and assessments
 Allow lower level youth onto administrative caseloads
Kentucky
 Requires use of objective, evidence-based tools in decision-making
 Create fiscal incentive program
 Increases engagement and accountability of families
Hawaii
 Require validated risk and needs assessment, case planning, sanctions
and incentive system
 Allow earned discharge from probation
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State Examples: Enhance Oversight and Ensure
Performance
Georgia
 Continue oversight with GA Council on Criminal Justice Reform
 Require performance-based contracting
 Require uniform data collection and tracking
Kentucky
 Requires improved data collection and reporting to measure outcomes
 Establishes an Oversight Council
 Increase training and education
Hawaii
 Requires enhanced data and outcome reporting
 Creates a Juvenile Justice Oversight Advisory Council
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Anticipated Results Over First 5 Years
Georgia:
Population: Reduced by 31%
Savings: $85 million
Kentucky:
Population: Reduced by 37%
Savings: up to $24 million
Hawaii:
Population: Reduced by 60%
Savings: $11 million
“…the most important change was
ensuring that judges only send a kid to
our secure facility, the Hawaii Youth
Correctional Facility, if he is a threat to
the public. Period.” Judge Mark
Browning, Hawaii Family Court Judge.
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Exploring Whether this Process is Right for Your
State
• What’s the problem/issue your state would tackle?
• Is this the right time for state leaders to address that
problem/issue?
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Contact:
Robin Olsen
Manager, State Policy, Public Safety Performance Project
The Pew Charitable Trusts
(202) 540-6603
[email protected]
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