9 Things I learned at the Oregon Justice Reinvestment Summit

Posted by Lisa Sayler on 3/16/17 11:17 AM
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Criminal Justice Reform is on the Move and 9 other things I learned at the Oregon Justice Reinvestment Summit:

one: Although the event was in Oregon, speakers from around the country made it clear that criminal justice reform is on the rise nationwide.

two: Pretrial research has uncovered that being locked up for three or more days while awaiting a hearing can cause very serious unintended repercussions for that individual, including a 4% increased risk that the person will recidivate.

three: Oregon was recently selected as one of three states to participate in the National Criminal Justice Reform Project with a focus on pretrial and a mission to reform using data driven, evidence based practices.

four: As shared in the Justice Policy Institute Report, “The vaguely understood pretrial process of bail costs the taxpayers of the United States billions of dollars and infringes on the liberty and rights of millions of Americans each year. More than 60% of the county jail capacity across the US is filled with people awaiting trial. Three in four voters in this bipartisan issue believe risk, not money (bail), should be the primary factors in a pretrial release decision. To aid in this pretrial release decision, Oregon has been using a pretrial risk assessment to determine risk level and who is appropriate to be released while awaiting trial. This approach appears to be a much better investment of tax payer dollars AND increases the chance these defendants will remain connected to community areas of strengths, maintain employment and be less likely to commit a future charge.

five: Prior to Oregon’s House Bill 3194 passing in 2013, Oregon was projected to need a new state prison in 2017 to support more than 2,000 new male inmates that would cost the state over $600M over 10 years. With the passing of HB 3194, reform efforts were made to evaluate sentencing rules, risk levels and community corrections sentencing options for lower risk offenders. Efforts were successful and Oregon has seen the growth rate of its male prison population flatten and so far avoided building a new state prison.

six: Although women represent a much smaller portion of the criminal justice system, the rate of female incarceration tripled between 1994 and 2015. Emily J. Salisbury, Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Department of Criminal Justice presented some interesting high-impact items:

-  It appears the Big Four criminogenic needs for women are different than they are for men. The women’s Big Four seem to be economic marginality, unhealthy relationships, substance abuse, and depressive/anxious symptoms.

-  The University of Cincinnati (that developed the ORAS) developed the WRNA for a female-specific assessment of key criminogenic factors involved in pathways to recidivism, two assessments already incorporated and being used by customers in our system.

seven: While it may be a judge that lays down the sentence, prosecutors are the ones who charge. Some of those charges come with mandatory minimums (at least in Oregon) that tie the hands of a judge.

eight: Judge Frederic A. Block of New York has implemented a process to include “collateral damage” as a required section of the Pre-sentence Investigation. This gives the judge insight into what damage can occur in the defendant’s life depending on the sentence. Housing, employment, education and other areas of restriction that may affect an individual’s chances of future success. Read his full opinion in the case United States of America v Chevelle Nesbeth here.

nine: Neurological studies of the brain continue leading Timothy Condon, Ph.D, research professor and speaker to wonder why some in the criminal justice system are getting kicked out of treatment. Comparing it to other treatments he said, “If someone has a high blood sugar, we don’t stop insulin, but we do evaluate new methods of treatment, studying what was and wasn’t working and try again.”

Overall, “data-driven” seems to have been the most used term in the Justice Reinvestment Summit. This was exciting to hear because data management is one of the unique ways we at CorrectTech support our customers: offering them full access to their data without tedious data entry. Statistical research and maintaining a relationship with the client are essential in helping the reform movement be evaluated and see what is working and what isn’t.

As one of CorrectTech’s practitioners in residence, I enjoyed meeting up with one our colleagues, Tom O’Connor, a fantastic criminal justice consultant in Oregon. With over 800 attendees at the Summit, we both enjoyed seeing so much interest and engagement in justice reinvestment and the developments in new practices, new programming and new ideas – happening not just in Oregon, but across the United States.

To request more information or schedule an online demonstration of our community corrections software, click here. We offer integrated corrections software and support services for probation/parole, residential and reentry programs. Our Program Foundation Platform and twenty robust modules were designed by community corrections practitoners to guide organizations toward a powerful EBP implementation, relieve them of strenuous paperwork and manual processes, and enable them to focus on what matters - people!      

Topics: Community Corrections, Community Engagement, justice reinvestment

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