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Criminal Justice Support for New State Administrations

How New Administrations Can Create Durable and Sustainable Reforms This session will explore recent criminal justice reform efforts and trends across the nation. Panelists will share how they have fostered reform-oriented environments and prioritized criminal justice issues in their states.

Chris Kervick, Director, Delaware Criminal Justice Council Mike Lawlor, Associate Professor, Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Science; former Undersecretary for Criminal Justice, State of Connecticut John Tilley, Secretary, Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Julie James, Director of Criminal Justice, Arnold Ventures (moderator) 3 Lessons Learned from Current and Past Administrations 1. To maximize large-scale success, create short-term and long-term plans for strategic policy changes and their implementation that are informed by data.

2. Build trust within the administration between the governor’s office, the state administering agency, corrections, parole/probation. Additionally, build relationships across government branches and the people personally impacted by state criminal justice policies to foster a coalition of allies and increase opportunities for consensus on policy priorities.

3. When developing policy changes, set up mechanisms to track their future impact to ensure they are implemented successfully and deliver the results you envision.

5 Levers Governors Can Use to Create Durable and Sustainable Reforms 1. Administrative changes – Revising policy and procedures for corrections and community supervision agencies can help agencies significantly shift practices to reduce recidivism. Areas in which to consider administrative changes include: • Encouraging the adoption of evidence-based practices in correctional programming and community supervision • Modifying how supervision officers address violations • Improving case planning and supportive services • Increasing data collection and analysis to inform decision-making • Adopting research-based paroling practices • Modifying use of administrative confinement • Creating protocols for medication-assisted treatment to better support people with substance use needs.

2. Executive powers – Governors may issue executive orders to coordinate reentry systems, address barriers to hiring people with criminal records, or improve data sharing and IT systems to break down information silos, among other actions.

3. Budgeting – New administrations should carefully consider how to allocate resources in a way that helps people who are currently in the criminal justice system or who have criminal histories safely remain in the community. This includes reallocating agency budgets to increase supervision services and supports to bolster efforts to reduce supervision violations and investing in behavioral health treatment and services and reentry supports.

4. Convening stakeholders – Governors may create a working group of corrections, supervision, county, law enforcement, behavioral health, judicial, and other stakeholders to encourage a system-wide approach to criminal justice changes and increased collaboration.

Working groups may analyze current system challenges and develop policy options for reform or provide oversight to ensure proper implementation of new policy changes. To maximize the likelihood of actionable results, set a specific and focused purpose and goals for any working groups.

5. Statutory priorities – It is important for new administrations to create a legislative roadmap for system reforms that require changes to existing state law.

18 Questions New Administrations Should Ask to Inform their Criminal Justice Agenda 1. How much does your state spend annually on prison, probation and parole supervision, and incarcerating people who fail on supervision?

2. What are the recidivism rates for people leaving prison and for people on probation or parole?

3. What state agencies are currently involved in criminal justice issues? How are agencies collaborating to coordinate policies and programs related to criminal justice?

4. How does the governor coordinate juvenile and criminal justice agencies to ensure they are collaborating and moving together in the same direction? Is there a sub-cabinet or some other formal structure?

5. How do the governor and state administering agency engage with your local coordinating councils?

6. How did the size of your correctional populations change over the past decade and how are they projected to change in the future?

7. What is the breakdown of your correctional populations by race? Is this disproportionate to your state’s general population?

8. What are the largest contributors to changes in prison, parole, and probation populations in your state?

9. What percentage of the prison population in your state is composed of people convicted of property or drug offenses?

10. What percentage of people admitted to prison in your state are revoked from probation or parole and for what reasons? How long do they stay?

11. Does your state set limits on how long people can be incarcerated for violating supervision conditions?

12. Is your state supervision system using evidence-based practices to supervise its population?

If so, when was the last time they were assessed for fidelity?

13. What percentage of people are released from prison in your state within three months of reaching their minimum sentence?

14. What percentage of people who left prison in your state last year were released without supervision?

15. How does the paroling authority in your state currently decide who to release to parole supervision?

16. How does your state prepare people for reentry into the community and what improvements are necessary?

17. Which public safety needs have been underfunded in recent years?

18. What federal resources does your state currently receive and how are they being allocated?

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