Meeting Information
September 19th, 2017
11:00am – 12:30pm
- Review and approve CJCC meeting minutes from June 27th , 2017
- Elections and new appointments/introductions – Mike Gaughan
- Update on the KDOC-JS 7th JD Reinvestment Grant and the KDOC-JS Regional Collaboration Grant – Pam Weigand
- Data Driven Justice Behavioral Health Design Institute – Captain Wes Houk
- CJCC Programs report – Robert Bieniecki
- New business/discussion
*Next meeting November 7th, 2017 at 11:00 am
September 19, 2017
Douglas County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Meeting (CJCC)
County Commissioner Mike Gaughan, chair, called the regular meeting to order at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 19, 2017.
ATTENDANCE
Eunice Ruttinger (new member, Commission appointed ), Emily Hail (new member, Commission appointed position), Scott Miller, Edith Guffey, Pam Weigand, Charles Branson, Robert Bieniecki, Mike Gaughan, Chuck Epp. Lori Alvarado, Leslie Soden and Shaye Downing. Ex officio members: Mike Brouwer and Craig Weinaug, and Margaret Severson (KU Social Services) was represent.
INTRODUCTIONS
Gaughan introduced the newest members, Eunice Ruttinger and Emily Hail.
MINUTES
Gaughan moved to approve the minutes from 06/24/17. Motion was seconded by Soden and it carried.
UPDATE ON THE KDOC-JS 7TH JD REINVESTMENT GRANT:
Holly Myers, Youth Services, discussed two grants available. One, the Regional Collaboration Grant in the amount of $250K for evidence based practice. This provides funding for kids to attend vocational training or tech school. Douglas County would have five slots of the regional grant.
The other is the Judicial District Grant is based on the average daily population formula. It partners with the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence and is used for the after school program for kids on intervention programs. The grant is for approximately $36K per year. The grant will allow Douglas County to hire a master’s level intern and provide extra training for staff. There will be 20 kids assigned to this program starting in January 2018. The money will also fund 35 facilitators to the Strengthening Families Program, which is a parent and child training program that is nationally recognized and evidence based. We want to build a capacity in the community to work with kids. Their philosophy is “Think bigger picture and develop a system of support” to better serve kids and families. Youth Services sent one staff member to Cross Roads Training but hopes to be able to send more. The cost is approximately $900 per person for five days.
DATA DRIVEN JUSTICE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DESIGN INSTITUTE:
Captain Wes Houk, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, is currently assigned to the Corrections Division as Administrative Captain.
Houk briefly discussed “My Resource Connection” and how the program shares data among organizations in a secure matter and that they recently attended the Data Driven Justice Behavioral Design Institute. The goal is to find clients that are high users of our resources, whether that be mental, physical, substance abuse or on the law enforcement side, and provide crucial services to those individuals guiding them to the resources they really need instead of them abusing multiple silos in the same areas. Key members among our community leaders attended a three-day seminar in Maryland to learn how to connect this data among our many agencies. Houk stated the group plans to meet on October 2 to discuss how to get “My Resource Connection” started. The group will look at the tech side of the program, the legalities, and things needed to do by organization for agreements.
Those that went to Maryland included: Nancy Thellman (BOCC), Patrick Schmidtz (Bert Nash) Sandra Dixon, (DCCCA), Karen Shumate (LMH), Trey Meyer (Shelter), Emily Kennedy (Data Analyst with Sheriff’s Office), Bob Tryanski (Douglas County), Capt. Wes Houk (Douglas County Sheriff’s Office) and Trent Mckinley (LPD)
CJCC PROGRAMS REPORT
Robert Bieniecki, CJCC Coordinator, provided a program update on the Pretrial Release Program, Behavioral Health Court and the House Arrest programs. The goal was to analyze programs that could reduce the jail population and make recommendations for improvements in the criminal justice system. The savings numbers were based on the amount saved on the daily cost in the Douglas County jail ($80.79 per day). The farmed out costs could be a range of costs.
Highlights included:
Retrial Release Statistic
Served to date
Currently in the program
Defendant failures*
Jail beds days saved**
Electronic monitoring equipment***
Male 98
Male 28
Male 31
Male 6405
Average daily
Female 30
Female 17
Female 6
Female 2952
12 defendants
Total 128
Total 45
Total 37
Total 9,357
Total $23,521
Behavioral Health Court Statistics
Served to date
Referred to the District Attorney*
Successful completion (Graduation)**
Male 10
Male 37
Male 1
Female 5
Female 18
Female 0
Total 15
Total 55
Total 1
Currently there are four defendants (1 male and 3 female) pending approval based on assessment process details.
House Arrest Program
The House Arrest Program was approved by the County Commission in May 2017 and is still in development. Once operational, there is a capacity to manage 25-40 offenders depending on the level of supervision required.
Edith Guffey asked for the racial composition of the information. Bieniecki stated we are still looking into software that will compile that data. Guffey added that component has taken for a long while.
Chuck Epp agreed we should be tracking this information.
There was discussion on the number of people going through the Behavioral Health Court.
Guffey asked why there were not higher numbers in the program. Charles Branson responded the numbers are true to what he believed would go through the program. He explained why so many were disqualified from the program. So far the program has exceeded his expectations. Weinaug added the numbers are similar to programs in other counties.
Margaret Severson stated the program alone was not expected to save a lot of jail beds.
Epp commented since last year we have only saved about 10 beds in the jail according to the information because we are bringing more into the jail. The number of days are increasing. Gaughan stated bookings are down and the population in the jail is decreasing. However, the length of stays continue to grow according to the data.
Bieniecki stated we can expect a report from Dr. Beck soon that will answer some of these questions.
Scott Miller stated we are dealing with small numbers. In his case, he anticipates municipal jail numbers to go up. The trend is still small at 25 at any given time.
Gaughan said we need to keep in mind clients are committing higher crimes causing longer jail stays.
Soden said we don’t want to lose sight of the success for those these programs have helped. Everything that’s been done so far is amazing.
Guffey commented that the reduction in meetings makes her feel she is losing involvement.
Bieniecki stated we can look into meeting more regularly. Guffey added there is a number of people not coming. We need to look at that.
Gaughan added we need to figure out a solution to this and look at keeping the at-large members involved in the subgroups. He added the County Commission will be meeting at 2:30 p.m. over the next few weeks in work sessions looking at the jail alternatives and impact on jail populations; supportive housing; various financing mechanisms to fund capital improvements; update on behavioral health project, strategies and partnerships; community corrections; and a review.
NEXT MEETING
• Next Meeting: Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. Location: TBD
Alvarado moved to adjourn the meeting. Motion was Miller seconded and carried.
Time and Date