Call to Order and Roll Call
The 6th meeting of the Task Force on the Unified Juvenile Code was held on Friday, October 4, 2013, at 1:00 PM, in Hopkinsville, Ky. at the Christian County Justice Center. Senator Whitney Westerfield, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator Whitney Westerfield, Co-Chair; Representative John Tilley, Co-Chair; Harry L. Berry, Commissioner Hasan Davis, Glenda Edwards, Steven Gold, Commissioner Teresa James, Judge Lisa P. Jones, Bo Matthews, Rachel Bingham, in proxy for Justice Mary C. Noble, Bob Carpenter, in proxy for Pamela Priddy, and John Sivley.
Guests: Sonja Hallum, Senior Associate, State Policy, Public Safety Performance Project; Ryan Gies, Deputy Director, Division of Courts and Community Services, Ohio Department of Youth Sevices; Elizabeth Clarke, President, Juvenile Justice Initiative, Illinois; and Retired Judge George Timberlake, Illinois.
LRC Staff: Matt Trebelhorn, Jessica Causey, and Kathy Miller.
Overview
Sonja Hallum, Senior Associate, State Policy, Public Safety Performance Project introduced the topics of the meeting. The presentations will be from policy makers in Ohio and Illinois, which have put financial incentives in counties to provide services to youth.
Expanding the Community Continuum for Serving Youth: RECLAIM Ohio, Targeted RECLAIM and Juvenile Justice Reform
Ryan Gies, Ohio Department of Youth Services, said that in 2000, Ohio had a vision of creating a “community-based service delivery system that is designed to provide appropriate services and supports for youth by matching risk level with the least restrictive program setting.” RECLAIM was rolled out state-wide in 1995, and Targeted RECLAIM was created in 2010. RECLAIM is an acronym for Reasonable and Equitable Community and Local Alternatives to the Incarceration of Minors. Ohio has experienced a decrease in population in the Department of Youth Sevices (DYS) and on parole. Total DYS admissions have dropped 54 percent since Targeted RECLAIM was implemented. While some of the reduction can be explained by a declining population of youths age 10-19, RECLAIM has resulted in notable drops in youth arrests, delinquency cases and felony adjudications.
Mr. Gies detailed results of a study to determine if the reduction in youth adjudications meant the population was being pushed into adult courts. The study showed a decline in Adult Court Transfers by 35 percent from 2007 to 2012, so reform has been successful.
Efforts to enhance the continuum of care for youth in Ohio include the Ohio Youth Assessment System (OYAS), community-based services and programs that go hand in hand with cognitive behavioral therapy, reforming release authority processes and strengthening parole services. OYAS is an assessment process that spans from arrest through discharge from parole. Five tools are used to match youth with effective interventions; they are diversion, detention, disposition, residential, and reentry. Screeners are used to make determinations of appropriate services.
RECLAIM and Targeted RECLAIM work towards keeping youth in their communities and out of correctional facilities. When placement is necessary to ensure community safety, RECLAIM strives for smaller facilities closer to home with programs geared toward behavioral change. In the long term, cost savings associated with RECLAIM programs range from $11 to $45 for every dollar spent versus placement in DYS or a Community Corrections Facility.
Targeted RECLAIM focuses on counties with the highest number of DYS admissions and funds evidence based interventions. The programs include residential and non-residential cognitive-behavioral therapy, community based treatment centers, multisystemic therapy, and effective practices in community supervision.
A discussion on funding followed a question from Senator Westerfield. A RECLAIM Advisory Committee was formed to oversee the funding formulas. Funds are used to provide programs and services to delinquent, unruly and at risk youth through contracted and court-operated programs.
Mr. Gold asked about funding in urban versus rural counties. Mr. Gies replied that more information would be forwarded on that topic, but that every county would be guaranteed $30,000 to $50,000 as an incentive to implement the non-mandated programs.
Commissioner James asked what happens to juvenile status offenders. Mr. Gies answered by saying the vast majority of juvenile offenders fit into that category, not felons, and would be recipients of program services.
Ms. Edwards had a question about program and transportation vouchers. Mr. Gies replied that communities answered those questions individually based on need.
State and Local Partnerships for JJ Reform
Elizabeth E. Clarke, J.D., founder and president, Juvenile Justice Initiative of Illinois and the Honorable George Timberlake, former Chief Judge, 2nd Judicial Circuit, Illinois, were next on the Task Force agenda. Ms. Clarke and Judge Timberlake presented “One State’s Fiscal Realignment Strategy to Shift Limited Resources to Community Intervention.”
In Illinois, the lack of community-based alternatives for delinquent youth at the county level has prompted counties to rely on the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ), to provide evaluations or treatment services for delinquent youth at the pre-adjudication phase for youth who have been committed to IDJJ as a sanction. This practice shifted the fiscal burden to the state. To address the issue, the Illinois General Assembly created the Redeploy Illinois program in 2003. Redeploy Illinois has 3 goals: reducing youth commitments to IDJJ for nonviolent offenses, providing community treatment services, and offering cost-effective ways of handling youth crime while maintaining public safety. Initial evaluations showed significant reduction in overall IDJJ commitments, court evaluation referrals and recidivism. The RI program is five times less expensive than IDJJ full commitments. Full results of the evaluation study were discussed.
Judge Timberlake spoke on the commitment to restorative justice. He said a very strong diversion program requires “collaboration, leadership and passion.”
Judge Timberlake described the key components of the early Juvenile Justice Initiative including Kids Courts in Schools and truancy review boards.
Senator Westerfield asked about the recidivism rate of youth who had been committed to the non-secure Redeploy facilities. Judge Timberlake responded that the rate was down to 22 percent from 50 percent.
Redeploy Illinois strives for public safety, fiscal responsibility, and positive outcomes.
In response to a question from Rachel Bingham about truancy boards, Judge Timberlake said therapeutic appointments can be made immediately. Truancy boards also address base problems such as homelessness and mental health issues in the home.
Further discussion of Truancy boards continued after questions from Judge Jones and Commissioner James. The boards are manned by community volunteers, with notices served by the sheriff and are not statutorily mandated.
A discussion of funding followed a question by Senator Westerfield. The initial budget of $2,000,000 was offset in the state budget by reductions in state expenditures. Other funding came from Planning Grants.
Ms. Clark said Redeploy Illinois has shown that community-based services for juvenile offenders are generally less costly and more effective than institutional care in correctional facilities. Redeploy funding has increased the availability of community services for juveniles and their families; access to intensive treatment, substance abuse treatment, aggression interruption training and electronic monitoring, allowing judges to ensure community protection without having to commit juveniles to IDJJ.
Senator Westerfield summarized some of the testimony and commented that he is shocked that the average length of stay in a facility for a juvenile varies by less than a month no matter what level of offense they have committed. He believes that most youth need something different and that the Task Force is in place to address the issues.
The 6th meeting of the Unified Juvenile Code Task Force was adjourned at 3:15 PM CST.