20210127-04822-67

Priority Area 1: Convene oversight committee to develop and administer IMPACTS program.
Background: SB 973 established a 19-member Grant Review Committee (GRC) co-chaired by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to oversee the IMPACTS program. The bill also created two subcommittees, the Quality Improvement (QI) Subcommittee to develop and monitor program reporting and outcome measures and the Policy Recommendation Subcommittee to explore further policy discussions relevant to the intersection of criminal justice and behavioral health.

The GRC is responsible for the overall administration of the IMPACTS program, including defining a set of approved supports and services that are authorized for IMPACTS funding, determining the application and selection process, administering fiscal and data reporting, and monitoring grantee progress and outcomes. OHA and CJC are tasked with jointly staffing the committee, developing long-term implementation strategies, and leading data collection and program evaluation efforts.

The GRC and the QI Subcommittee meet monthly. The Policy Recommendation Subcommittee will begin meeting further into IMPACTS program implementation.

Update: The GRC did not meet in August. Following grantee selection in July, CSG Justice Center staff engaged the core implementation team in developing an updated project plan for the GRC and QI Subcommittee covering the next six months. The purpose of the plan is to ensure that the GRC continues to meet statutory reporting requirements and key program milestones, such as filing permanent program rules, releasing grantee reporting and outcome measures, and submitting a biannual report on IMPACTS implementation to the legislature.
Priority Area 2: Equitably include tribal governments in IMPACTS program planning and administration.
Background: At least one IMPACTS grant award is prioritized for tribal nations in statute. In addition, Oregon has a strong government-to-government relationship with the nine federally recognized tribes in the state that includes a formal engagement process when state programs and policies have a significant impact on tribal members and interests. This process is referred to as “consultation” and includes formal written notification to tribal leadership and the opportunity for tribes to collectively or individually provide either written or in-person input. The IMPACTS administrative rules, application, and tribal set-aside funding amount are all expected to go through consultation to incorporate input from the tribes.

Update: All grantees are required to submit data regarding their program target population prior to completing the contracting process. Recognizing that tribal governments may have different processes or resource levels for accessing some of the required data elements, CSG Justice Center staff worked closely with CJC staff to develop an approach to the tribal government grantee data request that allows for some flexibility and assists the agency in gathering additional information related to tribal grantee data availability and collection capacity. In addition, CSG Justice Center staff encouraged CJC to connect individually with each tribal government grantee to begin developing relationships and further discuss data needs and challenges.

This month, all tribes received a technical assistance survey developed by CSG Justice Center staff to better understand program implementation and capacity building needs. CSG Justice Center, CJC, and OHA staff will also discuss technical assistance needs and the possibility of engaging a native-owned, culturally specific contract provider during individual grantee calls regarding target population data. These calls began in late August and will continue through September. This information will assist CSG Justice Center staff in developing a tribal-focused technical assistance plan for providing hands-on implementation support to tribal government grantees.

Priority Area 3: Establish program data collection, monitoring, and evaluation processes.
Background: The GRC is required by statute to create a QI Subcommittee, which will establish clear, meaningful outcome measures and reporting metrics to demonstrate how pilot sites meet program goals; create a state-level system for collecting information about people who are high utilizers; and develop a program evaluation to understand how IMPACTS is working and improving public safety and health outcomes in Oregon communities.

Update: The QI Subcommittee did not meet in August.

The GRC required that all grantees submit data related to their target population prior to completing the contracting process. This data includes aggregate demographic information, as well as jail, emergency room, and state hospital usage rates. This information will be used to further assess data capacity and technical assistance needs, as well as inform the development of future reporting and outcome measures. In August, CSG Justice Center staff developed a reporting template that was sent to each grantee to provide guidance and structure during the data collection process. In addition, CSG Justice Center staff are joining CJC and OHA staff on individual calls with grantees to better understand data collection needs and challenges. Tribal government grantee calls began in August and county grantee calls will begin in September.

CSG Justice Center staff also supported the creation of a work plan for the QI Subcommittee covering the next six months. This includes a detailed meeting schedule to finalize grantee reporting and outcome measures, as well as develop recommendations for program evaluation funding. Three percent of IMPACTS funding is reserved for program evaluations, and the QI Subcommittee is statutorily tasked with recommending program evaluation options to the GRC for approval.
Priority Area 4: Implement county and tribal government programs funded by IMPACTS
Background: The purpose of the IMPACTS grant program is to increase community supports and services for people with behavioral health issues who are also high utilizers of criminal justice resources with the goal of improving individual outcomes and reducing jail, emergency room, and state hospital usage. For the 2020 - 2022 grant cycle, five tribal governments and eleven counties applied for over $21 million in grant funding. As the Oregon Legislature only allocated $9.7 million to the IMPACTS program the application process was highly competitive. After two days of review and deliberation, the GRC awarded IMPACTS funding on July 9 to all five tribal government applicants and six county applicants of varying geography and size.

Funded programs engage the target population across the sequential intercept model, but primarily focus on increasing community supports and services at intercepts 0–2. Examples of IMPACTS-funded programming include crisis stabilization, law enforcement diversion, forensic response teams, supportive housing, reentry programming, culturally specific services, telehealth, and jail diversion. Grantees receive two years of funding and must provide regular progress and financial reports to CJC, OHA, and the GRC to monitor program implementation and evaluate outcomes.

Update: In August, CSG Justice Center staff met with the GRC co-chairs to discuss next steps in developing a technical assistance plan to support county and tribal government program implementation. The co-chairs approved a tailored technical assistance approach for tribal governments that would potentially include culturally specific support from a native-owned contract provider. CSG Justice Center staff also proposed an additional non-tribal government-focused technical assistance track that would support all grantees, as well as county applicants that were not awarded funding. Potential areas of technical assistance include data collection and information sharing, collaborative case planning, housing best practices, and program sustainability planning.

CSG Justice Center staff developed two surveys, one for grantees and one for applicants, in order to gather additional information regarding technical assistance needs and implementation challenges. CJC staff sent these surveys in August and will be scheduling follow-up calls with all respondents to review survey results in September. CSG Justice Center staff will then use this information to develop a comprehensive technical assistance plan to be approved by the GRC at their September meeting.