Analysis Area 1: Analyze crime trends, including recent increases in of violent crime, to help the state understand the impacts of these trends on the criminal justice system, and maintain recent changes that make more effective use of corrections resources, including prison space.
Background: The June 2020 prison population report in Kansas shows the state prisons are operating at 91 percent of capacity. But this figure masks the reality that as recently as March 2020, the Kansas prisons were reported to be operating at 100 percent of capacity by the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC). And, prior to the dramatic population declines from 10,031 people in March 2020 to 9,189 in June 2020 , the prison population was projected to increase 14 percent by fiscal year (FY) 2029, costing the state an estimated additional $209 million. Kansas had the seventh-largest violent crime rate increase in the nation between 2010 and 2018, and people sentenced to prison for violent offenses made up more than half of the prison population in FY2019.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued discussions in September with law enforcement representatives, the Kansas Attorney General, the Director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, additional county attorneys, and advocacy organizations to better identify the local drivers of increases in reported violent crime in rural and urban communities in Kansas. CSG Justice Center staff also provided an update on JRI assessment activities and early findings on violent crime, sentencing, and victims services in presentations to the Commission Proportionality/Guidelines Subcommittee and the full Commission. Lastly, CSG Justice Center staff began to develop and have discussions about policy and administrative recommendations. Early recommendations for improvement included (1) prioritizing the transition to an incident-based reporting system; (2) requiring batterer intervention assessment and programming at the time of first offense; and (3) requiring use of lethality assessments.
Analysis Area 2: Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of community supervision to understand the causes of recidivism and technical violations that result in jail and prison admissions and strengthen community supervision by expanding resources to improve supervision success rates.
Background: Sending people to prison for community supervision sanctions, violations, and revocations has historically contributed substantially to prison population pressures in Kansas. In FY2019, two-thirds of all prison admissions were due to probation sanctions and violations (46 percent) or violations of parole (20 percent). The majority of these admissions were for violations of supervision conditions or supervision sanctions, rather than for new offenses. Breaking these numbers down by sex reveals that nearly two-thirds of women admitted to prison in FY2019 were admitted for probation sanctions or violations, compared to fewer than half of men. Ultimately, people returning to prison due to supervision violations is expensive and consumes state dollars and resources that could be allocated for more effective public safety responses to supervision violations.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued discussions with members from the Community Supervision working group and front-line community supervision staff to understand opportunities for improving current policies. CSG Justice Center staff also provided an update on JRI assessment activities and early findings on community supervision in presentations to the Commission’s Diversion/Supervision/Specialty Courts/Specialty Prisons Subcommittee and the full Commission. Lastly, CSG Justice Center staff began to develop and have discussions about policy and administrative recommendations. Early recommendations for improvement included (1) consolidating concurrent supervision cases; (2) creating statewide conditions of supervision; and (3) creating earned compliance credits or strengthening early discharge mechanisms.
Analysis Area 3: Assess the state’s response to people in the criminal justice system with behavioral health needs and identify opportunities for decreasing recidivism by helping people succeed upon release to the community.
Background: Gaps in Kansas’s behavioral health infrastructure, including a lack of hospital beds statewide and limited community mental health center access in rural areas, place pressure on Kansas’s prisons. When people are unable to access mental health resources, law enforcement and the courts often rely on incarceration to remove them from the community to ensure both individual and community safety, often with the unfulfilled hope that these people will receive needed treatment while incarcerated. Between FY2016 and FY2019, the number of people in prison with a serious mental health need increased nearly three times faster than the total prison population in Kansas. One-third (33 percent) of the people in prison in FY2019 had an identified mental health need, including 10 percent who were identified as having a severe and persistent mental illness.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued discussions with members from the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Subcommittee. CSG Justice Center staff also engaged with key behavioral health staff who deliver programming and services at KDOC and in the community. CSG Justice Center staff began to develop and have vetting discussions on policy and administrative recommendations. Lastly, CSG Justice Center staff provided an update on JRI assessment activities, early findings, and recommendations on behavioral health in presentations to the Commission’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse Subcommittee and the full Commission. Early recommendations for improvement included (1) modification of KDOC policies and contracts to support integrated treatment for people with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders; (2) development of policies and the provision of funding to support prison liaisons for Community Mental Health Centers and/or substance use treatment providers; (3) leverage access to telehealth services through Medicaid and insurance to assist with connections to care for people in the justice system; (4) development of mobile crisis teams through community mental health centers and substance use treatment providers to increase service accessibility in rural and frontier counties; (5) delivery of training for community-based mental health, substance use disorder treatment, and housing providers in the criminal justice system; (6) creation of a subcommittee or tasking the data subcommittee to identify common data metrics that should be collected across the criminal justice, mental illness, substance use disorder, and housing systems; and (7) provision of guidance and/or technical assistance on the use of data metrics and sharing across relevant state and local agencies.
Analysis Area 4: Assess the state’s current reentry efforts for expanding paths to successful employment, in part by increasing post-secondary education opportunities for incarcerated people and ensuring housing support after release, including for those who have mental illnesses, developmental disabilities, and other special needs.
Background: The majority of people released from prison each year need some type of programming or services: 75 percent need programming to address criminal thinking and social skills, 75 percent need substance use and recovery programming, 75 percent need education or employment services, and 20 percent need housing support. Due to limited KDOC capacity, however, access to these services varies widely and many people return to the community without receiving the assistance they need.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued discussions with members from the Commission’s Reentry Subcommittee, KDOC, and the Kansas Department of Commerce. CSG Justice Center staff also began discussions with people who are currently in the justice system, employers, the licensing board of cosmetology, the Kansas Department of Children and Families, and key reentry and community-based stakeholders including housing providers, workforce development agencies, and colleges that offer correctional higher education programming. Lastly, CSG Justice Center staff provided an update on JRI assessment activities, early findings and recommendations on housing, education, and employment in presentations to the Reentry Subcommittee and the full Commission. Early recommendations for improvement included (1) development of policies requiring a consistent method of screening in jails and prisons to track people experiencing housing insecurity or who are at risk of homelessness; (2) development of policies that require ongoing collaboration amongst state agencies to address mental illness, substance use disorders, and housing for people in the justice system; and (3) collaboration with the Rural Prosperity Task Force and the Housing and Homeless Subcommittees to assist in identifying and addressing issues.
Other Updates:
There is strong support, particularly from the Commission and its legislative members, for extending the Commission for another year. The Commission is scheduled to end in December after their final report is delivered to the legislature.
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1. 9/1: Call with Corporate Counsel (Zephyr Products LLC) to learn about Zephyr Products LLC partnership with KDOC and to understand current efforts and solicit recommendations to increase employment opportunities for people in the justice system in Kansas.
2. 9/1: Call with the KCJRC Specialty Prisons Working Group to hear updates on progress from the working group members.
3. 9/1: Call with Attorney General (Kansas) to provide an update on JRI and to discuss sentencing and violent crime.
4. 9/2: Call with District Attorney (Sedgwick County and Chair, KCJRC) to review quotes and press release language for JRI.
5. 9/2: Call with District Magistrate Judge (20th Judicial District) and District Magistrate Judge (10th Judicial District) to provide an update on JRI assessment activities.
6. 9/8: Call with Representative (R-District 74) to provide an update on JRI assessment activities.
7. 9/8: Call with Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director (Substance Abuse Center of Kansas SACK), Clinical Care Manager (SACK), and Clinical Care Coordinator (SACK) to understand current behavioral health procedures/resources, explore challenges, and develop recommendations for improvement.
8. 9/8: Call with Representative (D-District 84) to provide an update on JRI assessment activities.
9. 9/8: Call with District Attorney (Sedgwick County and Chair, KCJRC) to review the upcoming presentations that will be delivered to the full KCJRC and subcommittees.
10. 9/8: Call with Executive Director (Heartland Regional Alcohol and Drug Assessment Center “RADAC”) and Supervisor (Re-Entry Programs, Heartland RADAC) to understand current behavioral health procedures/resources, explore challenges, and develop recommendations for improvement
11. 9/8: Call with Professor (Clinical Professor of Law, Director of Clinical Programs, Director of Project for Innocence & Post-Conviction Remedies) to provide an update on JRI assessment activities.
12. 9/8: Call with Director (Riley County Community Corrections, and Chair, KCJRC Supervision Working Group) to provide an update on JRI assessment activities.
13. 9/8: Call with Professor (Professor of Law, Washburn University) to provide an update on JRI assessment activities.
14. 9/9: Call with Emergency Solutions Grant Program Manager (Kansas Housing Resources Corporation) to understand current housing procedures and resources, explore challenges, and develop recommendations for improvement.
15. 9/9: Call with Secretary (KDOC) and Deputy Secretary of Juvenile/Adult Community-Based Services (KDOC) to provide an update on JRI assessment activities and to discuss the sentencing section of the full KCJRC presentation.
16. 9/10: Call with Supportive Housing Supervisor (Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center) and Adult Counselor (Johnson County Community Mental Health Center) to understand current housing procedures and resources, explore challenges, and develop recommendations for improvement.
17. 9/10: Call with Director of Advocacy (American Civil Liberties Union “ACLU” Kansas) and Policy Associate (ACLU Kansas) to discuss the scope of Justice Reinvestment in Kansas in order to guide a longer call with ACLU staff scheduled for 9/17.
18. 9/10: Call with Chief Executive Officer (Valeo Behavioral Health Care) to provide an update on JRI assessment activities.
19. 9/10: Call with Program Administrator (Department of Children and Families) to learn how DCF partners with other agencies to leverage funds and to understand how funds are supporting programs for people who are currently or formerly incarcerated.
20. 9/10: Call with Director (Kansas Bureau of Investigation) to understand current law enforcement procedures and strategies being employed statewide to prevent violent crime.
21. 9/10: Call with Executive Director (Mid Kansas Community Action Program) to understand current housing procedures and resources, explore challenges, and develop recommendations for improvement.
22. 9/11: Call with Job Specialist (KDOC) to better understand the collaboration between Wichita Parole and workforce coordinators and to develop recommendations for improving access to education and employment in Kansas.
23. 9/11: Call with Executive Director (Northeast Kansas Community Action Program NEK-CAP), Continuum of Care Coordinator (NEK-CAP), Program Manager (NEK-CAP), Family Self-Sufficiency Program Coordinator (NEK-CAP), and Housing Director (Southeast Kansas Community Action Program, SEK-CAP) to understand current housing procedures and resources, explore challenges, and develop recommendations for improvement.
24. 9/11: Call with Vice President of Career Services (Goodwill and NexStep Alliance Director) and Transition Coordinator (NexStep Alliance) to learn about NexStep Unlocked and other initiatives that support education and employment opportunities for people in the justice system and to develop recommendations for improving access to education and employment in Kansas.
25. 9/11: Call with Executive Director (Friends of Recovery) to understand current substance use and housing procedures and resources, explore challenges, and develop recommendations for improvement.
26. 9/14: Call with the Kansas Board of Cosmetology to hear updates during their monthly meeting and to refine recommendations for improving licensing guidelines for people in the justice system.
27. 9/15: Call with Vice President of Instruction (Barton Community College), Dean of Workforce Training and Community Education (Barton Community College), Executive Director of Healthcare and Public Service (Barton Community College), and Coordinator (Correctional Education Services, Barton Community College) to learn about Barton Community College’s efforts to provide education to people in the criminal justice system.
28. 9/15: Call with Program Director (KDOC) to learn about the capacity of KDOC to provide/offer work release, cognitive programming, and incentives for participation.
29. 9/16: Call with President and CEO (Mirror Inc.), Vice President of Treatment Services (Mirror Inc.), and Vice President of General Services (Mirror Inc.) to understand current behavioral health procedures/resources, explore challenges, and develop recommendations for improvement.
30. 9/16: Call with District Attorney (Sedgwick County and Chair, KCJRC) to provide an update on JRI assessment activities.
31. 9/17: Call with Vice President of Career Services (Goodwill and NexStep Alliance Director), Transition Coordinator (NexStep Alliance), and Program Coordinator (NexStep Unlocked) to continue learning about NexStep Unlocked and state funding streams that support education and employment opportunities for people in the justice system.
32. 9/17: Call with Director of Advocacy (American Civil Liberties Union ACLU Kansas) and Policy Associate (ACLU Kansas) to discuss the advocacy landscape in Kansas as it relates to communities and groups of people disproportionately impacted by violent crime, including victims and survivors of violent crime.
33. 9/17: Call with Secretary (KDOC) to provide an update on JRI assessment activities.
34. 9/17: Call with Director of Rehabilitation Services (Department of Children and Families) to learn about Kansas state funding for education, employment, and reentry services and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
35. 9/17: Call with Deputy Chief (Wamego Kansas Police Department, and President, Kansas Peace Officers Association) to understand current strategies being employed statewide to prevent violent crime, with the hopes of developing recommendations for improvement.
36. 9/17: Call with Executive Director (Workforce Partnership), Local Area Project Director (Workforce Partnership), and Site Director (Leavenworth County, Workforce Partnership) to understand local reentry and employment efforts from the Workforce Board in Area 3 (Leavenworth, Wyandotte, and Johnson County) and to develop recommendations for improving access to education and employment for people with criminal records who reside in Kansas.
37. 9/17: Call with Deputy Secretary of Juvenile & Adult Community-Based Services to discuss the supervision assessment and potential recommendations for improvement.
38. 9/18: Call with Director (Northwest Kansas Community Corrections), Director (11th Judicial District Community Corrections), Executive Director (25th Judicial District Community Corrections), Director (Riley County Community Corrections), and ISO II (Northwest Kansas Community Corrections) to provide an overview of Justice Reinvestment in Kansas, learn about challenges faced in the regional areas of Kansas (as an organization and for people on supervision) before and after March, and develop recommendations for improvement.
39. 9/18: Call with the KCJRC Supervision Working Group to hear updates on working group progress and provide updates on the community supervision assessment.
40. 9/18: Call with Public Service Executive (Kansas Department of Commerce) and Program Manager and Alternative Workforce Specialist (Kansas Department of Commerce) to provide an update on assessment findings and recommendations.
41. 9/18: Call with County Attorney, Leavenworth County and President (Kansas County and District Attorney’s Association) to understand current strategies being employed statewide to prevent violent crime, with the hopes of developing recommendations for improvement.
42. 9/18: Call with Executive Director of Programs & Risk Reduction (KDOC) to provide an update on assessment findings and recommendations.
43. 9/21: Call with the KCJRC Diversion/Supervision/Specialty Courts/Specialty Prisons Subcommittee to hear updates on the subcommittee’s progress and provide updates on the community supervision assessment.
44. 9/21: Call with Team Lead (Justice Team, New Century Adult Detention Center, Johnson County) to understand current housing procedures and resources, explore challenges, and develop recommendations for improvement.
45. 9/21: Call with Director of the Business and Industry Institute (Hutchinson Community College) to develop recommendations for improving access to education and employment for people with criminal records who reside in Kansas.
46. 9/22: Call with the KCJRC Proportionality/Guidelines Subcommittee to hear updates on subcommittee progress and provide updates on the JRI assessment.
47. 9/22: Call with Transition Coordinator (NexStep Alliance) and Program Coordinator (NexStep Unlocked) to continue learning about NexStep Unlocked and state funding streams that support education and employment opportunities for people in the justice system.
48. 9/23: Call with Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs, Dean of the College (Donnelly College) to develop recommendations for improving access to education and employment for people with criminal records who reside in Kansas.
49. 9/23: Call with Commissioner of Behavioral Health Science ( KDADS), Director of Behavioral Health Services (KDADS), SUD & Federal Block Grant Project Coordinator (KDADS), Opioid Response Coordinator (KDADS), and Housing, Employment & SOAR Benefits Program Manager (KDADS) to continue discussions on current housing/substance use disorder procedures/resources, explore challenges, and develop recommendations for improvement.
50. 9/23: Call with End-Dependence Kansas Coordinator (Kansas WorkforceONE) to develop recommendations for improving access to education and employment for people with criminal records who reside in Kansas.
51. 9/23: Call with the KCJRC Supervision Working Group to hear updates on working group progress and provide updates on the community supervision assessment.
52. 9/23: Call with PhD, Director of Community Impact (United Ways of the Plains) to understand current housing procedures and resources, explore challenges, and develop recommendations for improvement.
53. 9/23: Call with Clinical Professor of Law, Director of Clinical Programs, Director of Project for Innocence & Post-Conviction Remedies (University of Kansas School of Law) to provide an update on JRI assessment activities and to vet potential recommendations for improvement.
54. 9/23: Call with Executive Director (Kansas Sentencing Commission KSSC), Director of Research (KSSC), and Senior Research Analyst (KSSC) to identify sentencing analysis work in collaboration with CSG Justice Center staff.
55. 9/24: Call with Region II Director (Compass Behavioral Health) to understand current behavioral health procedures/resources, explore challenges, and develop recommendations for improvement.
56. 9/25: Call with Director of Stabilization Services (Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas) to understand current behavioral health procedures/resources, explore challenges, and develop recommendations for improvement.
57. 9/25: Call with Executive Director (Crisis Center of Dodge City) to understand the advocacy landscape in Kansas as it relates specifically to communities and groups of people disproportionately impacted by crime, including victims and survivors of violent crime.
58. 9/25: Call with Regional Operations Manager (Kansas Department of Commerce) and Executive Director (Heartland Works Inc.) to develop recommendations for improving access to education and employment for people with criminal records who reside in Kansas.
59. 9/28: Call with Representative (R-District 74) to provide an update on JRI assessment activities.
60. 9/29: Call with Human Resources and Safety Coordinator (JR Customs Metal Products) and Controller (JR Customs Metal Products) to learn about the partnership with Goodwill and the Unlocked program and to learn how the state of Kansas can get other organizations to have partnerships with education and employment training providers.
61. 9/30: Call with Professor (Clinical Professor of Law, Director of Clinical Programs, Director of Project for Innocence & Post-Conviction Remedies) to discuss the state of housing in Kansas and the recommendations developed for improvement.
62. 9/30: Call with the KCJRC Supervision Working Group to hear updates on working group progress and provide updates on the community supervision assessment.
63. 9/30: Call with District Attorney (Sedgwick County and Chair, KCJRC) to provide an update on JRI assessment activities.
• Gov. Kelly works to address criminal justice reform, fiscal challenges
• Criminal Justice Reform Commission explores high costs of incarceration in Kansas
• Virus significantly reduced state prison population, group says
In September, CSG Justice Center research staff analyzed prison, probation, and parole data from KDOC, focusing on activity and trends for drug offenses, program participation in prison, and recidivism. Research staff also analyzed sentencing data from the Kansas Sentencing Commission, focusing on activity by sentencing grid location, and developed slides and reports summarizing the results of data analysis for the working group presentation on September 14.
- 9/1: Analysis of Kansas Sentencing Commission data—felony sentences by location on the sentencing grid.
- 9/14: Analysis of Kansas Sentencing Commission data—felony sentence details by location on the sentencing grid.
- 9/16: Analysis of KDOC prison data—prison population and length of stay by location on the sentencing grid.
- 9/22: Analysis of KDOC prison data—prison admissions for drug offenses and prison program enrollment by risk levels.
- 9/23: Analysis of KDOC probation data—length of stay on probation and time to revocation, probation three-year incarceration rates.
- 9/24: Analysis of Kansas Sentencing Commission data—felony sentence details by location on the sentencing grid.
- 9/29: Analysis of KDOC prison and probation data—three-year incarceration rates by risk levels.
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