20210728-70553-95

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 met in February to review and approve grantee budget modification requests.
New Insights: In February, CJC hired a new IMPACTS program analyst.. This is the third time there has been turnover in the CJC IMPACTS program lead position in the last six months, which has resulted in some challenges in program continuity and implementation progress. CSG Justice Center staff will continue to be a resource for new staff through this most recent change.

New Insights: In February, CJC hired a new IMPACTS program analyst.. This is the third time there has been turnover in the CJC IMPACTS program lead position in the last six months, which has resulted in some challenges in program continuity and implementation progress. CSG Justice Center staff will continue to be a resource for new staff through this most recent change.
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: In February, CSG Justice Center staff met with IMPACTS tribal government grantees to solicit feedback on a draft scope of work for a tribal government-focused technical assistance subcontractor. CSG Justice Center staff then sent a revised draft to several potential technical assistance providers to gauge their interest in participating in the project.

Identified areas for technical assistance include support with data collection and reporting, program evaluation development, and the creation of memorandums of understanding with local and state governments.
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: In February, CSG Justice Center staff continued to engage CJC and OHA staff and leadership in a discussion about potential options for utilizing the 3 percent of grant funding set aside for program evaluation.

CSG Justice Center staff also worked with OHA staff on a potential budget modification to support state-level data connection and analysis to measure emergency bed and state hospital usage by grantees.

The QI Subcommittee did not meet in February.
New Insights: SB 973 initially included funding for a research position at CJC specifically focused on the IMPACTS program. Due to budget challenges and a lengthy hiring freeze, CJC was not able to fill this position until February 2021. The person in this new research position will be the point person for program outcome measurement and evaluation.

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 February, CSG Justice Center staff attended grantee check-ins alongside OHA and CJC staff to provide technical assistance related to data collection and reporting.