20210728-71600-92

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 March.

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 March, CSG Justice Center staff met with potential tribal government technical assistance providers to discuss their interest in and capacity to participate in the IMPACTS program. All potential providers expressed interest in the program and indicated that they had the skills and capacity to fulfill the scope of work that CSG Justice Center staff prepared with input from grantees. CJC, OHA, and CSG Justice Center staff then convened a meeting with the grantees to share the results of the provider meetings and discuss next steps. Unfortunately, there was not a broad enough representation of tribal grantees at this meeting to come to a consensus on a particular provider. CJC, OHA, and CSG Justice Center staff have begun the process of engaging grantees that were unable to attend to get their input on next steps.
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 March, CSG Justice Center staff engaged new CJC IMPACTS Research Analyst to provide background on IMPACTS program development and discuss plans for the QI Subcommittee, ongoing grant reporting, outcome measurement, and program evaluation.

CSG Justice Center staff also continued to encourage OHA to submit their subaward budget modification to support data collection and analysis as soon as possible. OHA continues to experience challenges in pulling together the necessary budget information for the request.

The QI subcommittee did not meet in March.
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 March, CJC staff discussed several state and local implementation challenges with CSG Justice Center staff. At the state level, there have been administrative delays in CJC releasing some grantee funding, approving budget modifications, and providing other necessary communications required for ongoing grantee program implementation. At the local level, grantees are struggling to hire and retain grant-funded positions, which has delayed program start dates or required programs to begin operating at a reduced or otherwise modified capacity. As a result, several grantees are considering potentially significant program modifications that would require approval by the GRC. Collectively, these challenges mean that grantees are generally taking longer than anticipated to become fully operational and begin spending down funds as originally intended in their applications.

It is possible that this uncertainty in local program implementation will limit or adjust the amount and type of technical assistance CSG Justice Center staff are able to provide directly to grantees. CSG Justice Center staff have begun discussions with the core implementation team on how to modify short- and long-term technical assistance planning to adapt to these implementation challenges.