20210728-73513-13

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 June to review and approve a grantee budget modification request. CSG Justice Center staff provided feedback on materials and meeting process.
New Insights: In June, the Oregon legislature allocated $10 million in funding to the IMPACTS program for the 2021–23 biennium, which continues the program at level funding. CSG Justice Center staff began conversations with OHA and CJC staff about the next Request for Grant Proposal. Given the delays to program implementation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, current grantees have spent less than a year’s worth of funding from the previous grant cycle. CSG Justice Center staff will work with the core implementation team to determine how to continue existing grantees, while also bringing on new grantees with the additional funding recently allocated by 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: In June, CSG Justice Center staff met with Kauffman and Associates Incorporated (KAI) to discuss providing technical assistance to IMPACTS grantees and state agencies. They submitted an official proposal for feedback from CSG Justice Center staff that included providing direct assistance to grantees, specialized webinars, and assistance to the agencies with program development, evaluation, and data collection to ensure the equitable inclusion of tribal 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: In June, CSG Justice Center approved a subaward modification from CJC and OHA to contract with Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU) to develop a state-level data collection structure and program evaluation plan. The modification also funds an internal OHA IMPACTS data team to support their engagement in data collection, analysis, and evaluation planning.

In addition, CSG Justice Center staff attended a meeting of the Quality Improvement Subcommittee to review grantee reporting.

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: After discussions with the core implementation team, CSG Justice Center staff have decided to focus remaining implementation technical assistance resources on tribal nation grantees and subcontract with a tribe-specific provider as described in Priority Area 2.