20210728-92644-74

Priority Area 1: Establish a Quality Improvement Unit within the Wyoming Department of Corrections.
Background: Wyoming’s Justice Reinvestment legislation, HEA 0062, requires a QI Unit to be created within the Department of Corrections to monitor the administration and use of substance use disorder assessments. This legislation supports hiring and training staff for the QI Unit, the development of policies and procedures specifically related to the assessment process, and training for personnel in both the WDOC and WDH who will be working within the newly developed QI policies.

Update: In February, CSG Justice Center staff continued working with the WDOC and WDH working groups to establish the policy and procedures that will lay the groundwork for the QI Unit, established under HEA 0062. This included CSG Justice Center staff working with Alliance for Community and Justice Innovation (ACJI) to create a strategic plan for the QI Unit over the next 16 months and helping the Quality Assurance Manager become acquainted with Wyoming’s criminal justice system, meeting with stakeholders across the state, and contributing to the vision for the piloting process for different initiatives developed under HEA 62.
Priority Area 2: Develop standardized, evidence-based treatment guidelines and practices for substance use treatment and programming for people in the criminal justice system.
Background: During the earlier part of Phase II, CSG Justice Center staff completed an assessment of community providers’ treatment practices throughout the state. The assessment found that there were inconsistent practices statewide that could contribute to varying outcomes and costs for clients. To improve consistency, HEA 0062 requires a set of standards to be developed for programs delivering substance use disorder and behavioral health services.

Update: The biweekly meetings with the WDOC, WDH, Wyoming Association of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers (WAMHSAC), and CSG Justice Center staff continue. Throughout February, CSG Justice Center staff worked with ACJI to finalize the development of training materials for the structured decision-making tool for contracted behavioral health providers to use. In February, ACJI facilitated the first of three training sessions to train over 80 stakeholders across the state on the tool. Additionally, in February, a second American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) training was delivered by Train for Change to 40 stakeholders across the state. This brings the total number of people trained on the ASAM criteria to 80.

Priority Area 3: Expand the sharing and acceptance of substance use disorder, mental health, and co-occurring assessment results between providers and WDOC.
Background: The assessment process completed by CSG Justice Center staff in the initial part of Phase II found that there was a hesitancy, or outright refusal, among some community providers to accept substance use assessments completed by other entities. The new behavioral health legislation, HEA 0062, addresses this with the requirement to improve the portability and acceptance of assessments across the state.

Update: The working group composed of WDOC, WDH, and providers that has been focusing on release of information has created a new policy guiding the practice of communication between institutional and community providers as well as an MOU that will allow information sharing between providers within the corrections facilities, community providers, and WDOC. In February, DOC and WDH brought together a working group that included one institutional provider and one community provider to further develop the in-reach and information sharing processes. This will result in a substantial increase in the information sharing that is currently taking place.
Priority Area 4: Create a separate contract or separate provisions in the existing contract between WDH and the regional behavioral health providers to ensure consistency and improve outcomes for people in the criminal justice system.
Background: Current contract standards with community providers are compliance based. With the requirements of HEA 0062, there will need to be adjustments to the contracting procedure to allow for greater monitoring and oversight by the QI Unit and to ensure consistency among practices within community providers.

Update: Wyoming remains in a holding pattern while the legislature reviews the current state of the budget and what the upcoming fiscal year may require as the state continues to respond to reductions in revenue. While contracts cannot currently be renegotiated with WDOC or WDH, discussions have begun about how contracts with behavioral health providers can be revised to include participant outcomes and use of evidence-based standards.
Priority Area 5: Develop data tracking measures.
Background: As part of Justice Reinvestment implementation, states are required to identify and submit regular data tracking metrics to the CSG Justice Center to capture the progress of both the original 4 pieces of legislation, HEA 53, SEA 19, SEA 20, and HB 45, as well as the newest piece of legislation, HEA 0062.

Update: CSG Justice Center staff continue to receive monthly data submissions from WDOC. With a new data share agreement in place, the state has continued to share data for monitoring.
Priority Area 6: Continue to assist the state with monitoring progress, collecting data, tracking outcomes, and addressing challenges with implementation of the priorities associated with HEA 53, SEA 19, SEA 20, and HEA 45.
Background: From March 2019 to March 2020, CSG Justice Center staff completed several implementation projects associated with Wyoming’s first four Justice Reinvestment bills (enacted in February 2019). These included the implementation of the PRISM incentives and sanction system, the use of 90-day sanctions, the use of substance use treatment and cognitive behavioral programming in jails and prisons, the use of early discharge from supervision and capping the length of supervision, and the impact of the expansion of victim compensation periods. Active technical assistance on these projects has wound down, but CSG Justice Center staff continue to monitor their progress and outcomes.

Update: CSG Justice Center staff continue to monitor monthly data submissions to track the progress being made under the initial Justice Reinvestment legislation. Key metrics are reported to the CSG Justice Center with a significant lag time (approximately five months).
Priority Area 7: Engage and educate Wyoming stakeholders on Justice Reinvestment legislation to promote oversight and sustainability.
Background: The Joint Judiciary Committee approved legislation to monitor the implementation of Justice Reinvestment legislation for the first part of Phase II (HEA 53, SEA 19, SEA 20, and HB 45). Additionally, the Joint Labor, Health, and Social Services Committee will receive annual updates on the newly passed behavioral health legislation through 2023.

Update: In February, CSG Justice Center staff continued discussions with the state on wrap activities that could be completed as technical assistance for JR work comes to an end. This included offering retrospective and data analysis to DOC, WDH, and the legislature. On February 4, CSG Justice Center staff received a request from the Joint Judiciary Committee (JJC) to present a historical overview of Justice Reinvestment in Wyoming to the JJC so that new legislators on the committee can learn about the work that has been done over the last three years. The JJC was the oversight committee for the first phase of Justice Reinvestment. The presentation is scheduled for March 5, 2021.
New Insights: Wyoming is facing another budget deficit resulting in budget reductions across state agencies. It is projected that these reductions will impact the WDH in particular, potentially impacting the work being done to address Justice Reinvestment legislation HEA 62. It is expected that the legislature will vote by the close of the current session on April 2, 2021.