20240626-113217-42

"Priority Area 1: Data Analysis Analyze data from the Department of Corrections (DOC), KSP, AOC and other state agencies (where appropriate and available) to quantify the number of people involved in Kentucky’s criminal justice system for DV- and IPV-related offenses, with the goal of identifying the full scale and impact of these offenses on the state’s criminal justice system and the potential for reducing prison and jail populations and improving interventions. CSG Justice Center staff will also quantify the prevalence of domestic violence by identifying the number of people on community supervision with current or historical IPV-related offenses or protective orders.  Background: Kentucky has historically struggled to consistently collect and comprehensively analyze relevant data to effectively evaluate and address the state’s DV challenges. This is especially troubling given that lifetime prevalence rates of DV in Kentucky are far higher than the national average. About 45 percent of all women and 36 percent of all men in Kentucky experience DV during their lifetime compared to the national averages of 37 percent and 31 percent, respectively. Additionally, the Department of Corrections (DOC) is unable to adequately quantify how many people are incarcerated or on community supervision with a domestic violence-related history, which creates a missed opportunity for the state to comprehensively address the DV related population with programs and intervention. Because the DOC is contracted to handle misdemeanor probation in Jefferson County, the largest county in the state, additional information will be available for the analysis.  Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued analyzing data provided by the KSP. Progress has been made with the DOC incarceration and supervision data, specifically in terms of cleaning and preparing the data files for analysis. Staff are currently working to match criminal defendant cases in the AOC data to the DOC incarceration and supervision files to determine the overlap between people involved in the criminal justice system and people who have a documented history of domestic violence court filings (to include violations of civil protection orders). Analysis of the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data has been completed; results for 2015 to 2022 will be shared with the state. This timeline will align with the AOC data, as changes in Kentucky state law regarding interpersonal (dating) violence occurred in 2015, expanding the type of behavior that is considered domestic violence. Priority Area 2: Assess Community Supervision  Conduct a qualitative assessment of community supervision systems in Kentucky, with a focus on DV caseloads. CSG Justice Center staff will assess the effectiveness of current policies and practices in reducing revocations and promoting successful and safe community reintegration. CSG Justice Center staff will conduct interviews and focus groups with DOC leadership, probation district supervisors, probation and parole officers, and clients on supervision with a DV-related charge (if available) to understand and assess the implementation practices for evidence-based supervision.  Background: Kentucky had the 14th-highest rate of people on probation or parole supervision in the country in 2019, with nearly 64,000 people under state or local supervision. Before the start of the pandemic, over 45 percent of the prison population was incarcerated due to supervision violations, which was the seventh highest percentage in the country at that time. Resources for people who are incarcerated or supervised in different parts of the system vary and may not support ensuring people receive the treatment and programming they need to reduce recidivism. Additionally, while the commonwealth is currently unable to identify the exact number of people on community supervision with underlying DV or IPV offenses, stakeholders in Kentucky report that people cycle through probationâ€"especially misdemeanor probationâ€"for DV offenses, which could be another driver of their prison and jail population growth. The DOC is contracted with Jefferson County, which includes Louisville, to manage those on probation with misdemeanor offenses, which could provide an estimate of the total misdemeanor population with an underlying DV or IPV offense and how that population fares on supervision. Update: In January, CSG Justice Center staff worked on synthesizing the conclusions gathered from the probation and parole assessments. CSG Justice Center staff also worked on compiling the key findings and developing draft policy recommendations based on these findings. CSG Justice Center staff began gathering initial information from county probation and parole offices across regions for possible focus groups with county probation and parole officers. Priority Area 3: Assess Responses and Interventions to Those Who Commit Domestic Violence Conduct a qualitative assessment of the efficacy, accessibility, and availability of services, treatment, and programming aimed at those who commit domestic violence, with an emphasis on Batterer Intervention Programs (BIP), to better understand if the interventions for the incarcerated and supervised populations reduce supervision failure and repeated criminal behavior. CSG Justice Center staff will evaluate the use of evidence-based programming, funding for such programming, the use of risk and need assessments, and reentry processes. This assessment work will inform evidence-based solutions for the commonwealth’s DV population.   Background: Kentucky stakeholders report that it is common for people convicted of IPV-related offenses to be sentenced to misdemeanor probation multiple times where they receive little support or services beyond the requirement to participate in a Batterers Intervention Program (BIP). However, stakeholders suspect that BIP may not be effective and have expressed interest in assessing these programs and developing recommendations for improvements. DOC leaders have explained that when a person is incarcerated, the DOC does not receive background information on that person’s either victim or perpetrator history with DV or IPV (beyond criminal convictions), which inhibits their ability to adequately manage and serve that person. Further, while DOC provides cognitive behavioral therapy and anger management, BIP is not available, which may indicate key areas of missing programming for people with criminal histories that include DV and IPV. Resources for people who are incarcerated or supervised in different parts of the system vary and may not support ensuring people receive the treatment and programming they need to reduce recidivism.  Update: CSG Justice Center staff discussed the possibility of developing a survey for incarcerated people to self-report their history with domestic violence, whether as someone who committed domestic violence or as a victim, to supplement the administrative data analysis. CSG Justice Center staff met with the DOC commissioner to determine if conducting this type of survey is logistically feasible for the DOC. The DOC commissioner indicated that she is open to the idea and would like a written proposal from CSG Justice Center staff about the survey. From there, she will determine how we should execute the survey. CSG Justice Center staff have been planning for BIP provider focus groups. CSG Justice Center staff met with ZeroV staff to gain insight on conducting these focus groups and for ZeroV to provide the information about the focus groups to BIP providers. CSG Justice Center staff have sent out BIP focus group invitations for February 7 and February 15. CSG Justice Center staff will continue to remind BIP providers of these focus group sessions. Priority Area 4: General Stakeholder Engagement Connect with criminal justice stakeholders (law enforcement, judges, defense attorneys, prosecuting attorneys, corrections staff, lawmakers, victim and their advocates, and community-based organizations) across the commonwealth to fully understand the DV challenges and how it impacts the criminal justice system at different points and in different regions of the state. CSG Justice Center staff plan to engage with a diverse array of stakeholders at every step of the project to ensure proper context to CSG Justice Center’s data analysis, qualitative assessments, and policy recommendations. Background: Despite various local and regional efforts to address DV, it continues to be an issue that permeates the commonwealth. Louisville has a Criminal Justice Commission Domestic Violence Coordinating Council that meets to discuss domestic violence and has published reports on addressing domestic violence. Lexington created a Special Victims Unit to support survivors of domestic violence. The Attorney General’s Office created the Domestic Violence Resource Prosecutor position under the Prosecutor’s Advisory Council. CSG Justice Center staff can connect these efforts from across the commonwealth, help break down silos, and guide possible policy discussions.  Update: Representatives of the governor’s office kept CSG Justice Center staff updated on the progress of issuing the executive order. The governor’s office indicated there is one final component of the executive order process they need to complete for it to be final. CSG Justice Center staff also met with the former director of Kansas’s Department of Victim Services, who was a part of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative in Kansas. CSG Justice Center staff gained insight into how Kansas handled DV and IPV reform and got ideas on how to implement policy change. CSG Justice Center staff learned about potential policy areas that could be explored in Kentucky such as coordinated community responses, reform to how BIP is funded and paid for, and reforms to risk and needs assessments. CSG Justice Center staff met with Kentucky Association of Counties’ (KACo) director of strategic operations, a former CSG employee, to gain insight into the organization and to try to make connections with county probation and parole and local jails. CSG Justice Center staff learned that a challenge jails face is the low per diem rate the state gives local jails to house state incarcerated people. This is a potential area of work to explore in the project. CSG Justice Center staff have been actively trying to meet with the Kentucky Jailers Association, and the KACo director of strategic operations offered to connect us with them and recommended other stakeholders for us to connect with. KACo is a powerful lobbying group in Kentucky, and it will be important for the CSG Justice Center to foster that relationship moving forward. Priority Area 5: Assessing the need for broader criminal justice reforms Build momentum for fostering support for another JRI project focused on the broader criminal justice challenges. CSG Justice Center staff believe that the initial DV- and IPV-focused analyses will lay the foundation for the commonwealth’s understanding of larger criminal justice challenges and trends and motivate state leaders to request additional and broader analyses through another round of JRI.  Background: Kentucky jail and prison populations are increasing. From 2000 to 2018, the state’s prison population increased 13 percent, with a prison incarceration rate of 428.9 per 100,000 adult residents in 2018.iv During the same period, the jail population increased by 70 percent, and the jail incarceration rate reached 792.7 per 100,000 adult residents in 2018.v Following the pandemic, the commonwealth saw a 24 percent decrease in the number of individuals incarcerated by DOC in prisons, jails, and other state-funded facilities. Starting in 2022, the number of incarcerated people began to rise again.vi From 2021 to 2022, the DOC population incarcerated in jails increased 12 percent. In addition to housing people who are sentenced to incarceration for misdemeanor offenses, local jails in Kentucky house nearly half of people sentenced to incarceration for felony offenses. Without relying on local jails, Kentucky would be unable to house the total prison population in existing state facilities.   Update: CSG Justice Center staff have continued to track the Safer Kentucky Act. It moved through the House Judiciary Committee and is awaiting introduction on the House floor. There is still no date for which it will be introduced onto the house floor. CSG Justice Center staff continued to pay attention to the content and the progress of this piece of proposed legislation. CSG Justice Center staff also met with a state senator to keep him updated on the progress of the project and immediate next steps for continuing analysis and engagement."