"In January, CSG Justice Center staff continued to socialize the guidelines and engage key partners in the field, provide technical assistance (TA) to selected states, further brainstorm outreach strategies, review new changes to language for TA requests, review self-assessment tool submissions, finalize presentations for APPA virtual and in-person conference sessions, host the recording session for the APPA virtual recording, and further identify project next steps.   Throughout the month, the project team applied final edits to the informational one-pager about the TA opportunities and developed promotional toolkits to be shared with BJA and partners for marketing the TA opportunities.   On January 10, CSG Justice Center staff shared the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) virtual presentation draft with BJA for review and approval. Final approval was received on January 22. At this time, the project team recorded the virtual presentation with presenters via Zoom. The recording was later cleaned and the presentation was converted into a PDF. All materials were shared with APPA ahead of the deadline on January 29. APPA confirmed receipt and that the virtual presentation expectations had all been met.  On January 16, CSG Justice Center staff held a call with the senior policy advisor at BJA to discuss updates for the National Risk Guidelines project. During the call, the project team shared updates about each of the TA states, upcoming presentations and conferences and upcoming calls and discussed the review and feedback for the APPA virtual presentation.   On January 29, CSG Justice Center staff shared the APPA in-person presentation draft with BJA for review and approval. BJA provided feedback, which the project team applied and returned for a second review. On January 31, BJA provided approval from the policy team and moved the presentation on to their Communications team for review. The project team is developing communication templates to be used with states to share information about the use and understanding of risk and needs assessment instruments based on the audience.   Technical Assistance (TA) States:  Massachusetts Probation Service (MPS) On January 4, the project team met with MPS staff, and the National Guidelines lead writer, regarding the Request for Proposal (RFP) draft and to provide feedback for producing the final, long-form version.   CSG Justice Center staff worked with MPS staff to schedule virtual focus group meetings in February with entry line probation officers.  Minnesota Department of Corrections (MN DOC), Minnesota Association of Community Corrections Act Counties (MACCAC), and Minnesota Association of County Probation Officers (MACPO) On January 4, CSG Justice Center staff attended a virtual meeting with Minnesotaâs (MN) Risk and Needs Assessment sub-working group with representatives from MN DOC, MACCAC, and MACPO to draft the RFP for the validation of the Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI). The discussion primarily revolved around identifying the essential elements to be included in the RFP and outlining the subsequent steps for the project.   A virtual meeting with the Tribal liaison for MN DOC focused on the education for MN Tribal Nations regarding the LS/CMI, emphasized the importance of the examination of race and ethnicity, identified current roadblocks and challengesâ"both internal and externalâ"and addressed whether a separate risk and needs assessment instrument needs to be developed specifically for MN Tribal Nations or whether a separate validation of the chosen instrument will suffice.  CSG Justice Center staff met virtually with the field service director for MN DOC to discuss the details of the MN RFP and the MN subaward application, specifically addressing funding aspects and outlining the subsequent steps for the subaward funding application to support the validation of the LS/CMI.  On January 29, CSG Justice Center staff conducted Minnesotaâs monthly working group meeting with representatives from MN DOC, MACCAC, and MACPO. During the meeting, CSG Justice Center staff provided a brief overview of the rough draft for the RFP for the validation of the LS/CMI Risk and Needs Assessment Minnesota, and continued discussions about the goals, objectives, and focus of the MN teamâs TA strategy.    On January 30 and 31, MN began the virtual training for the Minnesota DOC LS/CMI Introductory Workshop. This comprehensive workshop spans five days, with each session lasting 4.5 hours, concluding in mid-February. The primary goals of the workshop are understanding the purpose and use of the LS/CMI instrument, scoring methodologies, engaging in simulated LS/CMI interviews with normative feedback, collaborating on case planning with clients, exploring quality assurance measures, and mastering the successful scoring of assessments.  New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJ DOC)  In January, the project team connected with the NJ DOC director of the Office of Compliance and Strategic Planning to request updates regarding the commissionerâs review of the next steps for this project and to schedule a call for February. "
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