In April, CSG Justice Center staff continued to socialize the guidelines and engage key partners in the field, provide technical assistance (TA) to selected states, develop and submit conference proposals, and further identify project next steps. Throughout the month, the team worked on opportunities to advance communication of the project, both externally and internally, and connect with those who submitted new TA requests.Â
The project team prioritized promotional outreach throughout April. A virtual meeting was held with the International Community Justice Association (ICJA) to discuss opportunities for collaboration and to communicate about the project to their members. Following up, the team shared a copy of the promotional toolkit for partners to be able to distribute. ICJA will also work with our team on other speaking opportunities to connect with their members. ICJA runs the Journal of Community Justice, a quarterly publication focused on policy, research, and community-based programs and invited us to write a journal article about the national guidelines, based on our presentation. The project team submitted the final draft of the ICJA article for BJA review, received feedback for review, applied edits, and received final approval from BJA. On April 25, the clean draft of the journal article was submitted to ICJA. The project team will await feedback and apply any edits.
The Strategic Operations Manager for the Center for Law Enforcement Safety and Wellness at the Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR) contacted the project team regarding the new National Prison Partnership (NPP) website, a project funded by BJA. As part of their content development efforts for the new website, they were interested in learning more about our project to be featured on the website. The project team held a call to share project goals, trainings, resources, future plans, logos, design guidelines, etc. Following the meeting, the project team shared links, PDF resources, and organizational logos.
The project team applied the necessary edits to its American Correctional Association (ACA) conference proposal submission and resubmitted for consideration after obtaining feedback from ACA. At the end of April, the project team submitted workshop proposal materials for the September 2024 ICJA Annual Conference in Louisville, KY. This proposal was approved by BJA for submission.
In April, CSG Justice Center staff held a call with San Diego County Public Defenders Post Conviction Relief (PCR) Team to discuss TA opportunities through the National Guidelines for Post-Conviction Risk and Needs Assessment project. San Diego County staff provided a brief overview of their team and recent changes to California state law as it pertains to those who are eligible for a sentence review under Penal Code section 1172.1. CSG Justice Center staff discussed several screener instruments that can be used for those eligible for sentence review. The project team will follow up with some next steps for the group.Â
The project team connected with the point of contact for the National Association of Probation Executives (NAPE), and the upcoming presentation has been pushed back again as there were changes in NAPEâs leadership and they want to allow for more communication to disseminate information to their members to ensure a greater number of attendees.
Finally, the project team is working to finalize dates for the next two virtual peer meeting sessions. This series began in March 2024 and is open to current TA participants for the national guidelines project. The scheduling goal is to have the second in June and the third in August. Topics will include race equity, overrides, and validation.
Technical Assistance (TA) States:
Massachusetts Probation Service (MPS)
The project team conducted a virtual focus group with line-level probation officers representing the Fitchburg District Court jurisdiction. The project team and MPS representatives extensively discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the ORAS tool, along with the challenges associated with administering the assessment and implementing the results through case planning.Â
Due to scheduling difficulties, the project team continues to work with MPS to schedule the remaining focus groups in May with the other three jurisdictions, including line-level probation officers and a discussion centered on the strengths and weaknesses of the ORAS tool, along with the challenges associated with administering the assessment and implementing the results through case planning.
The next full working group meeting has been set for Wednesday, May 29, 2024.
Minnesota Department of Corrections (MN DOC), Minnesota Association of Community Corrections Act Counties (MACCAC), and Minnesota Association of County Probation Officers (MACPO)
On April 19, CSG Justice Center staff attended Minnesotaâs Community Supervision Advisory Committee (CSAC) meeting with representatives from MN DOC, MACCAC, and MACPO. During the meeting, Minnesota CSAC members discussed the specific capabilities of MNâs integration systems for data entering and retrieving and the Request for Information process for MNâs workload study. Â
On April 26, CSG Justice Center staff conducted a monthly working group meeting with representatives from MN DOC, MACCAC, and MACPO. During the meeting, the working group discussed various pre-screening tools used by different systems, including Wisconsin pre-screeners, home-grown versions of assessment tools, and gender-informed risk need assessments. CSG Justice Center staff discussed the need for consistency in risk assessment practices and possible validation of screening tools, including considerations for statewide validation efforts, and recognized the need for broader discussions on risk assessment tools' use, especially for sexual violence, domestic violence, and DUI cases.
The next full working group meeting has been set for Monday, May 20, 2024. Â
New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJ DOC)
On April 3, the project team held a call with the Moss Group and [CD1] [KC2] to introduce the rest of the team, discuss any new updates, identify areas for collaboration, and identify any next steps to best support the NJ DOC TA Team. Â
The project team followed up with another request to NJ DOC for updates.
On April 25, the research partner for NJ DOC shared a scope of work and cost quotes for (1) WRNA Training and (2) WRNA Interrater Reliability and Predictive Validity Studies for both the Institutional and Pre-Release versions, with the Director of the Office of Compliance and Strategic Planning at NJ DOC. These costs are estimates based on the information currently known; however, the research partner is awaiting additional information particularly regarding the Validation study, including understanding challenges to extracting, securing, or cleaning data, or data availability.Â
The TA team is awaiting updates regarding next steps for hiring staff to conduct the assessments, having a technology platform to collect the assessment results, and upcoming meetings.
Please check the box next to the following questions if the answer is 'yes'.
Please enter the applicable Event Date if there is an Event associated with this TTA.
When entering an Event Date, the Time is also required.
If the TTA is targeted to a particular audience or location, please complete the questions below.
Milestones are an element, activity, work product, or key task associated with completing the TTA (e.g. kick-off meeting, collect data from stake holders, deliver initial data analysis).
Please complete the fields below, if applicable, to create a milestone for this TTA.
Please respond to the Performance Metrics below. The Performance Metrics questions are based on the TTA Type indicated in the General Information section of the TTA.
Please submit a signed letter of support from your agency’s executive or other senior staff member. The letter can be emailed to or uploaded with this request. The letter should be submitted on official letterhead and include the following information:
- General information regarding the request for TTA services, i.e., the who, what, where, when, and why.
- The organizational and/or community needs specific to the request for TTA services.
- The benefits or anticipated outcomes from the receipt of TTA services.
By submitting this application to BJA NTTAC, I understand that upon approval of this application for TTA, the requestor agrees to keep BJA NTTAC informed of any circumstances that may impact the delivery of the TTA, including changes in the date of the event, event cancellation, or difficulties communicating with the assigned TTA provider.
Please call [site:phone] if you need further assistance completing this application.