In June, CSG Justice Center staff continued to socialize the guidelines and engage key partners in the field, conduct calls for new technical assistance (TA) requests, provide TA to selected states, collaborate with stakeholders for virtual peer sessions, develop presentations and coordinate logistics for upcoming conference presentations, and further identify project next steps.
On June 5, CSG Justice Center staff held a virtual planning session with members of the Massachusetts Probation Service (MPS) training division to prepare for the upcoming virtual peer session, scheduled for June 26, centered on the topic of race equity.
In June, the project team held two virtual calls with the Director of the Utah Criminal Justice Center and Associate Professor of the College of Social Work to discuss the contract development process.
On June 17, the project team were invited to join a collaborative call with the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts, a Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) grantee, who requested TA around the topic of risk and needs assessment.
On June 18, CSG Justice Center staff shared updates via email with the senior policy advisors at BJA to discuss updates about each TA state, the second virtual peer session, past and upcoming calls for new requests for TA, the status of scheduled conference and webinar presentations, and the upcoming and current items under BJA review. The project team developed a form to provide requests for TA for BJA review. In June, a request for TA was submitted for BJA review to work with the San Diego Public Defenders.
Throughout the month of June, in response to requests for TA, the project team held calls with members of the Arizona Supreme Court, the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts, and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (DOC) to provide a project overview and discuss potential TA opportunities based on the agency's needs.
On June 24, the project team connected with the point of contact for the National Association of Probation Executives (NAPE) to provide information regarding the event page and registration link being developed for the upcoming targeted-audience webinar on July 18. The project team was also provided with a comprehensive mailing list, to include both members of NAPE and sponsors, and will distribute registration information to all parties.
On June 25, CSG Justice Center staff attended a virtual planning session with the Center for Effective Public Policy (CEPP) to discuss the timeline, planning calls, and deliverables for the webinar scheduled in September.
On June 26, CSG Justice Center staff hosted the second virtual peer meeting session, uniting all participating TA states. The session was dedicated to collaborative discussion centered on the topic of race equity, in relation to the administration and implementation of risk and needs assessment instruments and organizational culture. The session featured guest speakers, which included a senior policy advisor from our organization to discuss what cultural change looks like in an organization, and members of the MPS training division to discuss approaches to improving race equity in your work. Valuable insight and feedback were exchanged among the project team and representatives from the TA states.
On June 29, the project team participated in the 49th Annual Training Institute Conference hosted by APPA in Indianapolis, IN. CSG Justice Center staff presented initiatives aimed at enhancing equity and fairness in our risk and need assessment instruments. The discussion highlighted the transformative impact of adopting the National Guidelines on agencies' communication and utilization of post-conviction risk and needs assessments. On June 30, CSG Justice Center staff were invited to speak for a few minutes at the annual reception for NAPE, being held during the APPA conference.
Technical Assistance (TA) States:
Massachusetts Probation Service (MPS)
On June 4, the project team and the lead writer of the guidelines held a virtual meeting with the MPS state team to discuss the applications received for the Request for Proposal (RFP) and provide a recommendation on the final choice. Both parties agreed to extend the review period and re-evaluate during the monthly working group meeting on June 26.
CSG Justice Center staff, along with lead writer of the national guidelines, conducted a virtual meeting with members of the MPS core team to discuss evaluating the three RFP proposals submitted for their revalidation project. A scoring sheet was provided to all attendees to complete and send back to MPS for scoring. MPS will then determine the top two selections and begin conducting virtual proposal presentations, to finalize their vendor selection, in July.
On June 26, CSG Justice Center staff, along with lead writer of the national guidelines, conducted a virtual working group meeting with MPS to discuss all recent updates on the revalidation process, debrief completed focus group meetings, strategize logistics for the remaining focus group meetings, and discuss additional instruments that could be implemented and tailored for specific supervision populations. The next working group meeting is scheduled for July 31.
Due to scheduling difficulties, the project team continues to work with MPS to schedule the remaining focus group meetings with the remaining 3 jurisdictions, including line-level probation officers and a discussion centered on the strengths and limitations of the Ohio Risk Assessment System (ORAS) instrument, along with the challenges associated with administering the assessment and implementing the results through case planning. The new expectation is to schedule these meetings during next month to occur in August or early September.
Minnesota Department of Corrections (MN DOC), Minnesota Association of Community Corrections Act Counties (MACCAC), and Minnesota Association of County Probation Officers (MACPO)
On June 3, CSG Justice Center staff conducted a monthly working group meeting with representatives from MN DOC, MACCAC, and MACPO. The working group explored various risk assessment screening instruments used across counties, with representatives from Hennepin and Ramsey County sharing their respective approaches. General questions arose about the universal application and validation of these instruments. Specific county practices were highlighted, such as Aitkin's and Isanti's handling of DWIs and misdemeanors. Key points emphasized the importance of effective, equitable instruments and local validation. The RFP for the validation of the LS/CMI closed with five proposals submitted, and representatives from all three delivery systems will create a second working group to review applications, with an expected turnaround time of 2-3 weeks. The next virtual working group meeting will be held on July 15.
On June 12, CSG Justice Center staff attended Minnesota's Community Supervision Advisory Committee (CSAC) virtual meeting with representatives from MN DOC, MACCAC, and MACPO. During the meeting each working group provided updates on their project and next steps.
Members of CSAC voted to move forward with the recommendations from the Minnesota's Corrections Services Technology Solutions (CSTS) working group. CSTS Data Committee recommended CSAC use CSTS recidivism data to enable recidivism reporting for CSTS clients, starting with individual agencies and potentially expanding to statewide reporting. Additionally, agencies will run recidivism reports for their clients, using search filters or importing Excel lists of client IDs. This process will replicate existing recidivism reporting practices from Hennepin and Ramsey Counties, utilizing Minnesota Court Information System data integration.
New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJ DOC)
In June, members of the NJ DOC state team attended the second virtual peer session focused on the topic of race equity. During this meeting NJ DOC introduced their new team member on the women's services team.
On June 28, CSG Justice Center staff reached out to the NJ DOC team via email to schedule the next call in July.
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