Families of Prisoners

To provide an opportunity for Second Chance Act grantees to gain knowledge and specific strategies on how to leverage data to monitor implementation and inform continuous program improvement. SCA grantees will first receive a brief overview of effective data practices for implementation monitoring and ways to incorporate principles of continuous quality improvement within their own grants. SCA grantees will then hear from a panel of SCA grantees as they reflect on their own efforts to incorporate such practices in the field, including specific successes and challenges.

The purpose of this community call was to share with the grantees about the National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated and highlight three sites that were incorporating innovative practices into their SCA grant programs

To provide an opportunity for SCA grantees to gain a better understanding of inter-agency or inter-system collaboration that can affect systems change in reentry. This informal conversation will allow participants to hear from a panel of fellow SCA grantees as it relates to collaborating in a coordinated manner within and across agencies and systems to reduce duplication of effort, streamline services, ensure easy access, and ultimately improve the broad spectrum of Reentry services being provided.

King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD) continues to be on track for successful completion. During the October to December reporting period, DAJD has had steady contact with the JDI coaches. Due to changing needs in staffing due to COVID, DAJD has decided to redirect some grant funding to innovative training for their staff. DAJD has begun developing a training plan that involves small lessons designed to keep information regarding sexual safety fresh for the staff and their resident population, with a focus on identifying red flags and reporting.

The Los Angeles County Probation Department (LACPD) has worked on staff training and resident education. Due to difficulty in hiring a training officer to assist in curriculum development, the PREA team has begun work on curricula on its own. The TMG coaches have assisted in reviewing materials and providing edits. LACPD is hoping to move forward with initiating the PREA audit process to begin in the summer of 2021. This has added pressure on the PREA implementation team in order to be ready for the initial audit.

TMG coaches conducted a follow-up discussion to their October meeting, and provided a written confirmation of what TMG was permitted to do based on the new interpretation of the grant. NYC staff were glad to receive this information.

During this reporting period the coaches initiated contact with The Carroll County Department of Corrections and began discussing the implementation guide. Initially the coaches had some difficulty determining the point of contact for Carroll County. As of December 18, a team has been created to plan and implement this grant. This team consists of a contracted consultant and high-level staff from the agency, including: a Lieutenant, a Major, a Case Manager, and the Superintendent.

During this reporting period, the coaches initiated contact with The New Hampshire Department of Corrections (NHDOC) and began discussing the implementation guide. Dennis Fitton has been identified as the main point of contact for this grant. Mr. Fitton fills several different roles for NHDOC, which initially created concern among the coaches that he would not have sufficient time or authority to oversee the grant successfully. However, Mr. Fitton was able to procure a memo that granted him the authority to create a team, call meetings, and delegate tasks in support of the project goals.

Cases responded to and closed during the reporting period July 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020

On August 4, September 1, November 5, and December 1 of 2020, Margaret diZerega met with Andre Bethea to share lessons learned from the initiative and receive guidance on the next phase.