Justice Reinvestment Oversight Board Meets: GOT MONEY?
The Justice Reinvestment Oversight Board was established in Chapter 515 to be housed within the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention. The Board is charged with monitoring the progress and compliance with the implementation of the recommendations of the Justice Reinvestment Coordinating Council and Chapter 515.
At its meeting on November 20, the Oversight Board heard the current projected savings from reduced incarceration. The amount of savings is based on the difference in expenditure between October 1 2017 and October 1 2018. (Drum roll…) The exact amount is still being calculated, but the Budget Committee told the board that the final savings will be between 3.5 and 4.25 million dollars. The Justice Reinvestment Act requires that up to 50 percent of this money be set aside to fund grants as recommended by the Board. (MAJR will be lobbying to ensure that maximum funds are available!) The Board spent the majority of the remaining time listening to descriptions of two programs that might be targeted to receive grants. Judge Long, the Board Chair, reminded members that 95 percent of people held in prisons and jails will be released. What are the best strategies to keep them from re-offending?
The District Court Reentry Project (DCREP), a court-initiated program located in Baltimore and fueled by the efforts by volunteers, began in 2015 through the efforts of Associate Judge Nicole Pastore Klein. The program was described in a 2017 issue of the University of Baltimore Law Review. Judge Klein understood that returning offenders often came from families where they had no role models of people holding jobs. When they returned to their community, they had little to occupy their time and often fell back into the same patterns that led to incarceration. To address the problem, the Judge worked evenings and weekends to forge agreements with nonprofits that were able to offer jobs to people referred by the court on a “rolling” basis, meaning that they did not have to wait for a program to begin to be accepted but could start – if they accepted the referral – immediately.
For the program to work, the prosecutor and the public defender had to be willing to work together to offer it to offenders as an alternative to jail time. Judges also had to be willing to offer offenders incentives for completing the program. For example, the period of probation might end early, there could be a change in supervision stratus, probation fees could be waived, or the person might receive a term of “probation before judgement” instead of a guilty finding. The program has recently expanded to include participants who have not been convicted as part of their pretrial supervision program. The referring judge receives regular reports on the person’s progress and is immediately notified if the person is out of compliance. All 28 judges on the City bench are now participating in the program, and there are 4 specially assigned probation agents in Baltimore City.
The program has succeeded in building supportive partnerships. Eleven nonprofit organizations provide training and jobs. For example, the Maryland Multi-Housing Association offers plumbing certification, the Maryland Food Bank provides training and jobs in food service, and the Caroline Center opens employment possibilities in pharmaceutics. AmericaWorks, Goodwill Industries, Project SERVE, and Christopher Place are examples of other important partners. Under Armour provides gift bags for graduating classes, and the Ravens contribute inspirational speakers. Police officers, judges, family members, and others attend the graduation ceremonies to give people a clear signal that the community is behind them and wants them to succeed. To graduate, the individual must hold the same job for 3 consecutive months. To date, 123 people have graduated, and only 4 graduates have reoffended (and two of those offenses were traffic violations).
The Judge gave a clear sense of why the program needs funding and how additional funds would be used. The program currently has only one paid employee and is unable to follow up to support graduates who have lost jobs, track graduates’ experience, provide mentors, hire interns, or purchase systems to help them share confidential documents. Because of its status as a court-supported program, it cannot receive cash donations from non-governmental sources.
The Board also heard a description of the Gatekeepers program in Hagerstown, Maryland. Director Bill Gaertner explained that the program – which begins one year prior to release — includes mentoring, coaching, and support for people seeking employment. It relies on a strong community collation for success. For example, participants include addiction treatment providers and Family Strong, which provides support for families. Churches provide clothing through the program. Over 97 percent of participants are employed, typically not in minimum wage jobs. The Director felt the program could be replicated statewide at low cost.
In response to a question from a Board member, Mr. Gaertner said there were no plans to expand the program to juvenile offenders. He noted that this would be complicated, since adult and juvenile populations cannot be mixed.
In the remaining meeting time, the Board considered possible technical and nontechnical changes to the Act. For information, watch for final minutes on the Board’s web site. Thanks to Barbara Thomas and Susannah Rose for this report.
