The House Courts and Criminal Code Committee used the second week of the session to have an informational meeting on criminal justice reform issues. Chair Rep. Washburne invited state and local criminal justice stakeholders to present information on the Justice Reinvestment Advisory Council, the Evidence Based Decision Making Initiative, community supervision, addictions treatment, collaboration, and HB 1006 implementation issues. The following individuals presented information:
- Jane Seigel, Executive Director of the Indiana Office of Court Services (formerly known as the Indiana Judicial Center), reported on the work of the Justice Reinvestment Advisory Council (“JRAC”) and the Evidence Based Decision Making Initiative (“EBDM”). As chair of JRAC, she stated that the coordinated work of the two groups has resulted in historic, statewide cooperation among criminal justice stakeholders. She also reported that Indiana was recently selected for Phase VI of the EBDM Initiative and will receive technical assistance with six change targets, including pretrial release, mental health and risk reduction strategies. Seigel also stated that there is a critical need for better and more uniform data collection for program evaluation purposes.
- Chris Naylor, Assistant Director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, reported that prosecutors are concerned with the drug epidemic, enforcement, and want increased sentences for drug dealers.
- Larry Landis, Executive Director of the Indiana Public Defender Council and JRAC member, reported that JRAC is working as a process, providing funding for necessary infrastructure to address recidivism and mental health and addiction issues. He stated that outcomes on recidivism will take a few more years and also highlighted legislative proposals from JRAC. Landis further stated that public defenders must be present at initial hearings to ensure meaningful pretrial release decisions.
- Kevin Moore, Director of the Family and Social Security Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction, reported on the forensic treatment services voucher program known as Recovery Works. He stated that DMHA decided to use a voucher system instead of grants to each county so that services could be coordinated with community supervision. Moore also stated that Recovery Works is a payor of last resort and currently provides mental health and addictions services to over 4500 felons.
- Steve McCaffrey, President and CEO of Mental Health America Indiana, reported that the Recovery Works implementation has been successful and changes made collaboratively. He also identified sober living facilities as a gap in services.
- Linda Brady, President of the Probation Officers Professional Association, and Bill Watson, President of the Indiana Association of Community Corrections Act Counties, presented jointly on collaboration between probation and community corrections. They applauded the legislature’s requirement for collaboration and stated that it has resulted in increased communication, sharing of resources, and joint training opportunities.
- Jon Ferguson, Legislative Liaison for the Department of Correction, reported that DOC distributed a total of $24.7 million to community supervision agencies in FY 16 and FY 17. The funding allowed probation departments, community corrections agencies, court recidivism reduction programs, and prosecutor diversion programs to increase staff and programming for Level 6 offenders supervised in the community. He also praised the work of JRAC and highlighted the need for a system-wide database for data collection.
- Bill Wilson, Jail Services Coordinator for the Indiana Sheriffs Association, reported that sheriffs are most concerned with jail populations. He stated that JRAC defines a collaborative approach to criminal justice issues, and sheriffs appreciate working with DMHA to bring treatment to jail inmates.
- Mike Toles, supervisor of the Indiana State Police Meth Suppression Unit for Northern Indiana, reported on meth suppression efforts. He stated that the number of meth labs discovered by the State Police is down and the number of children affected by meth labs is also down. Sgt. Toles stated that it is becoming harder to detect labs because of the use of the “one-pot method”.
- Beth Lock, Director of Allen County Government Affairs, reported that the Allen County Commissioners recently purchased an old DOC youth facility to use for work release and community corrections. She stated that the Allen County jail population has increased to over 700 inmates and they need a residential component for mental health and addictions treatment of offenders.
Watch the entire meeting at: https://iga.in.gov/information/archives/2017/video/committee_courts_and_criminal_code_0300/