Jdai Collaborative Meeting

JDAI COLLABORATIVE MEETING MARCH 9, 2006 MINUTES

The meeting began at 1:05pm.

Alison McGonigal presented the Minutes from the January 27, 2006 meeting for review and approval. Minutes were approved.

Secretary DeSantis welcomed new participants, Alvin Snyder from Children and Families First and Valerie Waddell from Cornell Abraxas.

NSD Update Alison McGonigal shared information regarding the new nonsecure detention program through Providence Service Corp. The new program will begin taking referrals on March 13, 2006. There will be a total of 8 homes available, with each home able to take two children. Two of the homes will be ready on March 13. Referral information will be shared with the Courts.

DFS Referrals Candy Charkow spoke regarding DFS’ request for the Courts to make urgent referrals when a parent does not appear in court, rather than ordering a youth into DFS custody. Half of the youth placed in DFS custody in this situation do not stay in DFS custody or enter out of home care. Jack O’Connell asked how this would be reflected on the bail dispositions. Commissioner Jones responded that the disposition would indicate “release to DFS” without a bond being set. Candy also stated that DFS has been very pleased with Michele Holden’s work in the evenings and on weekends.

Resource Manual David Jones stated that the Expeditors have been going through the Community Resource Manual to develop a list of services to give to parents. He asked for volunteers to assist with developing the list. Amy Reinbold stated the list was last worked on in August-September 2005. Amy has used the list several times, but has run into problems with getting these services to be included as part of conditions of bond. Hearing officers have instead set conditions for youth to “follow rules of parent,” which could include the various services. It was decided that a list of service providers, who are willing to accept urgent referrals, is needed. Parents need assurance that services will be accessible as soon as possible. Amy will work on contacting community providers to determine the feasibility of accommodating urgent referrals. Mary Ball Morton offered the assistance of the Family Court liaisons in explaining insurance questions to families.

Susan Burns gave an update on the Community Youth Mapping project. Delaware Technical and Community College- Dover Campus is conducting a small scale project in Dover. The project is targeting social service agencies and the mapping should be complete by June. The Boys and Girls Club has applied for a Learn and Serve Grant to conduct a small mapping project in Sussex County. The mapping project will begin this summer, even if approval is not given for the grant.

February Data for Evening Position Michele Holden provided data for the month of February. Michele received 33 calls, with her recommendations being followed 30 times of the 33 calls. Of the three times her recommendations were not followed, one parent refused, one youth was not accepted at Camelot, and one foster parent refused custody.

During the month of February, there were 53 intakes in secure detention from the JP Court statewide. Michele was called on 11 of these intakes, 28 were committed when Michele was off or during non-working hours, and 14 were committed while she was working/ not referred. Michele did not have documentation during the meeting on the charges of those 14 admissions.

David Jones asked if there was a question about when the JP Judges should be calling Michele. For example, are Judges only calling when there is a question, dispute or non-detainable offense? Commissioner Jones stated the Judges need to call all the time so that the RAI can be completed.

Jack O’Connell stated that he liked the summary and that it would be helpful to SAC. Jack indicated that all completed RAI’s should be forwarded to Jorge Rodriguez.

Michele did meet with Amy Reinbold to clarify issues in completing the RAI. Secretary DeSantis asked that training be offered to current staff completing the document. Alison McGonigal will coordinate training with Commissioner Jones.

Jack O’Connell asked if Michele had information on what Court (JP) and what Judges (JP) have been calling. Michele does track this information. Michele also tracks the number of non-1007 offenses she has been called on and will forward this information to Jorge. Commissioner Jones stated that the Expeditors track 1007 compliance with Family Court orders and orders they receive from JP Court.

Secretary DeSantis suggested that we think about what we want to know and notify Michele to pull this information together for the monthly meetings. SAC Reports Jack O’Connell reported a downward trend in the detention center populations. December 2005 populations at NCCDC were right at or below capacity, which were record lows. This pattern is real and is due to the work of the Collaborative and the attentiveness of the systems involved.

The Detention Monitoring Report shows the impact of SB 200. SB 200 changed the type of youth seen in Superior Court under original jurisdiction. We should start to see the impact of SB 200 during the next Quarter. Michele Holden’s information will be incorporated in the Detention Monitoring Reports.

For youth “housed more than 10 days” after sentencing, the number decreased by 30 percent. Seventy-five sentenced youth were released during the 4th Quarter. The process for review and placement of youth is improving. Youth are transitioning from secure detention to residential and community-based services in a timelier manner. It is also important to note that more youth in detention are being placed in residential treatment or behavior modification facilities post adjudication rather than releasing directly to the community.

There has been a 69% reduction in non-1007 admissions (illegal detentions) over the last 18 months. The 2nd Quarter 2004 has been used as the high-point measure. In that quarter, there were 251 non-1007 admissions. In the 4th Quarter of 2005, there were 78. Alan Davis, Chief Magistrate, expects there to be greater drop in January 2006 and a large drop should have been seen at the end of the 4th Quarter (compared to the beginning of the Quarter). Jack O’Connell stated these types of changes are rare in Criminal Justice and are significant. Jack O’Connell called attention to the AEC Quarterly Report. SAC data is incorporated into this format and submitted to AEC. Jack pointed out that this shows different breakdowns than our other reports and more importantly, it shows that Delaware has a much more complex system than other jurisdictions. This report shows Delaware’s shift in legal status for the detention population. (i.e. detained upon admission, sentenced upon release) This report will be very valuable, although it is evident that our system does not fit the “cookie cutter” model and this will need to be explained to AEC once they see the numbers. It is expected that a list of questions will be sent to Jack once the report is received and reviewed by AEC. The report will be generated each quarter. Secretary DeSantis asked if we could develop targets for the categories on this report. Secretary DeSantis also asked that the questions and answers be shared with the Collaborative at the next meeting.

Secretary DeSantis stated that more will need to be done for the Superior Court youth in terms of programming, due to their extended LOS. Commissioner Jones asked if it is possible to segregate the Superior Court youth in the facilities. Steve Wesley responded with information on the classification systems that have been implemented at both detention facilities. Two units in NCCDC have been designated for Superior Court youth only. The youth are not and cannot be segregated during school hours.

Commissioner Jones spoke on behalf of the Collaborative in stating how important the data that SAC provides is in measuring the progress of the JDAI Collaborative.

Work Plan A sub-group of the Collaborative met on 2/23/06 to create goals and objectives for the 2006 Work Plan. Work Plan drafts were provided to the Collaborative. Commissioner Jones informed the Collaborative that the completion dates indicated on the plan are interim dates to use as a guide. Dates will be updated as progress is made.

Integrated Data- Electronic documents and compatible databases are needed to assist SAC. Anyone interested in being a part of a subcommittee to examine these issues should contact Alison McGonigal.

DMC- Funding will need to be determined for an assessment by the Burns Institute. Community representation will also be important when examining DMC issues. Secretary DeSantis suggested representatives from the Hope Commission, the Urban League, and the Council of Police (Chair is Capriglione).

Jack O’Connell stated that the House Judiciary Committee has identified persons to serve on a committee to examine Race and Incarceration. Family Court Chief Judge Kuhn was able to get the HJC to expand their analysis to include juveniles. SAC will be a research partner if the JFC approves for this year’s budget. The group will be tasked with preparing a research plan. This will include examining samples of all races from the point of arrest and looking at patterns in detention, sentencing and treatment. Janet Leban is also on the committee and suggested that members of the JDAI DMC subcommittee could attend. Janet agreed that DMC has been an issue given little attention for several years. Judge Davis stated the Chief Justice wants a partnering effort with CJC. Hopefully, this will spark a re-focus on DMC.

RAI- Commissioner Jones informed the Collaborative that AEC is not happy with the current instrument. Commissioner Jones stated that a database has been created and suggests the Collaborative take the position that we attempt to validate the instrument we have, and use that data to make any necessary changes. We need to determine the correlation of the risk factors to re-arrest or FTA prior to disposition.

Secretary DeSantis encouraged participation in the areas identified in the Work Plan. The plan will be discussed in greater detail at the next meeting. Commissioner Jones believes the work plan will organize the efforts of the Collaborative and allow progress to occur more consistently and at a faster pace.

Other Business Judge Davis expressed thanks to Michele Holden for her work with the JP Court. The Judges have responded tremendously. Representative Wagner has taken an interest in this position and has offered to have an open dialog on the need for alternatives and the need for this position. Judge Davis will continue to support this position as well.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:45pm. In Attendance:

Candy Charkow Charlita Shamburger Steven Wesley Jack O’Connell Kecia Blackson Lisa Minutola Lisa DiStefano Susan Burns Karen Latham Leann Summa David Jones Alan Davis Jorge Rodriguez Carlyse Giddens Michele Holden Amy Reinbold Janet Leban Mary Ball Morton Al Snyder Rick Shaw Cari DeSantis Nancy Pearsall Marc Richman Mark Conner Alison McGonigal Valerie Waddell Perry Phelps