Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 (Agenda)
Item 23
>> item 23.
receive briefing on research based strange for off fender reentry by the policy research project at the university of Texas lbj school of public affairs.
>> thank you.
>> go ahead when you're ready.
>> I'll fill time while you get that in.
a its a florb have the lbj students here from my all make matter--alma matter.
thanks to dr. Spelman for having brought the project to the county and explored with dar la gay, roger jeffreys and many other divisions within the county how we can best utilize the really tremendous efforts and resources of the graduate students at the lbj school in looking into this very important issue.
>> with that introduction, please have a seat.
it's all yours.
>> .
>> my name is arena and I'm a first year at the lbj school.
we divided the project in different teams. We will have three teams presenting.
in the first group we wantd to look at what types of sex offender programs are going to be most effective.
we thought we don't want to continue programs simply because they have been in existence and we don't want to be afraid of starting new programs simply because we haven't done it here.
we want to look at overall the most effective programs for exoffenders and what does it mean for Travis County.
for the purposes of our presentation we used the washington state institute for public policy study, a report where they didn't do a study of exoffender programs themselves but they compiled hundreds of studies that had already been done of programs over the last 25 years' rown the nation and then developed their own metric to look at whether the benefits in terms of reduced crime, reduced incarceration costs, whether those outweigh the costs of programs. We think when addressing the issue there are a variety of stakeholders including the exoffenders, criminal justice agencies, citizens, business, as well as other Travis County agencies that can benefit from increased fund availability.
the wisconsin state study looked at different programs in terms of six different categoer.
we added a 7th, housing programs and they analyzed six different types of programs. I want to briefly give you a definition of what these programs mean.
cognitive behavioral they are pirk the goal of the is to--therapy, the goal is so modify cognitive processes so they think before they act and understands the consequences of their behavior.
this is usually done in group therapy sessions.
adult medial sanctions serves a midrange program between prohibition and incarceration.
sex offender treatment self-explanatory, chemical, behavioral or surgical.
drug courts gen really targeted towards nonviolent offenders who is involvement tends to stem from addiction.
the goal is jail di version.
adult drug team programs are ones aimed at combating individual drug difficult shunce including --addictions, can include community based treatment.
job and education program like the name suggests include programs like work release, job counseling and job search programs and adult basic education.
the seventh, not included in the washington state study but we wanted to look at for our paper, is housing programs which provide exoffenders places to stay while reintegrating into society.
there weren't many empirkel studies but we thought it was relevant to consider.
in measuring the effectiveness of these programs, we looked at a few different indicators.
one is cost effectiveness.
in order to measure this we looked at the net benefit per individual participant in a program.
to do that you subtract the cost per participant for the economic benefit per participatant.
we looked at impact on recidivism, being the reduction in crime as result of the treatment from this program.
we looked at evidence based practices.
this measure looks at combination of measured and proven economic indicators and social benefits, evaluating whether or not program is beneficial.
we also just wanted to have a note on the limitations of our report.
our primary source was the washington state report which looked at 25 years of empirkel studies on exoffender programs. It is only those programs that were measured, that did have those kind of indicators that did track results.
so it is not a comprehensive look at all programs in existence.
as many, as you will see, Travis County as well, some programs are not measured.
please keep that in mind as we go forward.
now I just want to turn it over to my colleague.
>> before you jump off that point, let me clarify, get clarity on what you just said.
>> absolutely.
>> the washington study of course only compiled those programs that had performance measures associated with them.
>> exactly.
>> so that is pointing up the importance of having performance measures so that we can have that empirkel over time analysis and e port the programs that work.
>> that is right.
we intuitively might think programs are going to achieve results, about --but what we are seen, we didn't just look at the study, we have seen the programs you think might be the most effective aren't actually.
one of the keys to findings out what is working and not is simply measure it and find out what is really going on and not just take things on the assumption.
>> I'm also a first year student and I will first of all put your attention to the chart here that you have in your slides.
as we had talked about the measures that rena just discussed, we used two particular grids.
you have kind of a square there to help you understand what is going on.
we bases on cost effectiveness and recidivism.
so the first section looks at cost effectiveness and recidivism with no impact.
the second part to your right, the second box to the right-hand corner is recidivism being reduced.
this is your optimal area of the program.
we found certain types of job and education programs, cognitive behavioral therapy and adult drug treatment programs are the most optimal programs to have.
then you had some higher cost programs. But there is a reduction in recidivism so there is something to be said there.
so this is from the drug court.
the drug courts are a major, sorry, a major hall marc of Travis County and Travis County is phone for doing them well but they are of a higher cost and there should be some examination of how they are being conducted.
so just having that in mind we made recommendations based on this chart.
so our first set of recommendations moving to slide 6, is looking at the most optimal.
where recidivism is reduced and the most cost effectiveness.
so we found looking at sister programs that Travis County is already conducting, you may not know all of these but I will tell you what programs we're referring to.
cognitive behavioral therapy programs in Austin.
some of these include design for living, thinking for a change and criminal conduct and substance abuse treatment.
these are the programs that we think should be optimal continuation and expansion.
we also talked about applying cognitive behavioral therapy to other programs. So what we mean is that it may not necessarily be under that category, but at the very least we can apply some aspects of it since it is a proven process..
.
.
then job and education programs, some of these are the an --achieve and work force solution and the in prison vocation the classes at travis start jail.
adult treatment programs that have worked include substance abuse case loads and substance abuse felony punishment facility continuum of care caseload.
that is a mouthful.
in prison driving while intoxicated recovery program.
as we know, dwi are a huge problem and that would be a very beneficial program.
moving to the next slide, our second set of recommendations are looking at programs that are the higher cost but known to reduce recidivism stilestile -- one is the item offender treatment which has been continuing here.
adult intermedial sanction, boot camp, and impact supervision initiative.
as mentioned before the drug court.
some of the treatment programs that should continue is community care for mental health and substance abuse.
we have found that community care does work best and that is something to extend.
and we should always be aware of these limitation of these programs as well before we continue to spend.
the third set of recommendations is looking at cost effectiveness but no particular recidivism.
so what we are trying to understand is why are these programs continuing.
we need to examine these a little further.
so some adult drug team programs such as commitment to change.
which is a very popular program at travis jail.
and turning point which has no evaluations at this point.
it is continuing.
so this was an issue that we found.
and general, just case management and substance abuse programs. In prison therapeutic communities with and without aftercare drug treatment programs. So aftercare meaning kind of like better follow-up programs, if the you want clarification.
so putting the recommendations together, what we are hoping for is, what we are trying to put together is take away message on conducting priest pelse evidence based programs. So given the programs, the wadsstate programs combines promising programs with the evidence based practice of matching offender type.
two specific programs, recidivism rates can likely be reduced with the continuation and recall nation--reexamination of some of these programs the general take-away message of everything we talked about is to be able to tailor services to exoffenders.
you know, housing, for instance, is not something that, opportunity see particularly in that chart because there isn't a lot done on housing.
the only thing we did was with the urban institute which was able to show that stable housing does affect recidivism but just needs further work and needs to be examined based on budgetary needs.
and the effectiveness of all these programs would be better managed with a data management system which is what the next group will take about.
so they will kind of give you an overview as to how the centralization of data will help achieve these goals.
>> just because that was quite a bit of information, we'll give you the hard copy report.
there's a lot in there.
but before we move on to the next group, if there are any questions before we move on.
>> could you repeat the last comment that you made about the housing portion?
especially in the interest of housing that I guess was not available?
I think that has great significance as far as stabilizing an individual to make sure that the housing is available for the whole reentry swigs, to--situation, to ensure recidivism does in the take place.
a lot of factors and housing is very critical along with the preparation for employment opportunities and things mentioned.
but really folks need housing.
that has been a concern that has been brought to my attention more so than not from exoffenders who have really had a problem getting stable housing.
so what have you been able to uncover?
>> one thing is housing which groups exoffenders together.
if you put something in an environment where they are together, there is a likelihood of recidivism.
but that tends to be what happens with the current housing system.
and that is kind of what needs to be addressed further.
housing spans across many issues mental health, substance et cetera, even if you are not an exoffender.
so that is something that we found.
>> a couple questions.
one thing, I was looking at your chart with regard to cost effectiveness and recidivism and noted in the optimal box, cost effectiveness and reducing recidivism, there'sed job and education and adult drug treatment program, both are being significantly cut by the state and yet they are in the optimal box.
that is intriguing to me.
>> correct.
>> on the next page, your second let on continue doing or expand.
the in prison vocational classes at travis state jail, I was wondering, we had looked at vocational training inside the Travis County jail but because of the length of stay, the average length is very short, under 30 days, did you all find the same thing that we have discovered, that really the programs need to be in the state facility in order to have enough time to be effective?
>> good question.
I honestly do not know.
I would say that, we based it on what has been done in other states.
so that is kind of--
>> a longer duration.
>> the 30 days I don't think is something that those types of programs, 30 days or less were covered.
>> that might be a drill down in the future, to look at minimum time period for effectiveness.
>> absolutely.
>> of vocational training.
>> uh-huh.
>> we have found that we are concerned that would be ineffective to try and squeeze in vocational training in such a short period of time.
>> uh-huh.
>> then also, I was wondering about the second let on the next page, the second let was adult intermediate sanctions and included adult book camp.
I have heard bad stuff about boot camp and you are suggesting to start it as intermediate sanction.
what do I need to look at?
>> if we go back to the square.
>> you had you.
>> you see the adult sanctions is actually a cost effective option that doesn't significantly reduce recidivism.
so the issue there, why it would be something that we would recommend, is because it would provide a cost effective means of housing of keeping these individuals that would actually be less costly than jail.
and so it's an alternative that would have the same outcomes at a smaller cost.
>> so with regard to boot camps, if you are going to be putting them in jail even though you think it's not going to be a deterrent, it would be better to go into boot camp than jail?
>> from these studies we had the same recidivism rate at a lower cost.
so if you are thinking from that perspective, yes, that would be preferable alternative that wouldn't cost more.
>> it's a diversion.
I would think with the strain on housing it, a good option considering the limitations.
>> okay.
my last question is with regard to the needs to examine.
so commitment to change has performance measures associated with it.
turn point does not.
>> correct.
>> and then you had in generally case management and substance abuse programs and prison therapy.
do we have a list of case management and in prison therapeutic community programs that y'all looked at?
can I just go to the report, the larger report for that?
>> there was not a particular, they didn't seem to have names with them.
just seemed very general from what I had read.
>> okay.
>> but I didn't check on that.
>> okay.
>> and that is et for that section.
thank you so much.
>> thank you.
>> we'll shuffle around with our technology.
>> can you all see the slides?
>> yes.
>> okay.
>> I brought cartoons, which is why I'm asking.
very entertaining.
hopefully this will work.
>> it comes up on this t v.
so you know.
>> if you are looking here or here, we won't be offended.
>> okay.
>> my that --my name is andrea linsey.
at lbj, our presentation is on coordination of services, as you can see.
first group presented on the macrolevel.
they examined the entire program.
but my colleagues and I were charged with examining the ground level of this issue.
we did this by personally communicating with exoffenders, service providers, tech administrators and case managers.
based on our research, we have been able to identify a number of problems that exoffenders face.
and we have come up with some cost effective solutions for you.
so in this presentation, I will be telling you about the programs we discovered, then I'm going to tell you solution to the problem, why it's the best solution, give you a few specifics, and then I'll provide some concrete recommendations based on what we found the exoffenders and service providers we spoke to agree that the reentry process can be extremely messy, discouraging and difficult to manage at best.
lonely, confusing and utterly impossible to manage at worse.
we found out no service providers have housing, employment, healthcare and transportation assistance all in the same place.
so under the current system, an exoffender, let's call him am is a--sam, has to find a service provider, which can be difficult without cell phone or internet and major logistical issues leaving jail.
you have to find a provider.
make an appointment, waug --walk or figure out the bus system, which I can't do with my own personal laptop.
they have to get there, spend an hour giving information and telling a story, much of which can be difficult and embarrassing.
then Sam finds out he needs to see another agency to get employment advice.
he will need to get to another agency after that to find a bed to sleep in tonight.
there's no way that all this can get done in one day.
next day he has on toe do it all over again, find the bus, pay the fare, wait to be seen, spend an hour telling the same story he told the last agency and the last and this is if he can make it before closing.
come to find out after all this, Sam doesn't qualify or doesn't have all the documentation and has to come back.
the agencies does give him consolation and tells him about a bus pass, but by the time he walks there they have run out of vouchers.
you can see the various inefficiencies in the system.
first of all, exoffenders waste time going to agencies where they don't get services.
secondly, service providers waste time taking in information again and again when they could be add ministering the service their agency is meant to provide.
they don't know what services clients are already receiving so they don't know what to recommend for the future.
the county is also missing a major data gathering opportunity here.
sara, this speaks to your point about showing empirical.
if there were a way to track clients and share information between providers, the county could gather pressure data that would aid in policy form formulation.
a collaborative network of service providers that uses one common database is needed.
this universally adopted database by providers practicing a cutch of cooperation, which is--culture of cooperation, would lead to agreements about referral and qualifications and streamline the access to services.
our current fractured system could be sewn together in a one-stop shop and the county would reap the benefits of delivering services cost effectively, more efficiently, tracking users of social services and gathering data.
under this type of system with sam, recently releases from jail he can walk into a healthcare agency, give his information once, get set up for an appointment for employment across town.
he gets his birth certificate, social security card and i.d.
scans into the database so he doesn't care them around every day.
the health agency gives him a bus pass and he shows up at the employment agency across town, who already knows his story and can reserve him a bed for the night at another agency clear across town with a click of a buden.
this is all made possible but the database system.
when Sam gets to the shelter the bed is reserved for him and all this resource distribution, the bus pass, employment consultation, the use of the bed is recorded and tracked by the database.
not only is this a great data mine, but it can also help service providers get to know service seekers in Travis County on a personal level.
for instance, if a service provider sees that Sam has recently been state staying night after night in a shelter, she can state his future needs and set him up with a housing agency.
so I propose one, we need better coordination of services in Travis County, and two, that a digital database could largely alleviate this problem.
it so happened a system like the one I described already existed and is in fact in use in Travis County today.
the system is hmis, or the homeless management information system.
so what is hmis?.
it is a software application that records and stores client information, both characteristics and service needs.
it nitstogether service providers to create a more coordinated and effective housing service delivery system.
even though hmis was originally create ford homeless service providers, it's applicable to anyone seeking social services.
in other words, there's nothing inherent in the software that makes it strictly applied only to homeless citizens, which is why it's perfect for use with the exoffender community.
hmis can be used to produce an unduplicated account of service seek torse help us understand patterns of service use as well as measure the effectiveness of program.
so as I already mentioned, hmis is a tool for coordinating service providers.
it allows for efficient information gathering.
it is a major data collecting opportunity.
correct use of hmis will prevent the same client from being entered multiple times into the system, which can include to confusion and inefficiency as you might imagine, and can allow a client to exploit the system by collecting mult pull vouchers.
so tracking client information through the database will allow for the most fair and efficient delivery of services.
hmis also helps to ensure that we are actually delivering the service promised and does this through a number of fee features that allows service providers to reserve appointments for clients with other providers as well as contact these providers through e-mail and track resources add ministered to clients.
using hmis is the most budget friendly solution to problems surrounding reentry.
this is when we compared against a physical one-stop shop as well as starting a new database.
another reason for hmis, it is supported by federal government both in policy and funding.
finally, as I mentioned before, it's already widely used in Travis County today.
all we need to do is expand it.
hmis has the ability to store and track demographic, health, personal history and service history information.
based on the information gathered, service providers can track resources, understand who is using them, and anticipate the future needs of clients as well as get to know them on a personal level.
one feature of the software allows public users, that is exoffenders or home less clients to search for available services across the county.
it also allows providers to quickly update the services and resources that are available.
hmis--
>> I have a question on that point there.
this particular database, let's say you have an exoffender, of course he is trying to and of course trying to be sure not to return to incarcerated status.
is this particular software available maybe like in a library?
in other words, whether exoffenders, of course you get now, you really may not have access to.
>> access is not needed for the public.
>> let me ask this question.
how would the individual research the type of services that they need?
>> there are a number of options.
there's 211, for example.
>> all right.
>> and my understanding is that with hmis, there's just a web sightthat you can access from internet connected computer.
>> that is why I refer to the library, the public library, they house computers.
>> right.
>> if that information resides there, then that would be a point of entry.
>> sure.
all they need is internet acces.
>> okay, that is what--
>> they can access this part of hmis.
>> right.
>> however, the software requires a license.
but I'll get into that in a couple minutes.
>> I may be ahead of you.
I'm sorry.
>> that is fine.
no, the important thing to note is exex-offenders are able to search for the services.
>> all right.
good point.
>> I do have one question too as relates to expanded use of this for exex-offenders.
are there any privacy or security issues?
>> absolutely.
we are going to get into that in just a few minutes.
I do want to mention right now that it maintains hipa compliance 100 percent.
hmis also has the ability to send e-mail between service providers, aas I mentioned.
it has customizable tools for assessment as well as document scannings, which my colleague will talk about later in the presentation.
there's also a feature for photo identification which helps if someone forgets the id.
and it allows service providers to see just exactly who they are providing services for.
there's also google maps showing resources.
speaking to your point about privacy, there's a privacy lock for every single piece of information.
this means that clients are able to customize exactly who is able to view their information.
so they can say, I want safe place to be able to see my health history, but I don't want arch to see it.
all is controlled by release of information where clients have to sign at both locations for people to be anible to view their information.
like I said, this does maintain hipa compliance.
>> with regard to that, security is absolutely paramount and I'm glad to hear that it's hipa compliant.
I'm wondering that with regard to being able to use the larger kind of meta data of this database, if Sam says I want safe place to be able to access my records but I don't want arch to be anible to access, but then say ut and st.
david come in and say we want to utilize the database to run some stis stickel analysis, will sam's records expunged for identity be available?
>> for instance, I know the university of Texas does have programs with regards to children's health and while the specific child cannot be accessed, the data about the child can be accessed.
>> right.
>> for research purposes.
>> it's my understanding that that is possible.
our contact, who is one of the administrators in Travis County for hmis, emphasized the data collection possibles.
so I'm certain that the names could be eliminated and data could be collected that way.
>> thank you.
>> sure.
as I mentioned, hmis is a relatively inexpensive option.
this becomes with 36 hours of initial training and one mandatory training session per month.
if the costs still seem a bit high, you will be happy to know there's ample financial support for the system on the federal level.
the hmis data business is the choice of federal government for homelessness issues.
and hmis qualifies for grants through a number of organizations.
you can see these on the screen.
shm, esg, and you will have a complete list in our full report.
22 organizations already utilize hmis in Travis County and this includes 200 end users, which means that 200 actual employees with licenses to access the system.
but there are over 8,000 potential users in the Austin area.
so you can imagine the coordination we can achieve if all 8,000 used hmis.
to achieve this county wide coordination, we have six recommendations for you.
one is to require the use of hmis by county funded agencies.
two is to include the cost of licenses in county grants grants.
three, a few minor technical tweaks are going to be necessary to better serve the ex-offender population, so we are recommending that we add just a couple new fields relating to criminal history.
these will fall under the privacy lock feature.
so they can customize who can see this information and who can't.
four, we'd like the see support for hmis at the management team to ensure enough staff for training and expansion.
it was emphasized that training is of utmost import here.
is we'd like to see that the management team has the resources they need to ensure that everyone in the county using hmis is properly trained.
five, integrate hmis into the commitment to change program along with the other agencies that we recommend in our report.
finally, promote a solidified network of reentry service providers and the culture of cooperation that I discussed before.
the use of hmis will mean nothing without mute chal agreement amongst service providers to cooperate, share information, which has been a problem in the past, and provide warm handoff to exex-offenders.
so I'll now turn the mike over to my colleague who is going to give you a live demonstration of hmis.
>> before we go to that, I do note that there have been efforts within the medical communities, there's been efforts to minimizedocuments, are they using hmis.
>> I think they have their own data because but I'm not sure.
>> would that database be compatible with hmis?
any possibility of cross pollination?
>> combining them?
>> I know integral care is on that collaborative as well as the community care clinics and the populations do have significant overlap.
>> yes, that is certainly true.
I can't speak to the technical difficulties that would be involved with the crossover, but I do know that hmis has many of the features of the other system like you mentioned, the plastic bag of documents, that is completely eliminated in hmis with the document scanning.
all they need is to bring it to one agency, documents are scands --scanned and can be exported to other agencies that have access with the release of information.
>> thank you.
>> before you go to the demonstration, Travis County, of course when we first started looking at this whole reentry concept and reentry program across the board in Travis County, we wanted to make sure that if we looked at the ex-offenders and of course hoping they would also apply for Travis County employment, so we have done such as far as being one of the employers that hire ex-offenders.
my question, though, with this particular system, is there any way, because at the end of the day, folks are going to have, you know, need employment opportunity.
no doubt about it.
you have to work.
is there any indication within this particular presentation where by the collects of employers who are willing to employ ex-offenders, is that accessible to any shape, form or degree?
of course Travis County is doing it.
thank goodness that we didn't want to ask those employers to hire ex-offenders in our reentry typesetting without us doing it.
so my question, though, if a person is not able to gain employment with Travis County, how will they the other employers be made accessible to them if they are looking basically on their own or if they are going to go through the process that we're discussing here tudes--here today is this.
>> I think marry more anne in your office, in charge of ex-offender employment center, one of her recommendations is to integrate her into the system.
she is kind of I think most ec ex-offenders would go through her to try to gain employment.
>> okay.
>> there are certainly a number of resources to ex-offenders.
whether or not there's a specific place in hmis that lists those employment agencies, I'm not clear on.
>> you're not sure.
okay.
>> as I mentioned, there is the website that clients can access through the internet to see what providers are willing to give them services.
and I'm not sure if there would be any reason that employers couldn't list on that site.
that is not a detail I'm certain about.
but it seems plausible.
>> okay.
it does to me.
but again, I don't know, I'm not familiar with that.
>> I can get better information on that.
>> can you do that?
it would be good to know that fact.
thank you.
>> sure.
>> I'm going to do a 60-second demonstration.
this is the system.
you can search a client by their name.
they have kind of an i.d.
number.
say this is our client.
we kind of get into the system.
here we have a picture.
they can scan to make sure that we are dealing with the right client.
you can make sure it's the name they gave you and they are actually them.
all these locks are different privacy settings.
so the client has complete control over what information is visible.
you can lock it for everyone, you can lock for specific providers.
down here you are able to easily upload documents.
the birth certificate, social security information.
you can link them with individuals within their household.
lots of times you make referrals foren for entire families.
we can add a referral.
if you want to refer to say goodwill for some employment help or something, we can set that appointment up for them.
through shelter point we can actually check individuals into beds at housing institutions.
kind of a whole range of things that we can do in terms of housing.
then the research point is kind of what they can search.
ex-offenders would have access where they can view all the resources kind of in Travis County.
very similar to 211.
that is kind of a brief overview of the system.
we have a group in charge of mapping of resources, making them easy for ex-offenders to navigate the system.
>> my name is greg mendel.
this is hear lindener.
our group is the final group in the policy research project.
what we did is make a reentry services map.
so as we were talking about early, it may be difficult not just to know which services work well, which services we should provide, but on the very basic level, how to get to those services.
how does an ex-offender know where to go, how to get where she going, and allow to find the service he needs.
I'm going to talk today about what the ex-offender services map is first.
second, how it's useful.
finally, how it improves upon what is already there, 211, and how we can have further improvements to the map.
first what it is, essentially by using google maps we're able to create a marketplace and add in all of the exoff feppeder services that we thought were important that ex-offenders would need to know about.
some of these we separated into categoer, which include things like criminal justice, education housing, employment.
so why this is important, now these ex-offenders can be in one position, can be at their house or be wherever they are and look at the map and see which services are close by, which services they can find nearby and can use quickly.
so essentially, what our map gives are the location and description of each service.
it doesn't have every single service.
what we did do is use 211 to find different types of services that are important to ex-offenders.
essentially I'll have harry scrolscroll through.
this is some of the list of services we have added here.
you can see it's fairly extensive but not overly so.
why it's useful.
I'll have harry demonstrate to you how you can find one location, loog at the categoer and maps to find what type of service you would like to use.
here we selected employment.
so we can take the location that we are currently, find the bus route, find walking directions, find driving directions, find any sort of way to get to this next service.
so here you can see the information, description, phone number, various information that we found on each service.
heary will show you how you can navigate from one service to another.
>> if I clicked down here, direction, it pulls up this address.
then I can type in Travis County Commissioners court.
directions.
I can choose, I want to take the bus, I can say I want to arrive, let's say, I don't know, tomorrow at nine a.m..
press get directions.
right here, it lists different options of buses and how to get there.
this is a tool, this is an example of an application on this map.
this can be available to the service providers and to people a public computer at the library.
>> at very simple level, as Commissioner Davis was explaining, how does the individual find the info they need.
this is sog not only available to service providers but to anyone with access to the internet.
it's easy as getting unto google maps, findings our map and searching what service they need whether near bi, whether by the time of service, or however they need to do that.
>> y'all built this map using just the google cloudtechnology for free.
you just built this map and it's available to anyone.
>> essentially one of the most important things about it is because we used the technology already there, all of the directions and bus routes, they will be updated automatically.
essentially the only upkeep we will need on this is as service providers are added or removed or different services are offered, you go ahead and add that service, put it into the map, and it's very easy to upkeep, very easy to add to.
>> so this map would be shared, share ware of all the service providers and they could load up additional services, all the hmis users could just populate the services.
>> not even just hmi s.
any user that you gave access to put their information on here could be on here.
>> it would also be available, as I started earlier, as far as anybody that has internet acces.
>> exactly right.
>> would be able to actually get that.
which also means ex-offenders.
>> exactly.
>> the software.
>> actually what they are doing is really mapping the services that they will need to ensure that, you know, to decrease recidivism.
if they are able to access all these points within the map.
especially, that is why I brought up the other deal with the employment situation.
because at the end of the day with the skill sets and all the other things that may be available to education, all the other kind of things, the transportation, everything, the housing, at the end of the day, employment is going to be very key to ensure the person an able to become productive in society again.
so that is why I asked about employment.
of course, if there's somewhere that the employers are available somewhere for these ex-offenders they can look and say I can do this and this, I was trained and I can this skill set, this skill set.
I think it will make them feel more comfortable as far as knowing what is out is there as far as what they can do.
that is why I brought that point up.
thank you.
>> sluling--
>> absolutely.
with this they can show the location they are and find every employment agency that can help them.
I do think they really want to find employment and want to find these opportunities and usage assist.
this will help a great deal in being able the find those agencies that they really do need to use.
>> this right here is a map of employment agencies for exoff funders.
click here.
goodwill, workforce solutions, can you click.
it gives you address, phone numbers.
descriptions.
>> exactly.
everything that you would need to know about that agency.
you can see it and click on it.
go from your current location, find how to get there on the bus find how to get there in a car.
just so many ways to help you out with that.
beyond that, harry is going to talk about ways that woo --we can further improve and use the map to add to.
>> future application is using gis, geographic information software, to look at where are the best places to use the dollars from Travis County for aid and planning.
this is an example of that.
this is a map from the justice mapping center.
they map prison expenditures by block.
they looked at where ex-offenders lived when crimes were committed and sentence length and cost per date to create a cost projection per block.
the brighter reds are the worst areas.
those are marked here.
then I mapped key food assistance providers.
you notice they are kind of along the central corridor.
seems that there may be more need on this eastern and southeastern corridor.
using gis is another, can be another tool to assist the county in planning where these dollars should be spent, where do we need new, where are the exoff funders, where is the need and where do we currently have the resources going and if there's inconsistency.
>> you all see a possibility for future application where we could, going back to the culture of collaboration, we are wird by hud to do an impediment to fair housing study on a regular basis.
I think it's on a three-year cycle.
also the healthcare district does gis mapping in order to determine the best location for its services.
seems that considering overlapping populations might be worthwhile to look at pooling efforts for this kind of gis mapping of pom populations of need so that we can be efficient in our research expenditures as well as in the distribution of resources did y'all find any kind of collaborations across different service lines?
when you are dealing with the ex-offender population, many of the other service lines don't want to be painted with the brush of the ex-offender.
even though it's readily acknowledged behind closed doors that we have a considerable overlap.
for instance, Travis County implemented a pilot program and continued of having a social worker basically go out in a car the communities of need, knock on doors and serve households rather than individuals because we found looking at one ex-offender is with aants nearly as effective as looking at a whole household or looking at one single mom dealing with a household of kids wasn't nearly as effective as looking at the whole household.
so did y'all find in any of your research either that kind of collaboration that could be expanded upon?
or did you see clear opportunities for that kind of collaboration?
>> where that is concerned I don't know that we necessarily saw specific instances of that.
what we did notice, when you are talking about household, you have a lot of different types of needs.
so I do think that using something like this, being able to have the map, helps to give a greater deal of collaboration between the different types of agencies.
so while we didn't see that necessarily already in the criminal justice, we did, you know, using the map, I think does provide a lot of coordination between agencies and will help in that situation.
>> one of the things I really like is the one-stop shop.
I think we talked about that when we were, some years ago, when we were dealing with indigents and health and human services clients.
so to eliminate that need to go, you know, they have to go here and here, you know, and just waste a whole day.
the only thing that was looking was to find a suitable place that would be accessible to everyone.
of course the bus lines are very important.
then as well, the neighborhoods and what they perceive that center is going to be like, you know.
so I think when we come to the center of the city, then there's probably better chance of not only covering transportation, but maybe some of the agencies, the providers are more downtown than in the outlying areas, although some of them had to go out to the outlying areas.
but it's finding the suitable place where it's convenient for them and it's also the community begins to get the education that they need to see that these are our folks.
if we have jobs and education, perhaps they won't recidivate.
and the crime rate, if they have those jobs and education, perhaps the crime rate will go down.
I like the idea.
I think it works.
it's just a matter of continuing to work with all of the pieces to put it together.
thank you all.
>> thank you.
>> I have a question about the future of this work because this was a maiden voyage and we not only got some good research but an actual product out of this.
my question is about, are there plans for an ongoing relationship with the lbj school and this kind of research with the judges, da, ca, criminal justice planning, health and human services, so that we can revisit the research, the recommendation, and the map over time and see where we go from here.
I think there's definitely a need for that.
those of us who operate in this world, our intentions are good and I think our efforts are strong, and I think that we are cutting edge.
but we do profit by fresh eyes.
>> from the side that we can speak to, there is interest on the part of the students.
we all signed of up for the course and continue to be interested beyond the class we're enrolled in.
from the student perspective, this is an issue we care about.
and future lbj students I think would also be like-wise interested.
>> it would be good to continue the effort.
much as you are recommending to us that we have performance measures and track the effectiveness of our programs, it would be wonderful to have overtime the tracking through the lbj school of recommendations made and what occurred with them, what came them--of them.
I look forward to fruitful back and forth.
like I said, the fresh eyes are important to us.
>> and welcomed.
so glad to see you here and see the possibilities for us to continue working together.
county government, you know, is all about collaboration and coordination and communication.
so I really think this is a huge issue.
three quarters of our budget goes to criminal justice.
so obviously, it's very important issue that we need to keep working on and keep finding new ways of dealing with these issues because we are dealing with real people.
real families.
and real children.
we need to think about their future as well.
I look forward to this continued cooperation.
>> I think the statistics is one in 100 Travis County residents are currently incarcerated, and one in four have a criminal record.
>> that is a big issue.
>> that is a sobering future.
>> absolutely.
>> we look forward to talking to you all again.
>> thank you so much.
>> thank you for having us.
>> thank you.
>> it is 11:44.
I don't know that we have a lot of time to deal with the legislative items. Because they are going to get into the analysis of that p3 bill.
that is going to take a while.
so do you want to recess until 1:30?
>> second.
>> all in favor.
see you all at 1:30..
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