Travis County Commissioners Court
December 8, 2009
Item 19
Now, number 19, consider and take appropriate action regarding Travis County reentry initiatives including the following: a, briefing on impact of reentry efforts in the last 18 months; and b, update of Travis County reentry success guide.
good morning.
>> hi, roger jeffries, executive manager of justice and public safety.
we're here today to give you an update on reentry initiatives in Travis County, specifically those in the justice and public safety portfolio, and that some of them that the county provides resources for.
i'm here with several of the managers, and as we go along, they will be introducing themselves.
what we would like to do if this is okay with you is give you a brief update on -- or a brief description of each one of the initiatives, and then we would like to come back and answer some questions that you've asked about what is the impact of these initiatives on our community in the area of offender reentry.
i think we'll start, we have a brief power point.
you know, in Travis County
>> [inaudible] 72,000 people are released from the Texas department of criminal justice every year.
about 3,000 come back to Travis County.
48%, and these are statewide numbers, are rearrested within three years and another 27% are reincarcerated within three years.
those numbers are even worse from the state jails.
these guys are released without supervision and about 63% are rearrested in three years and 33% are reincarcerated within three years.
what reentry is, it's leaving prison and coming back to the community and our goal is reduce recidivism and help these people restore their lives.
Travis County has an interest of having an interest in this issue and has made significant investments.
effective reentry, there's a body of knowledge that tells us how it should work and we want to touch on these briefly because this is what we are trying to move our programs to.
first of all, they utilize a reliable predictor of reoffending.
they address multiple criminal jeans and ensure an appropriate level of intervention is delivered.
that's appropriate levels of service for the needs of the offender.
they build a continuity of care from institutional programs and community programs.
engage in pro-resources and ensure program integrity and repair -- all of these programs that -- and initiatives that we currently operate in jps are either moving to or have moved to incorporate one or more of these core principles of effective offender reentry.
so we're just going to list these quick.
i know there's community partners that have joined us and as we go down these quick, just raise your hands and tell us who you are with.
we've got the Travis County state resource fairs.
the commitment to change.
project recovery.
reentry round table.
the mental health public defender.
and the offender workforce development program.
and again with an economy of words, we promise to be brief.
we're going to give you just a brief highlight from each one of these programs and I'm going to ask our staff to begin.
and actually we're going to need another chair, it looks like.
>> mr.
reeferseed will give us.
and if -- when there's an opportunity for citizen input, mr.
reeferseed, we'll make sure we recognize you.
>> thank you.
>> good morning.
my name is cindy finnegan.
they've been working continuously since 2002 and with our renewed emphasis on reentry and recidivism, we have significantly upgraded the resource fairs.
in the process with other agencies and social service organizations, we've added a new resource fair briefing which sees all inmates prior to getting them prepared.
at the briefing as at the fair, all inmates are given helpful tools, information and guidance and ensure they are gaining the most up to date information.
many have stated they are not only better prepared, a step in the right direction upon release, but to cope with the complexity of returning home.
with this process inmates are given two to three opportunities to work with our staff on reentry needs.
in fiscal year '09 this amounted for individual contacts.
any questions?
>> what kinds of results are we producing?
>> we don't have any quantifiable results right now, but the quality results are that we're seeing a lot more of the inmates who are ex-offenders now from travis state jail going into the workforce program.
we're seeing them get better employment, better family values coming out of them.
mostly we're seeing that the the resources that they are given at the fair they are contacting with.
hopefully in the next year we'll have more data which cats are being made in the community.
>> so this is really to --
>> so --
>> go ahead.
>> > you go ahead.
i can wait.
>> I'm good.
>> okay.
thanks.
the data that you will be presenting in the future, especially on such a critical issue and I really applaud all of you and this court for what we have done to make sure that reentry is something that we take very seriously and at heart.
but saying that, I'm very, very curious to actually
>> [indiscernible] because we have several categories that we are looking at as far as an example, this booklet here being handed out to the inmates prior to release into society, make sure there's a checklist and a whole bunch of other things they will be able to go through whether they need housing, job training, just categorical things when they reenter society.
my concern, though, is everyone has different needs.
and no one probably has all the same needs.
so my question to you is when will we have, I guess, information to let the public know that what we are doing, the lab are active efforts that -- collaborative efforts and what we're doing is actually hitting the bullseye?
of course, that may be in time, but as far as -- and I think the judge brought up a good point when he said results.
results is something that, you know, I know we're all looking forward to seeing very positive results.
whatever category, housing, all these different categories as far as how we make sure that persons being released back into society have those needs.
so can anyone tell me basically with all the different categories from jobs to housing to transportation to all these different categories that we are all aware of, when could we expect something that can show that we are making positive movement to making sure that these persons are reentered in our society so we really can conquer as much as possible recidivism?
can someone tell me that?
>> Commissioner, in part of this presentation we are going to give you some information.
we've been able to do an outcome evaluation of the commitment to change program and we're going to provide some of that information to you today.
we've been able to complete a process evaluation on our offender workforce development program.
and for all of our programs, and we just started with the resource fairs, we're collecting output data so we can see the levels of service that these programs are providing.
>> and the reason why I pose that question is because my office have been getting inquiries about different categories that we have here.
and, of course, for example, jobs.
we've heard -- you know, we're looking for job, we're looking for work.
and even though we know there may be some employers that will maybe look toward sat phiing that request of persons that are being released or those that have been released, the question still comes back on us on some of these cat gathers.
that's why I pose the question because it appears if there are cracks, I would like to know where those cracks are, where we can fill them.
so I hope you understand my concern because I got the calls, we get the calls in this particular program.
and I want to make sure that we provide all of the right information, which a lot of it is here in this booklet.
but again, we still get the calls and somewhere there is a -- there is a miscommunication or something is really still not as it should be and I'm just trying to get from.
i hope you understand what I'm saying.
>> we do.
thank you.
again, there's some data in your backup for the programs, output data.
we're going to talk about the process and the outcome data that we've been able to put together.
you know, programs like this you have to have some time out a little bit.
>> I understand.
>> to measure recidivism two and three years.
some of these programs are fairly new, so we can collect out put data.
we acknowledge all the data looks good.
some of it is indicating some issues that we need to address and to make these programs better.
but if you allow us, we'll continue to go through these programs and then we'll talk about some of that data a little bit.
>> I'll hold off.
>> good morning.
mark spade, clinical manager for counseling and education services.
>> good morning.
>> and counseling and education services provides the commitment to change program at the travis jail for men and woodman state jail for Travis County women.
the commitment to change program started August 2005 with the program for men and may 2007 for the program for women.
cognitive behavioral therapy.
very quickly with the focus being to change people's behavior by changing their beliefs and their thinking.
a lot of the clients that we get have also teach social skills.
the second part.
the first part is change -- work with people to change behavior by changing their thinking.
secondly to teach social skills and conflict resolution skills but a lot of clients have only seen fight or flight and the kindergarten active therapy allows people to practice and do skill bidding exercises inside prison before they get out to deal with those kinds of things.
the third thing is understanding the importance of how our behavior affects others, our family, community, neighborhood and such.
that's the focus of the program is very strongly and keenly now cognitive therapy.
it started off as modified therapy through the community.
we've taken out all the vestiges and are strictly focusing on cognitive restructuring at this time.
2008 and 2009 we had 80 men and 66 women who participated in the program voluntarily.
until just in 2008 district judges started using the commitment to change as a sentencing option.
prior to that it was all volunteers.
in addition to the they do in the prison there is case management which is a lot of things Commissioner Davis address, housing to jobs, psychiatric care and mental health care if needed.
those sorts of things.
we do have family therapy.
we have a 90-day after care component.
typically what we would like to see is somebody with us for six months in the prison and then 90 days outside of prison.
with the district judges starting to send those people, and they are doing that with some of them will be as a condition of probation, I think that's going to help us a lot in getting people to finish the continuing care or the after care piece of the program.
because right now it's voluntary and it sounds good when they are locked out but when they get out, sometimes a lot of them come at the beginning and just sort of trickle off.
we did an evaluation in 2008 looking at a period of time that included 2006 and the first five months of 2007.
so the first 21 months of the travis unit and literally the first month of the woodman unit.
so the information and the statistics we have don't really reflect the program at the womens unit.
while we didn't find but we would hope to find on our first evaluation, it would be great to find we had a measurable intact on recidivism right out of the gate.
we did not find.
that but what we did learn, we found specific things we could correct, things we saw when we looked at it at the study and also information we got from clients who had been through the program.
that is the point in time where we changed the program to be specific cognitive behavioral therapy program.
by focusing on that, we can address some of the criminogenic needs that are specifically tied into recidivism such as anti-social attitudes and anti-social associates and so there's much more -- since we aid this shift, there's much more of a focus on these criminogenic risk factors and needs than there was before.
and I think we're going to see a change in that when we do another study.
we are definitely looking to do another performance measure soon.
2010, I believe.
and I think that we'll see some difference this that based on the changes we made.
lastly, we do have qualitative feedback that as far as quality of life for people that have completed that people have seen a significant improvement.
many of our clients that have completed are in
>> [indiscernible] program are employed.
they are doing better with their family.
obviously the ones that completed and didn't residivate and I believe we're going to hear from one former client today.
thank you.
>> project recovery.
>> good morning, judge, Commissioners.
my name is kathy mclarity, senior planner.
if someone could pull the slide up.
project recovery is a prom who targets mentally ill who have been charged with public intoxication enhanced.
it's a jointly funded program through the city of Austin and Travis County with services provided by Austin-Travis County integral care, formerly known as Austin-Travis County mhmr.
the city of Austin funds the residential portion of this program and Travis County funds towards the after care portion of this program.
evaluation of project recovery was conducted by the city of Austin in spring of 2009.
the evaluation showed client outcomes were generally favorable.
project recovery does serve a limited number of clients, approximately 40 per year.
so in order to address the cost of the program relative to its small size, Travis County is in the process of renegotiating its portion of the project recovery contract and we'll be paying -- proposing to pay by successful community milestones.
these include the number of discharge plans, the number of participants and the weeks they spend in after care.
the number of community contacts.
the number of participants attending group.
the number of participants completing 90 days in the program.
and finally, the number of participants who will successfully complete a discharge plan.
do you all have any questions?
>> when do we think we'll be able to determine whether or not in fact project recovery is a good investment?
>> well, we -- we actually had discussions with p.b.o.
about this for the f.y.
10 fiscal year and as part of the program to try to get better outcomes we've developed this performance based contracts with formerly mhmr.
>> integral care.
>> we're thinking this year we'll be able to tell whether this is a good investment to continue.
this fiscal year.
>> this fiscal year.
>> yes, sir.
>> so we should look forward to receiving another report late summer?
>> yes, sir, I think that would be a great thing.
>> perhaps earlier for budgetary purposes.
perhaps June or July.
>> we could certainly do that.
>> now, I understood that the city of Austin did take a good look at this program during the last fiscal year.
and after taking that look and seeing the results, they decided to continue the program or did they -- did they modify their funding?
>> they did.
they modified their funding a slight bit.
i'll look back to the mhmr people.
it was about $25,000.
67, okay.
>> 67 of what?
>> out of 425?
>> okay.
>> and so I think they are looking at it with the same critical eye that we are for this year.
>> but I still have positive optimistic expectations, mr.
jeffries.
>> we do too.
>> I'm looking forward to receiving the good news.
>> we probably have recipients of the services who can step up and say what improvements have taken plays with their families, right?
>> yes, ma'am, we can.
in fact, we're got someone here that's going to address that today.
a client of one of our programs.
>> okay, we'll keep moving.
again we want to get through this as quickly as possible.
>> this is a good investment of time, mr.
jeffries.
w to move expeditiously, but we don't want to rush.
>> good morning, judge and Commissioners.
bennie Davis.
>> [inaudible] minature round table established in we've as an Austin Travis County initiative to develop collaboration with departments within the criminal justice agencies and the community that have a similar goal of reducing recidivism.
in f.y.
'09 the round table was contracted with Travis County to develop several inventories and surveys, housing and employers that would be willing to employ persons with criminal histories.
for f.y.
10:00, cjp is still in negotiations with the round table.
one is to identify and facilitate completion of application for funding options.
we know we're facing hard economic times and we're looking for funding opportunities.
>> 3 is to develop a written funding opportunity brief for supportive housing and to be to create an implementation plan for supportive housing within Travis County.
I also want to note that the reentry round table has received a grand from the corporation of supportive housing to develop recommendations within Travis County.
so those are their current initiatives for reentry at this time.
and we do have some members of the reentry round table in the audience.
I would ask them to raise their hands.
>> so where is the 2010 funding?
is that an earmark on allocated reserve?
>> no, it's actually in the criminal justice planning budget for 2010.
>> okay.
>> so we're currently negotiating a contract for 2010.
>> Commissioner Davis.
>> one of the -- you know, as I stated earlier, one of the things that we ask employers to do to really have a sympathetic ear and understand that we have persons out there that do need jobs that have been released from incourse rated situations in Travis County.
however, one thing we did indicate very strongly, we're asking other folks to do this as far as hiring, making jobs available for folks, but one thing we did emphasize was that Travis County was to also participate in this particular effort.
and my concern is do we have any record of showing that as far as hiring persons that have been recently released or those that have had problems, have -- do we have any indication with Travis County that we have actually hired some of these folks?
we don't want to know the names, per se, but I just would like to know have we done what we're asking other employees to do?
>> we can give you an update.
I can consult with hrmd to find out how many folks.
>> that would be good to know because someone will say, Commissioner Davis, you are all out there asking my company to hire somebody, but what are you doing?
if they ask me that question, I say this is what we've done.
>> we can get you that information.
>> thank you.
>> the mental health public defender office.
>> jeanette
>> [inaudible] director of Travis County mental health public defender office.
you know we're partly state funds and partly county funds and we serve misdemeanor clients in Travis County that have an axis 1 diagnosis.
collaborative efforts, that's the second point in our power point, exampless are working with social workers at Austin state hospital for a discharge plan.
we have clients that have been found to be incompetent and there's a day they will leave the hospital either because their case is dismissed or they've gone back to court and their case is resolved.
we want to see there's a place for them to go, someplace for them to live so the hospital doors don't open and they are out on the streets again.
we also work with the outpatient restoration to competency program, a program through mhmr which an in competent person charged with a criminal offense doesn't have to go to the state hospital.
the judge signs a bond and they can go to this outpatient program.
for medication counseling to be resoared to competence.
those folks also have a date when they are released and we work with those case managers to make sure they have a place to go.
we've also been mhmr resituateddist program.
my list matches almost exactly with mhmr list and they have a couple of caseworkers working with ours to try to follow these folks and see what they need to stay out of our county jails.
I wanted to correct one error in the third point there, it says 629 internal and 290 external cases.
your power point says clients, but it should say cases, and those are for 2008 and 2009.
it says to date, but that does not include 2007 data.
I have a case history to tell you but I know we're running -- our time is short so I'll ask you if you have questions.
>> could you tell us what axis 1 diagnosis are just for the audience in I think it's important to note that as fabulous as the mental health public defenders office is, and it truly is, it's only the tip of the iceberg in being able to treat only access 1.
I'm sure commitment to change could talk about all of these other than access 1 they are trying to serve with cognitive therapy and it's very difficult.
because no state funding is available.
>> right.
access 1 is also known as priority population.
the priority population that they serve.
access 1 is bipolar, schizophrenic, schizoeffective and major depression.
those are all organic issues in mental illnesses.
I get a lot of calls lately from veterans that are back that have ptsd.
>> not covered.
isn't that phenominal?
>> it is.
and I think it will be a growing problem and all over the country.
another category is mental retardation, which is not covered by migrant.
-- my grant.
>> but we serve those clients anyway, mental retardation.
>> I have, and I haven't had any complaints from the task force or this body.
there are times there's just no place else for them they go.
I have a brother that's meantry retarded and I interacted with a lot of clients with those issues and I -- I think a lawyer needs to be not only patient but very persistent to make sure they understand what's going because so many of them now that they are adults, all their lives they have wanted to please people.
you ask do you understand?
yes, ma'am, I understand.
so you need to not only be patient but persistent and there are quite a few of those.
>> okay.
>> if no further questions.
>> talk a little about the community justice center advisory committee which we refer to as the state jail.
it was established in 1995 as a community lives between Commissioners court and the community justice center.
the overafternooning goal of this committee is review, propose and evaluate programs at the state jail and make recommendations for enhancements and improvements to the state jail -- to the programming at the state jail.
a current initiative of this committee is to assist inmates being released from the jail with clothing.
they are actually participating in the clothing drive which is ongoing because oftentimes those individuals don't have anything when they leave the jail.
>> so does the committee give its report to?
>> to the committee -- to Commissioners court.
>> when did we receive our last one?
>> it's been a while, judge.
we are slated this year to come before the court.
and we do have -- the committee members here present today as well.
>> let's get that report as soon as we can and let's get some feedback on the roger jeffries visitation center.
>> [laughter] whether it's being used, making a difference, et cetera.
>> we will do that.
>> okay.
>> good day, mary moran, offender for
>> [inaudible] program administrator.
this program was established in 2007.
this program uses the tools and techniques of the national institute of corrections and provide training to 12 individuals in 2007 to help build capes and develop any comprehensive workforce development.
excuse me.
we help ex-offenders program for employment and more -- prepare for plame and how to answer questions on the job application and the interview.
we also help find jobs through job skills training or refer to community resources for further training or education.
we offer one on one consultations.
we help with mock interviews.
we have weekly post-release orientations there at the airport office to let them know what the offender work development force program is about.
we work in partnership with the sheriff's office to hold two job fairs a year.
one in the spring and one in the fall.
and the job fairs are well received by the media as was employers and community resources that attend.
in addition to my job is encourage and recruit employers to hire persons with criminal backgrounds.
the owds team this year had an employer breakfast to engage in recruit employers sponsored by the faith based community.
we will continue to hold these on a quarterly basis with the help of the faith community.
we also are going to start having regular orientations inside the county jail as requested by the sheriff's office.
and we'll be holding these workshops at the county jail and bringing in employers to speak as well as community resource people.
and that's --
>> I would like to highlight that just for a moment as something distinct about our community.
as requested by the county jail, that's a wonderful thing.
>> yes.
very wonderful.
we also hold trainings on a quarterly basis for individuals in the community who work directly with ex-offenders.
in fiscal year 2008 and 2009, we trained over 160 individuals as offender employment specialists.
again, this is a curriculum and recently we just graduated 25 individuals.
we've also trained, and it's 35 instead of 32, individuals at the master level at offender workforce development specialists.
and six of these graduates are from the tyc reentry specialist positions create recently.
they are from all over parts of Texas.
over the last two fiscal years, the owd team, which is an umbrella of the owds and oes folks, has assisted 10,094 individuals and placed 1,246 ex-offenders in employment.
for fiscal year 2008 and 2009, I personally assisted 716 individuals.
192 of them were via telephone and 524 were face to face, with 91 reporting they had found employment.
and I need to stress those that were reported to me because I do ask each and every individual to get back with me and let me know if they found employment that I work, with but this is a collaborative effort and when I do these trainings, I do ask organizations to report back the me how many they have assisted or helped finding employment and I can only get back so much reports.
and that's why I'm saying these numbers could be higher and I know they are higher.
and I thank you for your time and I'm going to turn it over to mr. Jeffries unless there's questions.
>> I have just one.
and the question is if anyone who is hearing this today, is there any way they can get a copy of this particular information because they may have someone that they know that may need this particular program or they may need the program themselves.
so is there any website or something like that so they can get the -- especially on this guide.
it's pretty -- it's pretty --
>> we do have brochures that we do put out and I've got many churches to call me to invite me to present.
>> we have a website?
it's not fully developed and I am in the on process of working with someone to help me put one together because I recently went to a conference in grapevine, Texas, over 1600 people from all over Texas, and we -- I presented to this conference about what we're doing here in Travis County.
and one of the things was do we have a website because they want to know more information about this program.
so I said it's going to happen.
>> okay, that would be something good for us to strive for if it's not available, we need to make sure it becomes available.
>> yes.
>> for folks out there that are listening.
>> and let me tell you by word of mouth by every offender, it's spreading.
they are coming in and saying I heard about it.
>> but until we get there on the website, what would a person do today that would like to have information related to this particular guide?
>> they can give me a call at 854-6497.
>> 854.
>> 6497.
they could e-mail me if they want.
I'm in that reentry resource guide boom and my e mayor is mary.moran@co.Travis County.tx.
>> do you think we could get copies to leave at the Travis County community center?
>> yes.
>> I think that would be really helpful.
>> thank you.
>> so what you've heard is, again, just a brief overview of current issues.
we have three initiatives planned for calendar year 10 that the staff are currently working on to help us -- if you go back to that third slide that talks about components of effective reentry efforts, we're going to start with a mentoring program.
>> bennie Davis with cjp.
one of the identified practices is engage post
>> [indiscernible] and the one time going to talk about is the journey home navigators mentoring program.
journey home is an off-shoot of the owd program.
this is a coalition consisting of communities, churches, nonprofits and also the pride program at the Travis County corrections center.
and the initiative is designed to assist women in the pride program.
pride stands for people recognizing the inherent dignity of everyone and it's specifically for women.
and the journey home program has trained over 25 volunteers to work with these women.
and it's being spearheaded by pastor charles stevens and members of the united methodist church in Austin.
and the program is scheduled for implementation of January of 2010.
so this is, again, a mentoring is certainly a benefit to those individuals who are trying to reintegrate back into our communities.
>> so what are we doing on that in addition to staying out of the way?
>> actually we have members from Travis County criminal justice planning and health and human services working on -- with pastor simpson -- pastor stevens and the simpson methodist church.
we're doing more of assisting and working with them in developing this program.
>> my thing was staying out of the way.
>> [laughter]
>> not get in the way.
okay.
yes, sir.
>> good morning, Commissioners, tyrone campbell and I am one of the members of 3-d, which stands for determine, differentiate it and dedicate.
it is an initiative within the state jail, it is a state jail career center where we provide pre-release employment services, thereby improving offenders' potential for obtaining gainful employment upon release and becoming productive citizens in society.
and also to mention that as being part of owds, I have been trained at the master's level through a grant from a national institution -- corrections grant that was given to owds.
also the program is going to develop to facilitate provisions for the state jail to integrate services appropriate to the needs of individuals as well as the community.
the target population would be those for Travis County.
>> what does the d stand for?
>> determine, differentiated, and dedicated.
they made us shorten it to ddd.
>> okay.
>> I would like also to acknowledge the other members that are in the crowd.
and oes.
>> I have had the pleasure of
>> [inaudible] tyrone and it's pretty powerful stuff.
he can drill it home.
and make you see the light.
you may feel the heat before you see the light.
>> [laughter]
>> thank you, Commissioner.
>> and I do appreciate your attendance, yes.
>> powerful stuff.
>> thank you.
any other questions?
>> 3-d program starts next year.
>> correct.
and we will be doing a presentation pore the Commissioners as well to let you have a first-hand look at what's to come and what we need your support in as well.
>> good.
what, if anything, is the county's financial commitment to the 3-d effort?
>> right now we don't have one.
we're doing this all by volunteers and owds, volunteers from the Travis County state jail, but we will revisit that issue.
>> [laughter]
>> okay.
>> thank you.
>> thanks.
>> hello again.
criminal justice planning.
I wanted to speak about the homeless revenge and rapid rehousing program, hprp.
we have come before you twice to discuss the progress of hprp and just a quick overview, funding for hprp initiatives and the funds are provided through the Texas department of community affairs.
there were two applications funded in 2009, the write it home and the Austin-Travis County stability collaborative.
both of these initiatives target the homeless populations locally.
the write it home pilot specifically is targeting individuals who are reentering the community post-incarceration at risk of being homeless and who have a chronic health issue, mental health or developmental disability and/or physical disability.
Travis County is not receiving any funding nor are they providing any funding for these initiatives but we proud to say criminal justice planning and reentry round table partnered with community stakeholders for the ride it home pilot project.
we participated in program development, grant writing, budget development and ongoing development and oversight.
as I said, we've been before you twice.
we hope to come back from the spring to provide an update on the program.
is program is now accepting clients and we like to bring our community partners back with us and give you a more thorough overview of how they are doing that had to be really amazing and very much groundbreaking program.
do you have any questions?
>> any questions?
>> I just wanted to ask one.
the veterans that have a lot of homeless needs in the community, in fact, from what I understand, there are more homeless veterans more so out there than anyone else.
>> yes, sir.
>> since that's the case, what efforts -- and we do have, you know, health and human services, but also veterans services under that umbrella.
what inroads are being made to make sure that -- and I guess maybe at the federal level also, that we look at addressing the needs of those particular veterans who are probably the largest percentage of our homeless routeout there?
>> I can tell you -- out there.
>> it's going to be providing, addressing homelessness across the board and it's providing tangibles like rental and utility assistance, deposits, motel and hotel vouchers.
speaking more generally to the needs of veterans, one of the issues as it was touched on earlier is a need for veterans courts.
and very specific programs to target these individuals and their needs.
>> okay.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
>>
>> [inaudible] I'm kimberly pearson here to discuss the community based transition teams. We believe there is an insufficient level in the post-release management services for programs such as the commitment to change and project recovery.
we have invited over -- excuse me, 30 individuals representing public, private and nonprofit agencies to help fill in these gaps and services.
the group has also been tasked with planning a reentry seminar, determine an effective assessment tool and implement the case management tool.
the reentry conference is scheduled March 3 of next year.
I know there's a lot of members at these subcommittees here today and if you are present, would you mind standing up or raising your hand?
sorry, jerry.
I will also note that tomorrow morning at 9:30 we have a reentry seminar planning meet and at 1:30 to 3:00 -- both meetings at cjp.
1:30 to 3:00 is case management training subcommittee.
anyone listening would like to come, feel free.
>> the idea here is leverage existing resources within existing processes.
all of the things that they are working towards go to that third slide there, effective reentry practices and training of staff and collaboration around helping fill out these discharge plans.
we're actually very excited about it.
our slide show seemed to have went away, but we had a slide that summarized the county's financial commitment to some of these programs. Some of these programs we do through volunteers.
there it is.
it's about a $1.2 million commitment for all these different programs, plus there are programs like todd mentioned we do strictly with volunteers.
now we want to get to the impact portion, if you will.
there's aaron nelson from criminal justice planning and she is our evaluation guru.
we put in for the last couple of years we've been collecting output data, baseline data on all these programs so he can wee the level of service and out puts for these programs. We've been out far enough with some of them that we can start doing out come evaluation, particularly around recidivism.
we did complete one for commitment to change and completed a process evaluation for the owd program and we wanted to give you an update on those things.
>> good morning, erin nelson, research specialist with cjp.
in physical year 2009 we completed an evaluation.
all the complaints who participated in the program with samples from state jail.
there's 42 clients completed -- completing the program and released from the state jail during calendar year 2006.
of those -- I'm sorry, 42 participants that year.
26 did not complete the program.
of those not completing the program, they stopped at various points.
50% reoffended, which was defined as rearrested on a new charge or warrant, and 27% of those reconvicted of felony offense.
of the 16 who did complete the program, we found that 69% reoffended and that 63% were reconvicted of additional felony charge.
the comparison group, which included a sample of 36 individuals released from the travis state jail during the same calendar year, found that 64% reoffended and 56% were reconvicted of a felony charge.
previous studies completed at the state jail have found that 63% is usually the recidivism rate for this group.
while we found the numbers to be neither promising or fatal, we find this has given us a chance to improve the program through additional qualitative research.
we found that the need to restructure the
>> [inaudible] piece of the program will improve the outcome.
another evaluation will be completed in fiscal year 2010.
this will give us a chance to -- for the 2006 clients to have aged out of the program and find what's happened this the last three years instead of just a one and a half to two-year followup time.
we'll also include a sample from 2007 to include the womens state jail.
we are hoping for more positive results and provide additional insight into specific needs of offenders returning to Travis County.
we also did -- did you have any questions on the evaluation?
>> well, yeah, I have a lot of questions and I basically lit my hair on fire when I read that our recidivism rates, we weren't moving the needle really at all.
the control group and the dropouts did as well as the graduates.
and, of course, looking at the needle not moving on -- on, you know, the homeless guys keep coming through on the alcohol arrests.
project --
>> recovery.
>> recovery.
we don't move the needle on that at all.
while I'm lighting my hair on fire, I also know we have to fail in order to succeed.
>> right.
>> these numbers are based on statistics we kept before we retooled the program for a more cognitive focus.
that's my understanding.
>> that's correct.
>> and we're also looking at an after care piece in order to provide support for once they come out of -- witness they graduate out, right?
>> we've had the -- is having the district court judges actually sentence people to ctc and the condition of probation possibly be completing after care.
then there's a little more -- you know, there's leverage as far as incentives for completing the program as far as a little bit of a stick if they don't, so to speak.
so far it's been a voluntary program and a the look of people have spun out of after care.
but we think if it's a condition of probation that will help that.
>> there will be some teeth involved.
>> exactly.
because we have had the after care component all along, but we've lost a lot of people from that.
and then with the cognitive -- the move from modified therapeutic community to the cognitive restructuring we're doing much more individual counseling, small group counseling.
very much of a laser focus on those needs, anti-social attitudes and all.
that that wasn't primary before.
that was secondary under the old model.
with this model that's primary.
>> and I say I lit my hair on fire, but I don't want you all to ever think I would say, you know, we're not making a dent, let's just stop funding it.
I don't see that as an option.
we're incarcerating one in 86 Travis County residents at any given time.
one in 86.
I mean the national average is one in 100.
the national average is a higher incarceration rate per capita than any other nation in the world.
we're creating a permanent underclass.
so we don't have an option to not try.
>> and I appreciate you saying that.
our part, we want to do everything we can to find out what's the most effective way to provide services for this group because by and large the group is -- they are all -- most of our clients have a long history of criminal conduct and 40% have co-occurring psychiatric or mental health issue.
many have also been homeless for years and makes integration back into even a dorm at the prison difficult let alone into the workplace and back into a home kind of environment.
so it's a very important problem and I know those areas are all priorities for the county and we appreciate your support.
>> these are truly the least among us.
>> we also completed a process evaluation of a workforce development program.
we had original started doing an outcome evaluation, but we found some issues with the data keeping that we're going to be improving in if future.
the preliminary attempts for the outcome evaluation included positive reflex of married services.
all we spoke to via telephone survey spoke highly of her.
we also created a profile of clients she was helping which include 75% single, 37 is the average age, 57% african-american.
87% were male and in terms of drug -- in materials of charges, 25% were drug charges.
>> all right, on this 57% for african-american you just mentioned, you gave a break do you happen of ethnicity, 22% white, 27-odd percent for hispanic or brown persons.
is there a reason for this high percentage among african-americans?
or is that being looked at as far as looking at that and dealing with that?
what's the deal on that.
>> we haven't looked into that yet, but we plan on doing another evaluation hopefully this fiscal year and that's something we can focus on.
understanding the differences, in the feet we can understand the differences.
>> I would like to see what's that's all about.
let's turn over every rock possible because we need to see a reduction.
and in fact, I think Commissioner Eckhardt brought up some real good points and that's recidivism and I mentioned earlier, I just hope these things we are placing, even if it's the
>> [inaudible] of the judges to install install different tools they can use in the citizen phase of this, those results will reflect and as Commissioner Eckhardt stated and as I stated earlier, reduction in the recidivism.
I mean we should be really focusing on that.
I'm not fussing, now, don't think I'm fussing, I'm really concerned about that.
>> anything else?
>> well, in terms of the process evaluation, moving forward we're going to be creating a policy and procedure manual for mary's program.
we're going to update the way in which the data is gathered and stored for which the evaluation included a list of appropriate elements and also client followup needs to be addressed at a greater level.
and to do that so far mary has had offenders, mostly offenders coming in to volunteer at her office not only for experience but help out with administrative duties.
we'll be searching in the future for additional funding for perhaps additional staff.
>> so those are our efforts to measure outcomes.
we'll be expanding those efforts to other programs. Appreciate what staff has done to collect this information.
it's challenging particularly when you don't have control over some of the data elements.
to wrap up, and in fairness we would like to offer the opportunity to mr. John mark to come, he's a graduate of some of these programs and has offered to provide a qualitative outlook about these programs.
>>
>> [inaudible].
>> right.
I'm happy to be here today.
it's good to see you again, judge Biscoe.
and the rest of the Commissioners and everybody here, I'm happy to be here.
you know, this is my life calling.
this is what I was created to do, to give my -- give my account of what happened in my life and to help the next person who may be in the same position that I was in at one point in time.
you know, it's funny but the main thing that I want to get across because I don't have much time, you know how many of us woke up this morning and took a nice deep breath of air and thought to ourselves, you know, I'm so happy I have oxygen.
you know, probably not many of us did that this morning.
but if we went two or three minutes without oxygen, I guarantee that would be the headliner on the news this morning and it would be the most important thing on our mind.
and that's kind of the position I was in the last time I was incarcerated.
over ten years of penitentiary time and over 17 years of active alcohol and drug use.
and I wanted a way out.
I wanted to stop doing what I was doing.
and I didn't have the answers.
and I didn't know how to be a father.
I didn't know how to be a son to my parents.
I had no clue.
I didn't have the answers.
and it's -- it was the most important thing to me in my life because it was all that -- it was all that I had.
and trying to find the answers over the last probably five years of incarceration and drug use, it was extreme turmoil.
and I agree with you, Commissioner Eckhardt, if I had not been arrested in Travis County and went to jail at 969 travis state jail, I don't know if I would have found the answers because there I was able to enroll in ctc, the program that mark spade started, and mr. Thai campbell was running.
and there I got a chance to understand what change was all about.
I got a chance to understand that change started with my open thinking first, but it doesn't end there.
it also -- I have to incorporate change within myself by looking at other individuals who have been able to change.
and listening to other individuals who are where I wanted to be.
and once I got started with that change in ctc, I was able to go to a job fair where I met ms. Mary moran, and she told me, ms. Mary moran came into the penitentiary, she doesn't look like a person that should be in a penitentiary, and she said john mark, I believe that you can do something better with yourself.
and that hit me, you know, and it shocked me.
and I said, okay, you know what?
I'm going give it a shot.
I'm going to give it a try.
and upon being released from travis state jail a year and a half ago, she has helped implement changes in my life that I can't even begin to, you know, thank her for.
she got me involved with institute of chemical dependency studies where I started to receive 570 hours of drug and alcohol counseling to be a counselor, a drug and alcohol counselor.
once I finished that course I was able to receive my clinical intern license which known said I would be able to get.
that's mostly the problem with most people incarcerated and that was the issue with me, I did not believe that, you know, you normal people wanted me around you.
>> [laughter] I just couldn't believe.
that and the more I continued to press on, I was able to receive my clinical intern license from the department of state health services, and now I'm a clinical intern at developmental counseling services, incourt rated and my life has completely changed.
I have two and a half careers of sobriety now thanks to the -- thanks to everyone around me.
I've never seen god in the flesh, but I see him every day with people that reach out and tell me change can happen.
I just had twins three months ago, I'm married.
somebody actually wants to marry me now.
>> [laughter]
>> you know, and I just -- I can't say enough about the program.
maybe the numbers don't reflect, but sometimes it's just when people are ready.
you know, when they are ready, they are ready.
what we have to do as individuals is have the opportunity there for the people that are ready.
I was ready.
I didn't know how.
now my children have a daddy because some people stepped out and said, you know what, I'm coming to the penitentiary to see you and tell you you can do it.
and that's mostly all I have.
>> thank you.
>> thank you so much.
>> thank you so much.
>> [applause]
>> everybody else asks if you have any questions so maybe I should ask.
>> [laughter]
>> I think you said it all.
thanks.
>> thank you.
>> mr. Reeferseed, you have a question?
>> yes.
a couple comments.
issue one about recidivism.
my name is ronnie reeferseed.
and about recidivism, I would like to praise Travis County sheriff's department for their policy of making possible the option for sheriffs to appropriately and incidentally make a wiser use of county resources than wasteful war on hemp users and also briefly about the ptsd problem with our troops.
and I just remind people who haven't been paying attention or haven't heard of me, I survived my recovery from my own coma inducing traumatic brain injury was greatly aided by the reintroduction of medicinal marijuana into my bloodstream and that continues to add to my ongoing recovery.
and -- but about another subject freaked me, ms. Hoover is ab sent today, my relative devotion is reflected in the fact I'm here more often than anybody except even jill, I think.
but even so I wanted to thank you all for, like I said, praise the sheriff's department and there are better ways to use our taxpayer dollars.
and y'all are doing a really great job.
I think this is really important.
>> thanks.
>> are we looking at an update on project recovery's commitment to change and the reentry round table at a time specific along this next calendar year?
>> we could come back to you, I think you had mentioned July of this year and I think that would give us an opportunity to implement or to see the results of the implementation of some of these things, we could come back and give you an update on all thee of those things and other initiatives as well.
>> that would be great.
>> glad to do.
that so concludes our --
>> move approval of the update of the Travis County reentry success guide.
that's b.
that's what you need from us, right?
>> yes, sir.
>> seconded by Commissioner Davis.
discussion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
thank you all very much.
thanks for coming down.
>> [applause]
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 5:29 PM
