Legislature(2009 - 2010)BUTROVICH 205
01/20/2010 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview: Cost of Crime - Iser Recommendations and Update | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
January 20, 2010
1:33 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Hollis French, Chair
Senator Bill Wielechowski, Vice Chair
Senator Dennis Egan
Senator Lesil McGuire
Senator John Coghill
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Senator Ellis
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Overview: Cost of Crime - ISER Recommendations and Update
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to report.
WITNESS REGISTER
STEPHANIE MARTIN, Assistant Professor
Economics and Public Policy
Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA)
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented an overview of recommendations
and updates to the ISER study on the cost of crime.
JOSEPH SCHMIDT, Commissioner
Department of Corrections
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information related to the cost of
crime overview.
DWAYNE PEEPLES, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Corrections
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information related to the cost of
crime overview.
BRYAN BRANDENBURG, Deputy Director
Division of Institutions
Department of Corrections
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information related to the cost of
crime overview.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:33:29 PM
CHAIR HOLLIS FRENCH called the Senate Judiciary Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:33 p.m. Senators Egan,
Wielechowski, and French were present at the call to order.
Senator Ellis was also present. Senators McGuire and Coghill
arrived during the course of the meeting.
^Overview: Cost of Crime - ISER Recommendations and Update
CHAIR FRENCH announced the business before the committee is to
hear an update on a study on the cost of crime and whether the
state can reduce future crime and save money by expanding
education and treatment programs. The Legislature asked ISER to
do the study, which was completed a year ago.
1:34:10 PM
STEPHANIE MARTIN, Assistant Professor of Economics and Public
Policy, University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), said she works at
the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER).
1:34:30 PM
Senator McGuire joined the committee.
MS. MARTIN explained that when the study began in 2006 there was
a general nationwide shift to look at evidence-based policy.
Policy recommendations are tested and evaluated much like
medical treatments to see whether or not the programs have an
effect. There's a nationwide push to fund programs that have
shown effects, but the caveat is that very few programs have
been rigorously evaluated.
In response to the skyrocketing cost of incarceration in
Washington State, Steve Aos [with the Washington State Institute
for Public Policy] applied a cost benefit analysis for
Washington to that state's evidence-based policy to see if the
programs were cost effective and how long it took to be cost
effective. He found that a lot of the programs that reduce
recidivism would be beneficial in Washington. The programs that
were instituted are carefully monitored and the model is changed
as needed.
1:36:36 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked if the premise is that it's a net benefit to
Alaska if a program reduces the crime rate and costs less to
administer than $44,000/year.
MS. MARTIN said yes; ISER worked with the Criminal Justice
Working Group to identify programs for adults and juveniles that
prevent recidivism and programs that prevent people from going
to prison in the first place. Within those categories some of
the adult programs work inside prisons, some - like therapeutic
court - bypass prisons, and some - like electronic monitoring -
provide an alternative to prison. For juveniles they looked at
pre-school education as a preventative program and programs
designed for juveniles within the juvenile detention system.
ISER found that most programs work and are cost effective, but
the greatest cost benefit comes from programs directed at
juveniles. However, juvenile programs take a number of years
before any benefit is reflected in the prison system. The payoff
for investing in kids by enrolling them in a Head Start program,
for example, is huge, but the benefit may not be apparent for 15
years.
MS. MARTIN said nearly every program ISER reviewed reduced
recidivism and there was no shortage of eligible participants.
Many of the programs have a mental health or substance abuse
basis and about 96 percent of the incarcerated population has
issues with substance abuse, mental health or both. Although
there's no shortage of people to participate in these programs,
there aren't very many programs in the system and it's difficult
to expand.
ISER applied Alaska cost and population data to Mr. Oas's model
and determined that it would be highly cost effective to
implement these programs in Alaska. ISER concurs with Mr. Oas
that it is a good strategy to diversify treatment. People within
the prison population have many different needs and
diversification provides balance.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked why Alaska has a [67] percent
recidivism rate.
MS. MARTIN said when she did the recidivism study with the
Judicial Council they were looking at new crimes, but not
necessarily the same type of crime. Recidivism rates are lower
for certain kinds of crimes.
CHAIR FRENCH observed that the figure may be higher than [67]
percent if returns for parole violations are counted.
MS. MARTIN agreed; the study measured new convictions, remands,
and arrests and 67 percent represents new convictions.
1:42:41 PM
MS. MARTIN said the prison population increases at about the
same rate as the state population; it's predicted to double in
the next 25 years reaching 10,000. This will require at least
three new prisons.
CHAIR FRENCH asked the cost of the new Goose Creek Correctional
Center.
MS. MARTIN replied it keeps going up but the current cost is
$240 million. The facility will house 1,500 inmates and it will
be full when it opens; the inmate population will have grown by
600 and 900 prisoners will have returned from out of state.
SENATOR MCGUIRE asked if traumatic brain injury is considered a
mental health disorder.
MS. MARTIN said yes.
SENATOR MCGUIRE asked if mental health transition programs
accommodate people with traumatic brain injury.
MS. MARTIN replied about 90 people participate in [Institutional
Discharge Projects] each year, but she doesn't know how many
have traumatic brain injury.
1:45:02 PM
MS. MARTIN said ISER found that some programs have short term
benefits while others - like Head Start - have huge benefits,
but they're not apparent for a long time. Electronic monitoring
(EM) is an example of a program with a short term benefit, but
it has a tradeoff. EM takes people out of the prison system and
it's very cost effective, but it doesn't affect recidivism so it
doesn't reduce crime. The sex offender treatment program was not
cost effective, but it only looked at the cost to the state.
Victim cost was not considered. The sex offender program does
reduce recidivism, but it's very expensive.
CHAIR FRENCH asked why electronic monitoring doesn't produce a
lower recidivism rate than putting an offender into prison.
MS. MARTIN replied her understanding is that it's used very
short term in Alaska. The average is just 16 days.
1:47:01 PM
MS. MARTIN said ISER modeled spending $4 million more on the
array of programs and the results were compelling. It showed
that it would save the state some $300 million over 30 years in
avoided prison costs and costs of housing prisoners. Costs to
the state were measured for the various kinds of crime including
arrest, incarceration, and prosecution.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what it will cost to operate the new
prison for a year.
1:48:47 PM
DWAYNE PEEPLES, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Corrections,
replied he'll probably have an estimate in about two weeks.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked for the main reasons that people are
put in prison the first time.
MS. MARTIN said in Alaska the crimes are usually misdemeanors
and low level felonies. She added that Alaska has strict
sentencing so serious criminals are incarcerated for a long
time.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if she knows the specific types of
crimes that are generally committed.
MS. MARTIN named pot smoking, underage drinking, shoplifting,
petty theft, and domestic violence. She then directed attention
to Figure 2, "Who Gets out of Jail of Prison in Alaska?"
1:51:00 PM
CHAIR FRENCH commented that it's an odd way of presenting the
information.
MS. MARTIN explained that it was presented that way to convey to
the public that prisons are not releasing serious criminals.
CHAIR FRENCH said it's a good question to pursue.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if the prisons are full of repeat
low-level offenders.
MS. MARTIN replied the consensus in this type of research is
that the prison system should be for hardened, difficult
criminals that have no desire to change. She added that she
doesn't have an answer to his question.
CHAIR FRENCH said his experience as a prosecutor is that the
average offender has racked up many convictions. However, he
wants analysis rather than anecdotes to use as a guide.
1:53:58 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI questioned what to do with the people that
commit repeated petty crimes; they probably victimize hundreds
if not thousands of people over the course of their lifetime.
MS. MARTIN replied those are presumably the people that would
benefit from these programs. She said her understanding is that
treating a person's alcohol or mental health problem does away
with a lot of the incentive to commit further crimes. Whereas
not fixing the problem perpetuates the crime cycle.
SENATOR MCGUIRE stated her belief that spending time, money and
effort on juveniles produces the largest payoff. She noted the
statistic in Figure 6 that states that "Programs for juvenile
offenders save 7 to 13 times what they cost and reduce
recidivism among juveniles by about 5 to 8 percentage points
(from 70% without the programs). She asked Chair French if the
committee could spend a day focusing on juveniles in the state.
1:57:16 PM
CHAIR FRENCH said he would grant the request; his committee
aide, Cindy Smith, just wrote a note suggesting that the
committee do a juvenile justice overview next week.
MS. MARTIN related that ISER is working with the Judicial
Council to get funding to track recidivism in the adult programs
and future plans are to track juvenile programs. The juvenile
system is a little different and more difficult to evaluate, but
a good intermediate measure of recidivism is high school
graduation. Also, there's less domestic violence if kids are in
Head Start.
CHAIR FRENCH agreed that the Head Start numbers are striking.
SENATOR MCGUIRE said going to prison is a life altering
experience that affects self worth and esteem. She suggested
that the outcomes might be different if juveniles were punished
differently for low level offenses so they don't get to that
crossover point.
1:58:57 PM
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL joined the meeting.
MS. MARTIN highlighted that ISER did a study with the Judicial
Council looking at the statistical likelihood of a person being
convicted of a felony after being charged with a felony. It
showed that people with drug, alcohol, and mental illness
problems were much more likely to be convicted; there was a
slight effect for Alaska Natives; and were was an effect for
indigents. People that fall in all of those categories are
pretty much doomed in the legal system. A lot of low level
incarcerations put a person out of work for 30 days and then
they lose their job, which starts a down-hill spiral.
2:01:25 PM
SENATOR ELLIS asked if ISER has information about cost savings
to the Washington State system if these programs were
instituted.
MS. MARTIN said yes; Washington State tracks the programs
closely and they are working well. They are also sticklers to
program fidelity and have legislative auditors who check to
ensure that the programs are properly implemented. This rigorous
self investigation indicates that the programs do pay off and
they do work. Every year more programs are subjected to this
type of scrutiny. Ms. Martin noted that the programs listed in
the ISER report aren't the only ones that work; many simply
haven't been rigorously evaluated. One program that clearly
doesn't work is "Scared Straight;" it actually increases crime.
SENATOR ELLIS asked for the study citations. He said he intends
to introduce legislation to put 100 percent of the existing
alcohol taxes into alcohol prevention and treatment programs.
MS. MARTIN recalled that substance abuse programs reduce
recidivism about seven percent.
2:03:36 PM
CHAIR FRENCH highlighted that a seven percent reduction isn't
transforming, but it is "bending the curve." Small changes add
up to large savings over time.
MS. MARTIN agreed and added that it's a 7 percent reduction only
for those who participated so recidivism won't be reduced to 60
percent. There's no quick fix to this very complex problem, she
said.
CHAIR FRENCH referenced Figure 6 that asks how effective various
programs are at saving money and reducing crime and how that can
be reduced to a net present value.
MS. MARTIN offered to provide the information.
CHAIR FRENCH asked her to also include an analysis of where to
put the first rehabilitation dollar assuming there was just one.
2:06:23 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked Ms. Martin her perspective on why the
U.S. has far more people in prison than any other nation.
MS. MARTIN replied she doesn't have the answer, but given
similar situations the U.S. does incarcerate more than other
countries.
CHAIR FRENCH commented that European sentencing is comparatively
lenient.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how Alaska recidivism rates compare
to other states.
MS. MARTIN replied the rates are similar at 67 percent.
CHAIR FRENCH thanked Ms. Martin for the overview.
2:08:02 PM
JOSEPH SCHMIDT, Commissioner, Alaska Department of Corrections
(DOC), introduced himself and expressed appreciation to the
legislators who are willing to serve on committees that deal
with corrections issues.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said that he views the delivery of
correctional services as "through" rather than "from" the
department. They bring in the best people they can find, they
listen to what the public thinks they should do, and then they
bring in experts to implement those ideas. For example, when he
first started in this position there were few if any programs
that were being used to change behavior. Although he hadn't had
time yet to study it yet, he knew the direction he wanted to go
was toward not only safe and secure prisons, but changing
inmates' behavior while the department has their full attention.
At the end of 2006 DOC hired Bryan Brandenburg as deputy
director of institutions and tasked him with building a program
plan around evidence-based programs. Then at the crime summit
Steven Aos from Washington State, brought statistics to support
the use of evidence-based programs and further confirming that
this was the right direction.
The Legislature and the Mental Health Trust funded the ISER
Study to "Alaskanize" Washington's numbers; using the modified
numbers, the Criminal Justice Working Group developed a list of
programs that had been proven to work. As Ms. Martin said
however, these programs have to be implemented as they are
written and that can be difficult, particularly with culturally
relevant programs. It is important not to change the core of a
program to make it culturally-based or its efficacy may be
compromised.
2:12:41 PM
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said they now had data to support using
evidence-based programs and the Legislature provided funding for
the program plan that Mr. Brandenburg will present today. This
is a great example of the three branches of government working
together to accomplish an important goal, he said.
CHAIR FRENCH noted that the ISER study said DOC spends about $17
million per year for rehabilitation programs. He asked if he
agrees that was the figure at the end of the last fiscal year.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said mental health might be included in
that figure.
MS. MARTIN clarified that figure represents state-wide spending
across all agencies, not just corrections.
CHAIR FRENCH thanked her for the clarification.
2:14:59 PM
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said that while he recognizes that the ISER
and Judicial Council numbers are the telling ones, it takes
three to five years to get those so in the meantime DOC is self-
tracking. The people who started the program in April have been
out of jail about six months so it's early in the process, but
the numbers are encouraging. DOC processes about 38,000 people
each year and about half of those are sentenced.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if it is fair to say that 38,000 spend at
least one night in jail.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT offered to provide those numbers and added
that the range is from book and bail to several days to several
years. The average length of sentence for misdemeanants and
felons is 160 days.
He continued to explain that over time they realized that the
existing long and comprehensive programs produced few successful
graduates. Ms. Martin suggested they diversify, which they did.
The current programs run 90 to 120 days and give a large number
of prisoners the opportunity to finish. We'll talk about whether
this is the best model as the numbers come in, he said.
CHAIR FRENCH asked what these 90 to 120 day programs focus on
generally.
2:18:41 PM
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT replied it's substance abuse, primarily
alcohol.
He related that Alaska prisoners were transferred from Arizona
to Hudson Colorado for economic reasons; the cost per bed in
Colorado is about $2 less than it had been in Arizona. The 1,536
bed Goose Creek facility is scheduled to open in March 2012,
which will make it possible to bring those prisoners home so
that they're closer to their family and community.
Responding to an earlier question from Senator Wielechowski, he
said the director of probation and parole told him that on
average 190 parolees end up back in jail each month. About half
of those parolees have committed a new crime and about half of
those new crimes were committed after the parolee had had some
contact with the court. We're not sure why we're seeing those
numbers, but we believe that the probation officers are making
good decisions. Perhaps it would make a difference if those
people had contact with the court right away. We're looking at
that, he said.
2:22:11 PM
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said another notable mention is the Bethel
halfway house. The facility holds about 130 prisoners and the
halfway house generally had 20 to 25 empty beds the state was
paying for. After considerable research and discussion with the
community, those beds were transitioned to a program for sex-
offenders who have finished their sentences. It is too early to
predict success, but there have been no complaints and it still
has community support.
2:23:47 PM
SENATOR EGAN asked if Lemon Creek is still under consideration
[for a sex-offender program].
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said yes; it's a 25-bed program and it's
close to up and running.
SENATOR EGAN asked if there has been any community opposition.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said no. DOC was careful not to ask for any
public support because they know it isn't a popular program. The
one concern that came to them was whether sex-offenders from all
over Alaska were going to be released in Juneau; that is not
going to happen. Upon release, offenders will be returned to
their point of arrest.
2:25:46 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked if he agrees with the ISER analysis that sex-
offender programs reduce recidivism but produce no savings.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT confirmed that the study he saw indicates
an eight percent reduction in recidivism, but it's not cost
effective. However, the question he would ask is "What is a
victim worth?" I think this is the right thing to do; we know
what happens if we do nothing, he said.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI referred to Figure seven in the ISER
summary that shows that preschool programs for at-risk children
cost about $1,000 per child but saves much more by reducing
future crimes. He asked if the administration supports
increasing preschool education.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT agreed with the ISER finding. When they
began looking at evidence-based programs the research quickly
went outside the adult system; everything pointed to the fact
that the younger children start in these programs, the more
effective it is.
2:28:02 PM
MR. PEEPLES, responding to Senator Wielechowski's earlier
question, said operating costs for Goose Creek will range
between $30 million and $35 million per year. He will have
confirmation of the numbers within two weeks.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if $46,000 per inmate factors in the
court costs.
MR. PEEPLES said that is a statewide average of total costs for
all incarcerations from Bethel to Ketchikan. Some of the state's
smallest institutions are the most expensive to run due to
economies of scale; each institution has a different cost
factor. When he refers to the cost of running an institution, he
is referring to that institution. All outside services are
contracted.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how much the state incurs for
inmates' medical care.
MR. PEEPLES said he expects it to be close to $30 million this
year. Those costs grow by a couple of million dollars each year.
CHAIR FRENCE asked if that cost is for 5,600 inmates.
2:30:24 PM
MR. PEEPLES replied the current average daily census is 5,650;
the number of people under their jurisdiction per year is
38,000. One year ago the average daily census dropped to between
5,200 and 5,300, which he can't explain. By April it started
climbing the normal projected base. The ISER projection was for
an additional 200 inmates per year and although they will be
under that for awhile, it will continue to grow. The projections
are straight-line based on population growth but there are
variables that will affect it. One of them is the transition of
an age cohort; there's a bulge of males in their late teens
through their late 30s, which will increase incarceration rates.
2:31:57 PM
CHAIR FRENCH said he is aware that statistically 21 to 28-year-
old males are the chief offenders. He asked what the average age
of Alaska's population is now.
MR. PEEPLES said he did not know.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if he's saying that the population bulge
hasn't yet passed through the corrections system.
MR. PEEPLES clarified that Alaska is in the middle of a bulge
that is expected to cause an increase in that census. Other
trends include recent statutory changes that make certain
misdemeanants felons. One example is a law passed two years ago
that made third-time assaults a felony. He also expects problems
as facilities from Dillingham to Fairbanks come under greater
pressure from the un-sentenced population. Most of the
facilities up north are inadequate; the Fairbanks facility needs
to be replaced in the near future and Bethel's facility needs
expensive alteration and expansion.
Costs for medical care will continue to accelerate because of a
growth in the mental health population and the declining health
status of the general population coming through their doors.
2:35:04 PM
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT interjected that while Goose Creek is not
their measure of success, it is a good thing in that provides
beds to bring people home. However, those are sentenced beds; if
a person is arrested for something in Bethel, there has to be a
place to hold them. DOC is moving toward a model in which the
city takes care of misdemeanants in the jails and felons go to
prisons run by the state. During the last of their sentence they
will be returned to facilities closer to home.
2:36:12 PM
BRYAN BRANDENBURG, Deputy Director, Division of Institutions,
Department of Corrections, said he has worked for the department
for over 20 years, 18 of those as a mental health clinician
providing direct services to inmates in various facilities. His
passion has always been programs for the population that is not
mentally ill; those that have been funneling through the system.
When he became deputy director he was able for the first time to
put together a comprehensive plan that addresses the criminal
attributes that make an offender prone to reoffend. Studies
suggest that evidence-based programs can effect change in that
population. A lot of the research indicates that 20 percent of
the offenders are committing 80 percent of the crimes. A small
percentage of offenders are what might be called career
criminals; they really need to be locked up because they don't
respond to treatment. The other 80 percent can be helped to
become productive citizens using evidence-based programs.
2:38:56 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how other states deal with people who
have committed 30 or 40 petty crimes and are still out in the
communities.
MR. BRANDENBURG said the evidence indicates that most states
look at the offender's level of risk to re-offend and use it as
one of the criteria in setting sentence length. DOC uses the LSI
(Level of Service Inventory Revised) risk-needs-assessment tool
to determine what programs offenders need to go into and what
level of risk they pose for re-offending. Lots of states have
looked at reducing sentences for some of the less severe crimes
through the use of diversion programs and alternatives to
sentencing such as CRCs [Community Residential Centers] and EM
programs [electronic monitoring]. Some states have also set up
ways for people to earn their way out early. The state of
Washington, for example, has a 50 percent rule set up so inmates
can earn up to 50 percent off their sentences.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if people who commit repeated petty
crimes could be turned around if they were put in effective
treatment programs.
MR. BRANDENBURG said DOC releases over 15,000 sentenced
offenders per year, 3,700 of which are felons. The average
length of stay for a felon in Alaska's system is 285 days and
the average length of stay for a sentenced misdemeanant is 27
days, so they release about 287 felons each month. The problem
is that huge numbers of people get out without having
participated in programming that might help turn around the
recidivism rate.
2:42:41 PM
MR. BRANDENBURG highlighted that the department is focused on is
the re-entry process that starts when the offender enters the
system. When the offender is sentenced DOC will do a risk
assessment using the LSIR and other screening tools to identify
specific problem areas such as substance abuse and anger
management. Then they will develop what is called an Offender
Management Plan that will include a preliminary re-entry plan.
They have been revising the classification system to develop a
behavior driven tool that will allow inmates to earn a reduction
in custody levels if they participate in recommended programs
and stay discipline free.
2:44:29 PM
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT added that DOC is doing side-by-side
comparisons between the new and old systems to determine what
percentage of prisoners are minimum, medium or close custody.
They found that the proposed system does not radically change
any of the groupings.
MR. BRANDENBURG said when they identify the programs prisoners
need, they hope to stop the cycle that brings them back to jail.
The largest piece of that is the substance abuse program. He
added that all of their programs follow the American Society of
Addiction Medicine criteria for programming. They now have three
six-month intensive inpatient programs. These were previously 12
to 18 month programs that weren't getting a lot of
participation. They have the ability to run 240 people each year
through the new, shorter programs.
2:46:47 PM
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL asked if this accommodates population
movement from one facility to another.
MR. BRANDENBURG replied that was the idea from the beginning.
CHAIR FRENCH recapped that they can treat 240 inmates per year
in their substance abuse programs, which are six-month programs
analogous to those studied by Steve Oas and ISER. He mused that
240 inmates out of 5,600 is about 5 percent.
MR. BRANDENBURG said that when they have finished later this
fiscal year they will be able to treat over 1,000 inmates per
year.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said he will be watching to see which
mental health services will be available.
2:49:10 PM
MR. BRANDENBURG continued. DOC has five 90-day intensive out-
patient programs in its facilities in Bethel, Nome, Fairbanks,
Juneau and Spring Creek. 500 inmates per year will be served.
The programs meet level 2 criteria for substance abuse
programming and allow inmates to participate in other programs.
They also have two level-2 CRC programs that are based on the
same model; one is in Anchorage at Akeela House and another at
the North Star Residential Center.
There is a pretrial assessment and referral program for the
Anchorage complex, MatSu Pretrial and Palmer Correctional
Center. From that assessment, people will either be referred to
a program in one of their facilities or to a community provider
for services. At Palmer there will also be a 30-day educational
program that will accommodate about 250 people per year.
2:51:44 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked what sort of effect they expect to get from a
30-day educational component.
MR. BRANDENBURG replied they'll have a treatment and control
group for all phases of the program and in a year they'll know
how the 1,000 people who went through a substance abuse program
compare to the 1,000 that were in the control group.
2:52:33 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked what Mr. Oas or ISER suggest about what the
reduction in recidivism will be from attending a 30-day class.
MR. BRANDENBURG replied most of it is to set up a scenario that
encourages participation in treatment.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said pretrial has a high turnover. The
other problem they run into with programs in pretrial is that
defense counsel often advises their clients against
participation for fear it will compromise a defense. So although
they want to focus on those who have been convicted, they need
to do something in the pretrial period.
CHAIR FRENCH said he is skeptical and will be curious to hear
what they found out, perhaps in a future meeting.
MR. BRANDENBURG said he is sure there will be some benefit but
doesn't know how much.
2:55:25 PM
MR. BRANDENBURG said they have also paired anger management with
their substance abuse programs to increase the effectiveness.
They have a 48-week offender treatment program that addresses
some different aspects of the criminal personality.
He is particularly proud of their Parenting Inside/Out Program.
A lot of offenders have children and very little idea about
parenting; this program is available at every facility and can
accommodate four groups of 20 inmates each year. About 162
inmates have gone through the program since it was implemented
in June.
The 25-bed sex-offender treatment unit he mentioned is getting
ready to open in Juneau; they have the CRC based program in
Bethel with 19 beds, 15 of which are filled and there are seven
intensive out-patient programs available in the communities that
include polygraph testing.
Domestic violence programming is provided in four facilities
through the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. DOC
monitors the programs but is looking for evidence-based programs
that the council can implement in other facilities around the
state.
GED and Adult Basic Education classes are offered; the number of
people getting their GED each year has increased from 82 to 247.
This year they expect to increase that number to 285.
2:58:35 PM
Vocational rehabilitation is also offered. Currently DOC has 760
inmates in vocational programs and 136 in apprentice programs
for a total of 890 inmates participating.
Finally, the re-entry program focuses on ensuring that people
being released have a job, a place to stay and can be reunified
with family. People who have those things in place when they get
out of jail are less likely to come back. There is no price-tag
available for that yet.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said they are working to gather that data
and they will have the information during this budget cycle if
necessary.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if the sex-offender program is only at Lemon
Creek.
MR. BRANDENBURG said yes. It is a 12 to 18 month intensive
program.
CHAIR FRENCH said at 25 beds it sounds as if that is costing
$100,000 per bed.
MR. BRANDENBURG agreed that it is expensive.
3:01:04 PM
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL commented that one of the things they've
struggled with over the years is the assets that DOC has access
to in any community. It will be interesting to learn what the
cooperation looks like and where the blank spots might be.
MR. BRANDENBURG said one piece of this re-entry plan is the
transition between the institution and the field probation
officer [FPO]. They are talking about sentenced felons who will
be on supervision when they are released. This plan starts upon
sentencing and follows them throughout their incarceration.
Three to six months prior to release there will be a meeting
with the FPO to talk about the transition and what resources
will be needed when the offender is released into the community.
CHAIR FRENCH asked Mr. Peeples to confirm the cost of the plan.
3:02:20 PM
MR. PEEPLES clarified that the cost-allocation for the
institution-based program was $200,000 starting at Lemon Creek.
It is not $2.6 million. He directed attention to page 4 in the
ISER summary, the second block of numbers under the sex-offender
treatment program.
CHAIR FRENCH said he sees that Lemon Creek program is just
$200,000.
MR. BRANDENBURG admitted he is not a numbers guy.
3:03:31 PM
There being nothing further to come before the committee, Chair
French adjourned the meeting at 3:03 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|