Search results matching tag 'Pretrial'

Staggering Jail Costs

Sandy Schilling — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:12:00 GMT

An article in Forbes, America's Jail Crisis, uses Harris County Jail statistics and costs to highlight the budget problems facing many of our counties. According to this article, the National Association of Counties is trying to encourage communities to put additional resources into pretrial services in the hope of keeping inmates out of the much more expensive jails.

Re: Pretrial Risk/Needs Assessments--Your Thoughts?

Don Bjoring — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:38:03 GMT

We assess both risk and needs for pretrial release candidates. We do not, however, use the needs assessment as a predictor of successful completion of PTR, although we are reviewing that issue now and may change our policy.

We do use it for the supervising officers' use in later contacts with the defendants, since the officer should be aware of significant problems that could interfere with successful completion, and may require the officer to attempt to intercede with service providers or justice system officials to reduce or eliminate conflicts that could arise. Medical appointments (either due to physiological or psychological issues), social worker appointments, child care, etc., all have to be managed by someone to avoid conflicts with justice system appointments, and often the defendants we deal with have proven not to be particularly good managers of those issues.

It seems to me that the pragmatic view of the issue would nudge us toward using the needs assessment in scoring a case, since we don't use the PTR Risk/Needs just for prediction of success, but also as a measure of workload. If the defendants are not particularly risky as measured by the usual risk scoring instruments, but have a great many unmet needs, we have frequently found our officers spend as much, or more time with the very needy as they do with the very risky.

Pretrial Risk Assessment and Case Classification Article

Ken Rose — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:16:51 GMT

Federal Probation: A Journal of Correctional Philosophy and Practice has published an article, Pretrial Risk Assessment and Case Classification: A Case Study Control, in the June 2009 edition. The author, Keith Cooprider, shares the experience of implementing the Virginia Model pretrial risk assessment and case classification guidelines in Lake County, Illinois. Highlights of the article include a discussion of the importance of using an objective pretrial risk assessment instrument, Lake County's training and implementation experience, and the provision of differential pretrial supervision based on an objective risk instrument.

Click here to read the article. (http://www.uscourts.gov/fedprob/June_2009/ACaseStudy.html)

Re: Virginia House Bill 2650 -- Citizen's Right to Know: Pretrial Release Act

Don Bjoring — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:33:58 GMT

In Florida the bill was the result of very significant lobbying by the bail bond industry. They are pretty significant contributors to political campaigns here, as I suspect they are in many states. They contribute to local, state and federal campaigns, both through their individual businesses and their state and national professional associations. The law if Florida is pretty burdensome on pretrial release programs, requiring a great deal of detailed reporting, with a requirement that the reports be posted in the office of the Clerk of the Court. We are also required to participate in a statewide survey of the pretrial release programs and provide even more data for that survey. In my opinion, and at least some of our peers around the state, it is pure harassment by the bail bond industry. It's odd that I saw this e-mail this morning, just after I finished a 20 minute conversation with a reporter from the Orlando Business Journal regarding the bail bond industry allegations that we are releasing dangerous offenders. Total nonsense, but you've got to respond to it.

Virginia House Bill 2650 -- Citizen's Right to Know: Pretrial Release Act

Ken Rose — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:21:00 GMT

This legislation was passed last year in Florida and has recently been introduced in Virginia. Thoughts and comments about this topic are appreciated.

Confidentiality of the Pretrial Investigation Report

Ken Rose — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:42:17 GMT

I received a question from a program in another state that is pursuing legislation to make the pretrial investigation report confidential. The only state that I'm aware of that has this kind of legislation is Virginia. If anyone knows of other legislation out there, please let me know. -- Thanks

PJI National Survey of Pretrial Services Programs

Ken Rose — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:49:45 GMT

            The Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI) has opened a national survey of pretrial release programs that is the result of collaboration with the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA) and the support of the JEHT Foundation. This will be the fourth survey of pretrial release programs and the information provided from these surveys has proved to be a valuable asset to the field of pretrial services.

            Continuing to build our knowledge on pretrial practice remains as important as ever. Pretrial programs benefit from information about other jurisdictions to support policy and practice. Program administrators find it beneficial when they can share and exchange information regarding program operation and practice. Through this survey, we will continue to explore your administrative locus, program scope and size, funding and staffing as well as actual program practices. We will gather information on current issues, such as the level of technological innovation in our field, the latest in assessment schemes, and new supervision models and protocols. The survey will also explore how programs are dealing with special populations, such as defendants with mental illness and juveniles charged as adults.

            If you have not received an e-mail invitation and wish to participate in this important national survey, please contact Ken Rose at ken@pretrial.org or at (202) 638-3080 x304. This online user-friendly survey will take less than an hour and will close August 15, 2008.

2008 Edition of Topics in Community Corrections

CC Pro — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:22:00 GMT

The 2008 edition of Topics in Community Corrections is now available. Applying Evidence-Based Practices in Pretrial Services provides a framework for pretrial personnel to employ research-based practices in "developing programming, designing supervision strategies, and conducting research that will lead to a better understanding of current efforts in the pretrial services area."

Limited hard copies are available through the NIC Information Center by calling 800.877.1461 (Press 4) or downloadable from the NIC website at: http://nicic.gov/Downloads/PDF/Library/022904.pdf

Research funding opportunity from the National Institute of Justice

Spurgeon Kennedy — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:40:41 GMT

Research on Safe Community Release for Pretrial and Jail Populations
Posted: December 17, 2007

Due: February 15, 2008, 11:59 p.m. eastern time.
NIJ is soliciting applications for research and evaluation of pretrial and jail options that promote cost-effective alternatives to detention and incarceration and protect public safety. The Institute has identified the pretrial and jail release phases of the criminal justice system as an understudied research priority. It is at these stages that case management and other key decisions affecting detention, case outcome, and sentencing are made. Such decisions have important repercussions for offenders, victims and their families at the case level, and for policymakers in the aggregate.

(see attached)

Pretrial Service Programs in North Carolina: A Process and Impact Assessment

Ken Rose — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:37:12 GMT