State of Connecticut

Action Areas Diversion Mental Health Racial Disparities Substance Abuse

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Background

Connecticut is one of a handful of states that fund and administer jails and other core criminal justice functions at the state rather than the local level. Jails in Connecticut were taking a particularly heavy toll on people of color. The state saw wide racial and ethnic disparities within its population—in New Haven, African Americans made up 33% of the population but 56% of custodial arrests. Similar disparities were found in Bridgeport and Hartford.

Another concern for the state was the average length of pretrial detention, which averaged six weeks. Detention disrupts the lives of people’s families and communities. It leads to higher re-arrest rates and produces worse case outcomes, including future episodes of being held in jail.

Strategies

The State of Connecticut advanced a number of strategies to rethink and redesign its criminal justice system so that it is more fair, just, and equitable for all. Specifically, the state implemented initiatives in the three largest cities, which had the highest rates of custodial arrests and concentration of communities of color: Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven.

01

IMPLICIT BIAS TRAININGS

In order to better address the racial disparities in Connecticut’s jails, the state expanded its implicit bias training program in New Haven, Bridgeport, and Hartford. The state also evaluated current racial and ethnic disparities to establish a baseline for improvement and identify additional reforms needed to reduce disparities.

02

PRETRIAL SERVICES

The Collaborative Ongoing Review Team is a pretrial court processing pilot in New Haven aimed at diverting people from jail to community-based programming.

03

SCREENING AND REFERRALS

The Hartford Alternative to Arrest Project provided screening and referrals to detention alternatives for individuals with mental health, substance abuse, and housing needs.

04

SUBSTANCE USE DIVERSION

The expanded Jail Diversion Substance Abuse program aimed to provide people with substance use disorders with access to court-based diversion to detox and residential treatment to avoid pretrial detention.

More Results

The pretrial court processing pilot in New Haven increased the number of defendants who are diverted to a community-based program instead of jail, and it reduced the length of stay by two weeks.

The Hartford Alternative to Arrest Project helped support roughly 800 individuals with mental health, substance abuse, and housing needs. These individuals were redirected to alternative services instead of jail.

Because of the expanded Jail Diversion Substance Abuse program, people with substance use disorders were provided with access to court-based diversion to detox and residential treatment to avoid pretrial detention.

Lead Agency

Connecticut Office of Policy and Management Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division

Partners

Department of Correction, Judicial Branch Courts, Judicial Branch Court Support Services Division, Division of Public Defender Services, Division of Criminal Justice (Prosecutors), Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Forensic Division, Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, City of Bridgeport Police, and the MALTA Justice Initiative.
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In the news

Connecticut Mirror

Criminal-justice reformer questions Malloy’s approach to bail

06/02/2016

By Mark Pazniokas

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