Topic: Courts

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Key to the success of the county’s Safety and Justice Challenge work to date has been the creation of the Community Engagement Workgroup (CEW). Community interest in advancing change in the justice system has been high and progress has been made to increase public involvement in this work. The county has increased the representation of community members across workgroups and on councils, intentionally engaging people impacted by the justice system. As of May 2021, the CEW had hosted nine engagement events reaching over 500 participants. As a result of community engagement efforts, the information from these conversations was shared with other workgroups in the justice system and informed the inclusion of the county’s community safety and violence prevention strategy.

To better embed racial equity in efforts to transform the justice system, the Racial Equity Workgroup (REW) has held over 15 educational and training opportunities, both internally and with broader justice system stakeholders and partners. The REW has analyzed disparities across justice system decision points, developed strategies to incorporate a focus on equity, and laid the foundation for the County’s proclamation of Racism as a Public Safety Emergency. The REW developed a Racial Equity Tool to identify policies and practices contributing to inequities, and is designing a local equity curriculum for justice system partners.

Collaboration between the county’s behavioral health and criminal justice partners has focused on screening people in jail for diversion to treatment and supporting planning for re-entry into the community. More specifically, the county was able to enhance its Familiar Faces program for individuals with complex needs to reduce arrests and increase collaboration across service providers. Between January 2020 and January 2021, the Familiar Faces program coordinated care of 15 individuals and clients saw a 45% reduction in arrests and reported increased collaboration across service providers. From July 2020 to March 2021, more than 100 clients were released from jail to treatment through the diversion program for substance use.

With the addition of a re-entry case manager in October 2020, 28 individuals were able to receive additional case management support upon release. Of these clients, 86% engaged in more community-based mental health treatment; 75% were able to establish and maintain stable housing; 75% reported abstinence from and/or a decrease in substance use; and 93% did not experience rearrest within the reporting period.

Finally, thanks to the support of the Safety and Justice Challenge network, strong collaboration in the criminal justice system to-date, and community partners working toward the goal of safely reducing the jail population, the county was able to respond quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic and simultaneously protect public health and public safety.

Remaining Challenges

Buncombe County is focused on addressing its remaining challenges in its local justice system.

While the county has seen progress with safely decreasing its jail population, the proportion of Black people in jail reached its highest levels in July 2020, which was also the point where the jail population was at its lowest level. Moving forward, the county is focusing on root causes of inequities, including investing in and growing the new community safety and violence prevention initiative.

In addition, the limitations of the state-based court reminder system have been a consistent challenge as the county has worked to improve access to reliable court reminders and reduce failures to appear in court. There has also been confusion around who is expected to appear in court during the pandemic. To address this, the county is working to try to coordinate messaging across court partners to communicate with the public about expectations related to appearing in court during the pandemic.

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Specifically, Cook County has been able to reduce the local jail population without putting public safety at risk. In fact, rigorous analysis completed by the Office of the Chief Judge, the JFA Institute, and Loyola University Chicago all demonstrate that eliminating cash bail in the justice system has been both safe and effective in Cook County.

In the first six months after bond reform was implemented in Cook County, more than 3,500 more people received an I-Bond—meaning that they were released without bail—who would not have received one before. Because of I-Bonds and lower D-Bond amounts, defendants saved a total $31.4 million that could instead go toward rent, food, and other essentials to support themselves and their families. In addition, 500 more people were safely released back into the community while awaiting trial.

Community voice was critical to these results. In 2020-2021, the county engaged 264 community residents who participated in 31 small group dialogues, an increase from the 144 community residents who participated in 24 small group dialogues in 2019.

Remaining Challenges

While Cook County has made significant progress in reducing its jail population, the county aims to reduce it even further, and continue addressing the barriers that keep people in jail before their trials begin.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a set of completely new challenges for the Cook County justice system, but stakeholders remain firmly committed to driving forward toward the goals of the Safety and Justice Challenge. Through continued collaboration and data-driven decision making, stakeholders regularly review strategies to course-correct and adapt, even during the most challenging of circumstances.

Finally, Governor J.B Pritzker signed the SAFE-T act on February 2, 2021 which has significant implications for Illinois and Cook County. The abolishment of cash bail, law enforcement reforms, and other pretrial reforms are covered in the legislation and county stakeholders will have to collaboratively prepare for the impact of the significant changes.

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The county has learned that communication and collaboration are key to any reform strategy. System actors, including judges, law enforcement, public defenders, community members, and many others, have come together to work on making the local justice system fairer and more equitable.

As a result of the Community Engagement Workgroup’s work, a series of community listening conversations in late 2020 created a space for community members to share valued input on proposed criminal justice reform strategies. Within the system, court and law enforcement are participating in procedural justice trainings to learn ways to improve relationships with the public through increased transparency and understanding of legal processes. Over 600 employees have been trained so far.

From 2016 – 2020, the Population Review Team has reviewed and recommended release in 669 cases, and as a result, saved people an overall 4,325 days spent in jail.

The Toledo Municipal Court diversion program was able to effectively support people who often cycle in and out of the jail with alternatives to incarceration. Since 2018, 2,044 people have been referred to the program and 1,053 of them have completed the program. The program is being evaluated by the Harvard Access to Justice Lab.

Remaining Challenges

Lucas County is focused on addressing its remaining challenges in its local justice system.

Lucas County has more work to do in further reducing its jail population and racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system. An analysis of racial and ethnic disparities will be completed to inform further strategies to reduce racial and ethnic disparities. Additionally, Lucas County is focusing on expanding its continuum of services for individuals with behavioral health needs involved in the criminal justice system.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on every aspect of the county’s local justice system and continues to uniquely affect those incarcerated in local jails. The foundation of collaborative, data-driven strategies, including the necessary structures and collaboration from local stakeholders that are in place to support these strategies, has set the county up well to respond to the pandemic swiftly and effectively.

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As a result of the new community triage center for mental health and substance use disorders, more people with mental health and substance use needs have been able to access the services they need, instead of cycling in and out of the jail. As a result of its revised bond schedule, jail bookings have decreased by 26%. The new community triage center, opened in June 2021, provides another option for law enforcement to bring people who are better suited for assistance for their mental health and substance use disorders rather than jail, and Minnehaha anticipates continuing to decrease bookings because of this new resource.

Efforts to engage the community have allowed the county to foster deep relationships with community groups who continue to be involved in conversations and decision-making related to the strategies to transform our justice system. Specifically, the county developed a Race, Equity, and Community workgroup to develop and advise on a community-based workplan, as well as engaged top leadership of the community to support the work of the Community Engagement Committee. The county also developed formal partnerships with culturally-based organizations to inform strategies to improve the justice system. Last, the county hosted a community-wide “Community Table Talk” event focused on racial equity in the justice system to garner information about what the community needs.

There has also been and continues to be productive collaboration among key stakeholders in the justice system, including judges, law enforcement, public defenders, community members, and many others, that supports the county’s efforts.

Remaining Challenges

Minnehaha County is focused on addressing its remaining challenges in its local justice system.

The county is focused on enhancing its data to better inform decisions in the justice system. Specifically, the county’s leaders continue to look for innovative ways to assist in data tracking across systems.

In addition, to continue to build on progress to date and address the over-representation of people of color in the justice system, the county will remain focused in the next few years on engaging the community in discussions and decisions about strategies to improve the justice system.

Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on every aspect of the county’s local justice system and continues to uniquely affect those incarcerated in local jails. The foundation of collaborative, data-driven strategies, including the necessary structures and collaboration from local stakeholders that are in place to support these strategies, has set the county up well to respond to the pandemic swiftly and effectively.

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San Francisco has been able to reduce its jail population since joining the Safety and Justice Challenge while keeping the community safe.

As a result of these reductions, San Francisco was able to close the seismically unfit County Jail #4. The Safety and Justice Challenge partnership laid the foundation for this success and provided a space for community advocates and system partners to engage with the closure process.

The Safety and Justice Challenge has shown San Francisco what we can accomplish through shared focus, good data, strong coordination, connection to community-based supports, and close partnership with people most affected by the criminal justice system.

Remaining Challenges

San Francisco partners know there is more work to do. Partners must work to sustain jail population reductions amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. System partners and community members are also committed to ending persistent racial disparities in jail, which have remained constant despite overall reductions. Partners believe that change is possible in San Francisco. Guided by ongoing analysis of data and partnership with people who have lived experience, San Francisco will continue to refine the strategies above and develop new strategies to meet shared goals.