Arkansas Legislative Recidivism Reduction Task Force

When I go ahead and call us to order senator gilmore could not be here today and he appointed me as his designate for for today so I hope you all bear with me for for this discussion so I think we are going to have more of a discussion today and that's what I hope so hope everyone welcome mr secretary would have more of a discussion today so I hope everyone drank coffee at launch and rather than a turkey saying which is so we can ever lively discussion here before we proceed to the presentation by the city just the center we just need to approve the minutes from the last meeting so if you are about a chance to look those over all entertainment motion to adopt the minutes represent are we moved out the minutes is our second or we have a second all in favor any opposed home with that mislow pairs i'll invite you to the table and we're going to have as I said. Ah a presentation from the council they governors just the center and we'll see as we go through it but I hope we can have really common open in the conversation today but just with that alturn over to you australia. Afternoon everyone so for those of you I haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting my name is the state a lot beth and i'm part of the team with the council said governments just the center that is going to be supporting this task for so first wanted to thank you offer having me and for giving me an opportunity to address you all and as a senator tucker said I am very helpful that we will not just be hearing the sound of my own voice but instead that we will be hearing from all of you some meaning of a few updates but i'm really hoping that we can have a conversation there some questions in here and i'm hoping that you all weigh in your perspectives so we have a pure the names everybody who is on the task force and I am highlighting that because you each have but unique and important perspective to offer so far as the just the center we've had an opportunity to talk about half of the folks in this group and if we haven't had a chance to talk to you individually I am really hoping that we'll be able to do so you want to catch me after this meeting and let me know what the best way of getting in touch with you is that would be great but you can expect to hear from us. We do know how busy everybody is we know how valuable you're time is and that's certainly not something that we take lately but to the extent that you're able to the more that you share the better were all going to understand all of the issues that are saying this group and the better that we understand the issues the better the solutions that we can come up with will be so each of your experiences really helps to have a deeper richer and more nuanced understanding of the problems facing arkansas so i'm really hoping that everyone will bring those experiences to the conversation. So like I said at this point we've had an opportunity to speak with about half of you individually but there have been some themes that have emerged one of the threads that has come forward in the conversations that we've had is that members of this task force are really concerned with making sure that when it individuals have served a period of encounteration and are returning to the community that they are doing so under circumstances that set them best up for success so some specifics on what that means is that you want to make sure that the availability of mental health and behavioral health resources that are with in prison walls but also in the communities that people are returning to are appropriate and excessible you are have told us that you want to make sure that reentry services that include housing that makes that include making sure that folks have the documentation that they need that they have support services that that is all available and also making sure that the department of correction has the resources that it needs to make sure that the programming within facilities as evidence based and geared towards addressing criminal janet me. Warned you there would be questions and this is just my first one but whether or not we've had an opportunity to speak with you i'd love to hear from the folks in this room what else should this group examine what is missing. You as can be shy now but i'm warning you there are more questions were i'm repeating myself at this point but I really do want to encourage everyone to jump in you know if you're here i'll use an example so that's not single anybody out but if you're a dog catcher from carlisle on his task force then you're here not just represent carlisle but your voice is here to represent the dog catchers for the entire state and every person here on this task forces representative of an of another community and so we were in that community for the entire state really so that's why you're every single person's voice here is is very important and as australia said we're just going to be able to do a much better job of creating solutions if if we have the feedback of the people who are out in the trenches on the ground every day doing this work so anywhere I really I really just want to encourage everybody to feel free to chime in more than just time at chimen but all for your your thoughts and perspective based on your experiences and expertise. Represent army well they miss your chair at that being said it I think we also have to look at how much it's going to cost there and that may be something you're going to get into that these concerns are emerging themes that as folks that have to to budget that you and represent gas when I have charged with doing you know I think we have to also we can look at all this great stuff none of which I disagree with that if we can't fund it and afford it then we wasted our time so that's just something for us to think about and i'm sure that's already been thought about that you're asking for an input so I would give me an implement that's great it's great thank you mr secretary almost chairman thank you so to the point of funding I think in some cases you have the spend a little money to make a little money and as it relates to corrections it's my general observation having sat as the secretary for nearly a year that the system is mainly designed under a putting the model there's not a lot of case management programmatic activity that's been occurring within the arkansas apartment a corrections it's beginning to occur but I think there's been a heavy reliance on the community correction side of the house posting carceration so things and activities need to move up stream and they need to move upstream into the correction started out and it's something that i've talked about since I walked in the door and that we are in a mission to create within the department of corrections which is a corrections plan I testify before the the black carcass when I first got here and and kind of laid out my my plan and the opportunity of incarceration which I sit not care before you all and see helped me achieve success in that through the creation of risk assessment tools that were in the process of grabbing two identi. Fire who we have coming into our system at the beginning what the restaurant what their needs are with their respond to developing programs within the prison system that inform the best outcomes they're not hard parts they're not all accord based on the wardens interest but they actually speak to the human condition in the prison in the opportunity of incarceration society is given these guys a time out and said mr secretary they're now words of you there your your foster children for whatever period of time of incarceration is of how you going to make them better one of the things that is missing I think is case management to have social workers in prison case managers that are engaged with the inmate population on a routine basis to listen to them holistically as to their needs and how they might better help how they can help them maintain their connection for their temporary time out on society to maintain those connections to the free world when they do get out family reunification within the system proper reentry center at the corrections level that when people are getting out of prison that they go through a space that aligns all the things that they've done in prison there education their programming and treatment and counseling services their work education whether it be career technical education or vocational training that aligns and you'll read about this in the protect act a lot with respect to a lining those things and giving them all the tools they need post repreentry and then that warm handoff your your second little caption there with regards to in a nutshell community and I think that's the missing peace is mr secretary has them for as long as they're incarcerated once they leave my care custom control I have little impact or affect on whether they recitivate or not. But we can do a better job and we can intervene in a recidivism scenario if community gets involved in lines in we have to create the space for them to do that then what is that space to look like in order so on how to we could connect them to community concrete integrate them to their families upon release how do we reintegate them to the work force upon release how do we reintegrate them as something as simple as finding it a press repreacher or doctor prior to release so they can continue those services that I have been taking care of why they have been a captive in the car system but now they're on their own and I think that's really important in a very very important conversation to have to chief success so community is what I would say is the big thing that we need to focus on how they can help. Those are all those are all great thank you so much mister secretary I just want to chairman on on two things that you said um and then we'll pass it on uh but one is that I recently heard i'm i'm curious for your take on this but I recently heard about a program in in the state of tennessee where they have certified peer recovery specialists where in mates you know themselves become certified aren't to be peer support and and then they can help others is that that's sound like something that we could do more with here hundred percent i'm familiar with the program it's in tennessee we had it in arizona the commissioner of tennessee happens to be from arizona he was my contemporary in arizona and there is nothing better than a pure support specialist in the incarceral space they have far more credibility than anybody that I can hire or I have myself cause they've actually walked the path we have a program that is under way with regards to your sports specialist but the focus has been to train them to beast peer support specialist so when they leave they can do that post release in community I want to turn that on its head and we do it we train them to be peer sports specialists we certify them prior to release and we turn them loose in institutions to help me in recovery and women and recover that that sounds great i'm this the second point I wanted to follow upon is we've talked more and more in different ways about making our justice system more like the federal system and I don't want to litigate all that but one thing at that I think the federal system does has done better than than we have is there a robust risk assessment of the way at at the sensing phase before they ever even get to you. And that's that's one thing that I support especially if we're dealing with the plea in a judicial sentence and I think it's easier in that context and it necessarily if it goes all the way to bureaucrats and there's a jury imposing the sounds but but any event I think a more robust risk assessment tool which could be used at the sensing level and then could be used about that apartment if in when an inmate does get to to the department of corrections I hope that something that we look at as well. And with that yes alternative to you yes sir yep. Miss secretary you stated a lot a lot that i'm i've hit on my cheerful while but some of comments I think you made I want to hear to that some of the live experiences I guess one of the things is allowing some of these forming cost reindividuals that if proving themselves to come back on top of that I would love and I don't know how much train is being done with a lot of officers that can become more pro program because we've got a lot of offices that are more punitive and nature and I think that needs to change we've been there with the form of correction for about a seventeen years now and I think we still have that yeah to where we're trying to connect those dots with the officers be great if we can train some of these officers that could station themselves that some of these program facilities and work with us I think given them the understand of how programs work in the effectiveness of those programs would be a a crucial things for these officers to take the lead and that so much taking a back seat to it so we really need that push from those officers to step up the other thing that I would say on top that live experience particularly we've had some of it but I don't think we have enough I think we've got to train also some of the the wardens as well and some of that stuff that they can begin the porch and begin approved those at proven themselves that have gone out of programs and coming back so that they can share those live experiences along with being mental as I think are mentors have been proven throughout the nation that they work and not just so much that we have those individuals that are getting out of prison doing it that those in our communities that could step up to the plate and add to that to further help in reduce the reservation I still support system that were going out some of the custy levels one of the things that I think we're having to push back with two. Particularly when you talk about screening I think those that are needing programs that have probably a year before they're released or two years that we can't connect the dots I think we've got to look at the custy levels and begin cause right now we're not taking class forward I think some of those we could but we get probably some around fifty applications a week and so some of those guys that we could take potentially that are needing some type of programming or some type of help part of a release would be great if we could take dollars individuals so I think those are some some of the things on mark late notches with the program I run but across the board one of the other things that was brought to my attention by some of the reentry folks that are run in some of the reinjury facilities out there in the communities we were able to share with them I think and thank you mister director you guys were able to allow us to help train some of those on what mentoring how that works and particularly bring in those mentors and but one of the things that I was told and of course meet with gerry and going through some things that some of the programming that was not being done and so we're able to take them through some of the programming that we did on our side to further introduce some of those effect of that and I know which case management has been a big thing here I think I don't know how many programs we've got an department correction that are actually done case management but we share in that we realize the importance of case management and I echo the same sentiment that you do on that second miss secretary can't get enough for that if we have that case management in place we can assess these men and women all that better and so uh and that would be great if that case may I know when you talk about dollar bills those are some of the things that need to take place. And because if we don't do it we're going to steal run into the same problems trying to get the same guy out that keeps coming back and not being effective in what we do and utilise in those two was in the right way the reintercoalition several years ago we had the outflief conference that was here it was a reintro conference that took place in twenty ten uh backed out up in twenty fifteen we also had the conference that former governor hutchison hilled in I recall of that one of the things that we did not do and I don't know how many reintro coalitions within the communities we had a state wide and I was overseen some of those range coalition we probably had about. Eight or so around the state that match every region and I think there's some more like how many regions is at twelve twelve regions that we have within state for acc thirteen regions eleven regions we had every region we had a range of coalition potentially work in that way to establish those are into coalitions across the state I think there's only one right now I tried to get a whole north with or not with northwest arkansas regional correlation and I think that still intact but one of the things I think we can do is really try to put those reached coalitions in place because then you have a turns of benefits from that with the stakeholders when you have a you have the law enforcement involved you've got the community stakeholders from employers to mental health these were some of the things that were being done in twenty ten is somewhere the ball his draw but we can pick some of those things back up and begin to place them we also had community corrections supervision that were there we had parole officers your directors that were involved then knows different locations every month so I think that triggered a lot to get the ball rolling on more support systems and have enough rap round services so the needs are being met white stores individuals are back out in society and I think there was something some things that was drafted structure I know you're out of loop that that probably could begin to work within those confidence and put that back together and see what could happen from that. I may be the only one in the room that has experienced personally being incarcerated in being on pearl so I might have a little different perspective for you and the original question what else could we add to this I don't think there's anything else to add I think the problem or the solution would be improving the service as we already have in place I think there's a program for everything within the department of corrections there's a program for everything within community corrections the connections have been made with who you get your driver's license from with employers all those things have been done they just obviously need to be improved potentially to decrease recentivism I have worked a transitional housing facilities are worked for the state as a reentry employment specialist so I have experience helping individuals getting their driver's license getting insurance finding jobs all that kind of stuff the jobs are there if people want a job they can get a job even on perol especially right now that's really not a problem housing is a huge problem if you're renting renters are still very a sceptical to rent to felons that is a problem but as far as getting ideas and documents I think the state's already done about all they can do and that situation some of the responsibility has to be put on the individual to take advantage of the programs that are there potentially a little better education while they're in while they are incarcerated sometimes they get half stories you know they get out of prison think and all I got to do is go to this and it's a little born ball so you know a little better education a little more time taken to educate because honestly sometimes intelligence levels of incarcerated individuals are not very high and memories are not the best after substance you use so you know maybe given on the document or little better education more patient education. Obviously that takes more money and that takes more staff and i'm a tax payer I don't want to pay more taxes I totally understand that but sometimes to do a better job more money has to be spent for things like that because since i've been released I have maintained summary lationships a lot of officers that are no longer officers but it's a very hard job corrections officers per old officers it's a very hard job they have super high case loads once they have hearless there's only so many hours in a day there needs to be more problem officers and I mean that cost money but there for them to do a good job there's got to be more money but into it there there's just no way around at one individual can not properly supervise a hundred and fifty police they just can act as far as it was mentioned officers with a punitive mindset i'm gonna give a real i'd view point from somebody who's been incarcerated prison does not need to be good you don't need to be abused by your imprison you don't need to be mistreated but you don't need a happy experience you don't need lovy data it needs to be a place you don't want to go back to I spent twelve years in prison and I don't want to go back i'd like to be unable to get in my car and go where I want to go I like being able to pick my decorations I don't want to go back to the white walls and the uncomfortable bed and that influences my daily decisions it doesn't need to be a happy love place and honestly I think sometimes the efforts are made for it to be a happier place and that's potentially counterproductive obviously they don't need to be mistreated but just keeping that in mind off the corrections officers are not paid very much honestly you can work at a factory right now and make a lot more money than being a corrections officer you could not I would not go work it come in for eighteen dollars an hour or whatever it is mr secretary. That my husband works at a factory and makes more money than that I mean that just is what it is it's a very hard job it's a very mentally hard mental health wise job and they don't ate very much money and you can't expect the best attitude out of people that you don't pay very well I think we could all agree to that. One thing I want to share about the risk assessment so as somebody who spent a lot of time in prison and who saw a lot of people in and out I don't know the policies as they are now it's been a while since i've been out but when I was there you had an initial assessment when you went in that determined the programs you were stipulated to the programs you had a complete before you could be released things like satp the drug treatment may be voted for uh trade learning a trade if you've been in prison before you know how to answer the questions tonight gets stipulated to the programs you don't want to take and that's just you know some of your may not believe that but it's true you know how to answer the question if you don't want to have to go to stay six months to do as a tp you minimize your drug use you minimise your drug history you know how to answer the questions criminals know how to manipulate the system the assessments do not need to be based on the answers of the criminal they need to be based on the factual histories of the cases and I again that takes more staff that takes more investigation that takes more time but to be accurate we have to buy powers the manipulation of the criminals and i'm sorry i'm not using the nice politically correct words but forgive me. Uh again what I was last familiar with the rural risk assessment for custody level of parallel the first time I took that assessment it was five questions the last time it was eleven questions now how can eleven questions determine how much supervision I need once i'm released I don't care how good those eleven questions are how can eleven questions determine how much I need to be supervised when i'm released but that as to the best of my knowledge is what it was. Again those questions need to be based on the ad to that when I went up for parole I was your parole is based on your case your crime may be a little bit your behavior while you're incarcerated but I was not allowed to have staff from prison or staff I worked for in prison right recommendation letters i've been there twelve years who else is going to be able to testify as to my character anything in my case file was twelve years ago I was nineteen years old when I permitted my crime I was thirty two when I went up for parallel those people from nineteen years from twelve years ago didn't tell me the people I worked in the school arkansas correctional school for my last five years of incarceration those people saw me every day I worked with me every day they know my character they knew my behavior a lot of those officers had known me for twelve years they saw their consistency of my behavior not a day here and there but they knew whether I was consistently behaved whether I was consistently respectful and they're not allowed to comment as based on parole and I don't agree with that I think that is who they should be asking especially for long periods of a car storation now somebody's only been there two months that's a different story but for long periods of incorresporation you need to ask the staff you need to ask the people that have had daily interaction with these and mates. Um totally agree with a case management that goes along with what I said of more staff and that kind of thing the organization I work for employees peer specialists I have been through the peer specialist training absolutely agree that's a wonderful tool II have all the respect for a clinicians and I think social workers are needed and valuable but those with lind experience have a different perspective and a different connection and are able to assist in a different way and I think that's a very valuable asset. The last thing I would like to share a short story of a woman on no very well and something she's going through right now she married a man three years ago who had just gotten out of prison he actually had just gone through re entry at hidden greek completed the program he'd been incarcerated for seven years for multiple gun and dread charges and one violent domestic situation. Um twenty first went to prison he went through as completed the program his whole sentence of seven years he was in work release three o nine he was a good and may did the reentry program was released has maintained employment for three years got married had a child yeah he's on annual supervision for parole he's the model perole he's on I said annual supervision he fulfilled all his brill requirements I october his wife left him because he was an alcoholic and he had become increasingly abusive than the situation was not safe for the wife and the child so the wife left and the husband lasted he got really drunk he destroyed their home admitted in a police report that he took an acts to the kitchen cabinets the star broke all the windows destroyed the home police came now because anyone called them except maybe the neighbors but I think it was a random he was putting all the phone nature and trash out on the line so either just a random patrol sold or a neighborhood the police weren't he was destroying his own property it's not a crime nothing else was done since then the wife has filed for a divorce he terrorized her parents house for a while but nothing criminal no criminal you know nothing that could be he could go to jail for a provider late for but this is not this individual is not included in our residences because he's not committing a crime he's not going back to prison his following his parallel conditions here's one of the what fifty seven percent of success he's not one of the forty four percent of not successful. I don't want to share with you I and this woman this was my husband this was my home the clothes i'm wearing right now were given to me by a co worker because he threw away and destroyed all my clothes and i'm not saying this for sympathy and i'm not saying this because I want anybody to do anything i'm a strong capable woman I have it handled but i'm just sharing the as you said this is serious what we're doing here I take this very serious this is this could have been your neighbors and this may end there's nothing he can go to jail for he's free he is going to find somebody else and probably do this again and there's nothing anybody can do about it so what do we need mental health care where do we need substance abuse care it's not always about fine in the job it's not always about fine in a place to live it's about the end of the goals and the thinking that leads to these behaviors and if we cannot correct the thinking and the sickness there's no point in any discussion we have and that's all I have to say thank you thank you so much for sharing all that with us really meaningful and really appreciated represent gas way thank you a lot of really great ideas now appreciate all the comments I do want to echo one of the thoughts senator tucker had about preinvestigation reports or risk assessments if you will I do think that would be very helpful that on the friday and I think there are a lot of things we can do on the backyard with the community as secretary limited to and also. Uh or or other fellow member here but on the front end in terms of you know when I was a prosecutor somewhere to bring that perspective when someone came in the court I didn't know what their background was and so it would have been very helpful to me and to the judge and everyone who was going to make a decision as to what the appropriate amount of time a person should spend in prison should be. If we had some idea about what this person's background other than just their other the just their criminal history score what brought them into this court room today was something that I never knew before I was making a decision about if a person should go to the penitentiary and if they should go to the penitentiary how long they should stay there in in state court you have no idea about that in federal court they have these extensive presentencing reports that are prepared for the prosecutor and for the judge and so everyone on the pregnant cannot has an idea about what would be appropriate. Uh in that case now give you one example distinctly remember one case that our prosecuted there was a a guy who had set fire to a local building. And in the course of prosecuting and he had a private lawyer and his private lawyer brought to my attention that when he was a child he had been sexually abused by someone who was on my docket at that time for sexual abuse he had this person had victims that went back a number of years and this this person who was an adult and I think probably well into his thirties at that point that it set fire just inexplicably set far too like a flea market. In the middle of the day at and we have to ask yourself the question when somebody comes in your court room what would cause a person to do this are they truly suffering from some mental disease or defect didn't do they have schizophrenia they have some type of mental disease that would cause them to act in this way did they have something in their past like this particular individual cause them to act out in in this way you know what is their background like all of these things if you know ahead of time you can adjust and and make decisions that would be appropriate as to whether or not they should go to prison if they go to prison for how long what types of services they'll likely need when they're in prison when they get out of prison so I think. Something that's really well done on the can help us all the way through I think it's senator tucker said would be very helpful now that of course would require a lot of resources they have more resources at the federal level to do those presentencing reports we'd I don't think that I mean we don't do that the state level currently because likely the resources as part of it I will say last last comment the majority of people on a criminal docket and the state of arkansas represented by the public defender the public defender has the public defender has investigators that work for the public defender's office they are extremely overworked they don't have enough time to take care of the obligations that they currently have most of them but that would be you know something to look at in terms of a resource to do those types of reports for the folks who are represented by the public defender for the folks who aren't represented by the public dependent have the mainstream hire their own lawyer they may have to pay for their own but it would be very helpful to the prosecutor in the case to the defense tourney in the case to the judge in the case and then all the way downstream to have some idea about what brought what caused this person's crime likely caused this person's criminal behavior in the first place what brought them to this court room how do we deal with them appropriately I think that would be very helpful so I would just say it's something to keep in mind this man go ahead and just remander to please turn your mike off every thank you I am teaming here as I am that public defender I do not have an investigator in my district and the sixteenth two distant district I have five counties which is clear in county either way to the missouri line which is several hundred miles one of the things that well I will say you know counting the days I have thirty years in with the state now. I started off in palaski county and when our was in palaski county if we had someone that we would call a frequent floor that was coming back through the system we had you know I had a roller dex of people I could car if I needed to get someone into mental health treatment or if I needed to find a hound the shelter or if I needed to get someone you know clothing referred their replaces I could call where I meant now in the rule part of the state we don't have resources I was in court this morning before I came here and we needed to get someone mental health and there was like a twelve week waiting just to get someone in a point so I think one of the things we have to look at is you know the rural versus urban areas of the state when we talk about retrieve because that's one of the biggest problems I have in my area is um martha probation officers that I deal with everyday you know my people that I have in drug court it's always trying to find the the the services and things that we know they need to try to keep them on the right track because there we just don't have them in my area at the state sale that's what I would say is. You know rural versus our minute always seems to be the problem point well taken thank you there's been a great discussion and we have anything else before we move on to our next line I have a comment senator typer if I can be heard I know I want zoom and I apologize for that sure my name is mollister richardson I am a circuit judge and the second judicial district I think there have been two really important points made with respect to the emerging theme that started us off today is that the task members want to ensure that incarcerated individuals are set up for success upon release certainly on echo and agree with that I do want to emphasize however the importance of also recognizing that our criminal dockets are a fall of people who were facing a petition to revoke their probation and these individuals may not have ever been in the arkansas apartment of corrections or one of our community correction centers and I think it would be important when we're talking about some type of evidence based screening to wall to recognize that if we could focus that on developing an individualized case plan for some of our probation population that we might be in a better position to set them up for success I preside over the cricket county adult drug court in jones borrow and I know the drug courts and specialty courts in the state use the rant tool which is a risk it needs to that is evidence based and has been helpful and helping us develop individualised case plans not every drug court participant has the same needs and certainly not every probationer has the same needs as substance abuse and mental health treatment are certainly at the top of the list and we need to expand our resources that are available because we may know the person needs. The hell but not be able to get that help for them because we simply have a black of resources the other thing is i'm going to echo and and state my agreement with representative gas away in his comments about more information on the threatened before somewhat ever has that negotiated this disposition where they enter a guilty plea and the judge imposes the states recommended sentence before that happens if there is better information for the prosecutor when they are making that sensing recommendation on whole heartedly and gorset in agree with that but the problem that I see in my court rams is that the public defender's office is completely over worked and underfinded and we are going to have to address that if we have any hope and being able to improve the type of information and the resources that ultimately we can connect some of these individuals with we're going to have to address this are merging issue where the public defender's office is simply overwhelmed thank you thank you jordan you are very welcome to contribute via zomb so don't let that old thank you anyone else all right thank you sure you'll turn back over you have to keep talking I really want to think you all this is exactly what I was hoping for because like I said we can crunch numbers all day long but without your perspectives it's really just not gonna work as well as it could so speaking of crunching numbers when we came and spoke to you in august we spoke a fair amount about data. The data we need and what we're going to do with that data and this fly that's up just present say update on where we are with that but I do want to take a moment to thank those who have been helping out to make sure that this process moves along I know that includes folks in the room so director alice specifically want to thank you for being a steady hand shepherding this along we know it's a heavy left as someone who worked in state government for a long time I know that it is a matter of asking people were constantly asked to do more with less to do even more and we don't take that lately did he do it that we ask for is what we need to be able to tell the story of what's going on in the state to be able to tie across different agencies the data so that it really makes sense but it is strategic it is not more than we need because we know it's a burden and speaking of strategic and precise I do just want to touch upon this in talking with staff at the agency's they have rightly raised concerns about the sensitivity of the data and I just want to assure everyone here in anyone who might be listening that we take that credibly seriously as well are research team has the highest standards for data protection encryption and once they're done doing what they need to do and destroying the data so that it's nat held on to any longer than necessary alright so here I just wanted to lay out the work that we at the justice center are doing and will continue to do and tie that up with the six goals that. Were laid out in the preliminary report of this task force so as I just mentioned our research team is going to be. Analyzing the data provided by aoc acic and goc in order to conduct a comprehensive date analysis to identify the drivers of citizens and rates in our concert and identify how receiptive is them contributes to overall crime and incorrect recently it's a lot of support goals one and five. And we're also going to be conducting a qualitative analysis of supervision systems and practices and that will serve goal too to examine the effectiveness of currency provisioned practices and responses to technical violations of supervision. Additionally we're going to be talking to practitioners and individuals with lived experience with in the criminal justice system what we've been talking about in the room today having those conversations in order to identify any unnecessary barriers to successful reentry and finding out where the gaps are and behavioral health treatment work first trading and other services so that folks on supervision and re entering society can do so successfully so that would support goals three and four and finally at the end of all this ones we've done everything I just mentioned we're to provide a simple sized qualitative and quantitative analysis that also combine insights from research studies literature and insights from other states so that this group is in the position to make the most impact for recommendations. So I am warning you again that there are questions coming up because like I said I know that you're in sights are going to guide the work of this group and i'm also asking that you're in sight help us at the justice center because you guys you are the experts of your state you know what it means to be in law enforcement in arkansas you know what it work what it means to work within the correctional system in arkansas do you know what it means to work with individuals who have been through the cractional system so it's your experiences in your wisdom. That are gonna help us contextualise the data and make sure that we are able to reflect some of that nuance back so how are we going to do that we're gonna travel across the state talk to different stakeholders and learn from them. We're gonna conduct assessments of available programming and learn on the ground from people being directly impacted by residentism and here from them what does that mean so we're going to how how are we going to do that we are going to cover both irvine and rural areas. We recognize that that is important distinction and meet with different types of practitioners to take a comprehensive look at your justice system and through out the process always using data to deepen an informed conversations. But again here I would ask you what you would add what is missing and i'm gonna turn to the next slide because they think that this really has some of the questions that are really at the heart of what we are hoping to answer and here I have in green and the bigger front some of the bigger umbrella questions but underneath them or some of the questions that you really need to answer in order to be able to answer those bigger questions so I would ask I would invite each of you to sit with the. Two responded to give your perspective from where you set what what are your thoughts. What other questions need to be asked represented we talk about costs. What has cost me. It's easy to talk about cost in a budget but what are other costs what are costs that aren't captured in a budget but are still real costs who bears those costs what are the ripple effects of those costs and how can we really capture them and understand them so that we can as the secretary said spend a little money to really make the best decisions and maybe save a little money so I would love to hear from folks we already had a really great discussion so I understand if if there is not a lot more to add but II do want to make it clear that this conversation that we've started here today that we really got under way here today I don't intend for it to end the minute that we all walk out those doors I intend it wouldn't be my hope at least that we continue to have this conversation at these meetings I would hope that we continue to have these conversations between meetings as I said it the beginning you haven't yet heard from us you can expect to but it is really my hope that we continued a to engage because as they said the only way we can really understand these problems and really come up with good solutions is I talk into all of you by hearing your perspectives and expertise so I would love to hear if there's any thoughts yeah yeah sir so having just moved from a local law enforcement position to the state position I would ask that you do this so as you're going across the state talking to your shares and your cheese talk about the disconnect between resource knowledge what resources local law enforcement and shares departments have to push and help drive some of these questions had a great partnership with our community corrections. And parole officers but there was always a disconnect on where the services were so continued to ask that how do we connect services down to the local law enforcement so we can help push some of those out and the second point I would make having come from a city that dealt with a lot of violent crime we truly have a change in generational crime are violent crime is being committed by a much younger generation and how we address that in in secretary I would I would definitely be interested in in programs for our younger generations we're seeing criminals at a much younger age now and how do we address them versus our twenty five or thirty year population but I would ask those questions on the local side and you're going to get a very much a very different answer asking that question in hot springs versus meaner or glenword or somewhere down into shake county I mean it's going to be very different but I encourage that thank you sir yes sir thank you concern that thank you senator I want to go back to the location of the dad and where the data is uh coming from there's been phenomenal things said the day about i've been flort and humbled right has a benefit discussion about any of the district court data because as one of the things that the representative gas would take the protect was supposed to do was restored misdemeanor justice because missed a means for not being arrested and so they're not going to show up on on those list are going to be cited and then show up a district court as they're being a discussion about incorporating that data in or my understanding is that there isn't and there are some there is indeed simple way to do that that there isn't an umbrella system that would capture all that and that as much as we would love and if anyone here has any ideas on how best. Do that please but that because of the silon fractured nature of where that information is capped that there wasn't a realistic way of getting that but i'm i'm would love to open to it and if anyone has any thoughts. Repeat what you said mister with your car said but is that not the answer that you lack a system and you need the system that the court aoc their developing of a comprehensive computer system of which all courts will eventually be on that the legislature is funded they are earned so they are in the process of getting that but right now district courts are and some circuit courts but they're on various different systems it may be called virtual justice or it may be court connect in that set they're not those systems or talk to each other but there is already the administratory officer supports this already working on and it's in the developed phase of a system that will coordinate everybody will have to be honoured so it's just not available right now but they're working on it and we funded that we use or the money for and we founded it quite a quite heavily so there is just trying to get it then all courts will be on the same system so all that data would then be a capture and there is a task force serious several field and I returning that out of our house and senate judiciary committees that were dealing with uh the district court system and funding and probation off public defenders within that system and all of that so we're in the process of doing that right now great other points of discussion before we move along okay i'll thank you guys and like I said my contact information is there be here would love to continue the conversation and thank you so much for having me thank you very much australia so really all we have left is to set our next meeting date. Uh in the context of that I just want to mention just a to get to the point first alc week is the week of the eleventh through the fifteenth in december so if we sit with the same plan and alternatively set our meeting for the afternoon of monday december eleventh i'm so i'll just say that an australia is talked about the data and that is one of mentioned that in two contexts one is that i'm just repeating what she said we know understand how difficult it is and what are heavy lips it is to get that day then we appreciate it by who's doing that work at the same time the just the center really needs that daily before they can delete an in and do a deep dive into a while of the work that they're going to be doing and I want our meetings to be productive in the meantime and so for december what I was thinking about I haven't visited with civil senator again more about this and obviously I need to do that but what I was sort of thinking for december is to continue with the theme of hearing from our candidates about the work that it's already been done III would like for us to have maybe some presentations from some arguments our groups who have been doing work on this so we're not reinventing the wheel for work that has already been done and mister secretary you know II know there's a lot that the department has done in in if if if you are just as an example would have something that you would want to percent about the work that you've done and in the needs that you see beyond what you said here today which was great but if there's more than I think you know we would all have to hear that and we know there are other groups in the state like I three that have done work and if we want to hear from them and so if if you all know or if if someone else on the task force you know has has engaged in work that she want to share with the group at large I think that would be a productive use of our time until i'm not only until the justice center can get the data but until we have an opportunity to really analyze it uh to come back with more from that standpoint so I think it would be I guess that a good use of our time to to count a huge from the argument or cancels an arkansas groups that have been doing work on this so. Uh you know we're not reinventing the wheel or anything like that so if you have ideas like that or suggestions you know please reach out to me in and senator gilmore after a very opportunity to discuss this with him but uh but anyway that's that's the thought that sound good everybody. Okay. So with that will just terribly set our next meeting for the same time I want to clock on on monday december eleventh a welcome representative barry now looking at the party started that's the that's that's what I mean by getting the party start okay well thank you thank you so much everyone for your time and and really for your meaningful contributions here are there has been great thank you.