Wednesday, December 9
10:00 am-12:00 pm ET | NCJA Advisory Council Meeting
This meeting is by invitation only.
12:00-1:00 PM ET | ICCA Board of Directors Meeting
This meeting is by invitation only.
1:00-2:00 pm ET| Opening Keynote Session
This year’s Forum will include sessions on the impact of COVID-19 on criminal justice reform, trends and challenges facing rural justice systems, the future of criminal-legal diversion reforms and international perspectives on the impact of COVID 19 on justice systems. In her opening Keynote, Dr. Wang will leverage her experience in the area of the impact of health on mass incarceration and her experience with the Health Justice Research Program (just to name a few) to provide a particularly informed perspective to guide our Forum’s discussions over the next two days.
2:00-2:30 PM ET | BREAK
2:30-3:45 PM ET | THE FUTURE OF CRIMINAL-LEGAL DIVERSION PROGRAMS
This panel brings together national experts to discuss what we know about effective programs and practices that divert individuals, particularly those with complex behavioral conditions, away from criminal-legal involvement and toward supportive social services like housing, addiction treatment and mental health care. Panelists will be asked to consider how the impact of the movement to defend black lives, police reform and the global coronavirus pandemic will shape the future of diversion efforts, as well as incarceration more generally, as local jurisdictions look to invest in alternative community-based models of public safety.
3:45-4:15 PM ET| BREAK
4:15-5:30 PM ET | TRENDS AND CHALLENGES FACING RURAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS
This panel will explore issues facing justice systems in rural America where law enforcement and correctional agencies often are overburdened and where too few justice-involved individuals have access to mental health and addiction services.
Panelists will discuss recent research on rural jail incarceration, barriers to providing necessary treatment, and policy and practice options for practitioners, including how to use lessons learned during COVID-19 to provide remote supervision, treatment and service delivery. The panel will be accompanied by a compelling short documentary that explores the structural challenges facing a rural community in the Southwest.
The Trends and Challenges Facing Rural Justice Systems panel session is based upon the documentary, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Mental Healthcare in Rural America. Forum participants are encouraged to watch this short 13-minute film prior to the Forum session and come prepared to discuss the content.
You can view the documentary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVrQ_LIKGVM or plan to join us for a watch party on December 4th at 3:00 pm ET. Register here
In many rural counties in the U.S., the de facto mental health facility is the county jail. This documentary explores how the lack of access to mental healthcare in Cochise County, AZ intersects with the local criminal justice system. The short film follows four characters as they struggle at each level of the system, from a patient who has landed in jail multiple times to the sheriff whose facility is flooded with inmates needing treatment. Through their stories, we see the long-term impact of a system that often criminalizes people for needing mental healthcare. Produced by ITVS for Independent Lens in association with Terry Greene Sterling and Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.
Doris Morales, Camino Real Mental Health Clinic Director, Crisis Program Manager for Karnes and Wilson Counties
Speaker
Thursday, December 10
10:00 am-12:00 pm ET | NCJA Advisory Council meeting
This meeting is by invitation only.
12:00-1:00 pm ET | FBOP Providers Meeting
This meeting is by invitation only.
12:00-1:00 pm ET | Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Annual Meeting
This is a closed session for RSAT administrators and subgrantees. Registration link coming soon.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) supports the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State Prisoners Program, furthering the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) mission by assisting state, local, and tribal efforts to break the cycle of drug addiction and violence by reducing the demand for, use, and trafficking of illegal drugs. This session will serve as the annual RSAT meeting and will provide an opportunity for RSAT administrators and grantees to learn the latest information and strategies from RSAT TTA providers and federal leaders. The goal of this annual meeting is to advance the RSAT programs by sharing upcoming training opportunities, presenting new technical resources available for all grantees, and to introduce the newly developed Fidelity Assessment Instrument.
Each state’s RSAT point of contact is encouraged to invite a subgrantee or prominent practitioner/program staff to attend and participate in this meeting and the 2020 Virtual Forum on Criminal Justice. RSAT grant funds are permitted for registration fees for two registrants of Virtual Forum. In addition to registering for the Virtual Forum, a separate registration for this RSAT Annual Meeting will be available on the RSAT Website, www.rsat-tta.com
1:00-2:15 PM ET | INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS
Presenters bring perspectives from United States residential community corrections, Japanese probation supervision, Canadian academic research, and Caribbean law enforcement. Panelists will speak about the takeaways that they have gleaned as a result of modifying operations in a pandemic and how the virus has changed systems locally and globally.
Rosemary (Rose) Ricciardelli, PhD, Professor of Sociology; Coordinator for Criminology & Co-Coordinator for Police Studies Department of Sociology, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Speaker
Ms. Makiedah Messam, Esq., Director of Complaints – Eastern Region, Shooting Incidents, The Independent Commission of Investigations, Jamaica
Speaker
Ayaka Takai, Professor at the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFEI).
Speaker
Jess Moore, Program Director at St. Leonard’s Society in Ontario, CA and ICCA Board Member
Moderator
2:15-2:45 PM ET | BREAK
2:45-4:00 PM ET | LESSONS LEARNED FROM COVID-19. WHAT DO WE KNOW? WHAT IS THE DATA SHOWING?
Thomas Abt, Director, National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice and Senior Fellow, Council on Criminal Justiceus leo.
Speaker
Debra Kafami, Deputy Associate Director, Operations Support Division at the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency
Speaker
4:00-4:30 pm ET | Break
4:30-5:45 pm ET | What does the future of the justice system look like?
Marc Levin, Vice President of Criminal Justice Policy, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Right on Crime
Speaker