The Forum on Criminal Justice will take place from 1:00-5:30 pm ET on October 7, October 14, October 21, and October 28. Registration includes a full conference and single day options.
Please note: All Times are Eastern
Thursday, October 7
1:00-2:00 PM ET| OPENING Plenary SESSION: Criminal Justice Reform in a Time of Rising Violent Crime
Since the death of George Floyd and the economic disruption caused by the pandemic, Americans have engaged in a national conversation about policing and equities in the justice system and the inadequacy of our public health system to meet the needs of people with mental health and substance use disorders. A consensus was developing on policy approaches for preventing violent crime and for diverting large numbers of individuals away from the justice system with the goal of reducing impacts on communities of color, avoiding the collateral consequences of a criminal record, and saving money. Then violent crime started rising quickly. While nowhere near the levels of the 1960’s and 1970’s, the narrative is becoming scrambled, and the politics are changing. Come for this session to hear informed and thought-provoking conversation about what justice reform looks like in a period of rising crime and how should criminal justice system practitioners and social service agency providers respond.
Speakers:
- Mike Schmidt, Multnomah County District Attorney
- Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian, Middlesex County, MA
Moderator:
- Ron LeGrand, Policy Director, NCJA
2:00-2:30 pm ET | Topical Roundtables
Forum attendees will self-select into topic-based breakout rooms. Each room will be hosted by an NCJA or ICCA Board member who will facilitate peer-to-peer discussion and networking. Rooms will be limited in size to encourage conversation.
2:30-3:00 PM ET | BREAK
3:00-4:00 PM ET | Concurrent Workshop Session
Leveraging Technology and Innovation for Reentry Support and Success
In our pre-COVID-19 world, the statistics surrounding addiction and opioid use disorder were already staggering. Now, as communities and providers slowly reopen, we are seeing remarkable increases in behavioral health issues. If there have been any silver linings associated with COVID-19 and the associated quarantine measures, one is the broad expansion and adoption of tech-enabled tools for the delivery of support to people in treatment and recovery.
Sober Grid is a national digital health organization providing evidence-based addiction recovery peer coaching via telehealth to help individuals achieve sustained recovery. They are currently partnering with the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Sober Grid provides virtual peer support coaching to participants in the Recovery from Opioid Abuse and Reentry (ROAR) Program. Offenders with opiate use disorders entering treatment during incarceration at the Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center (BDCC) are provided a voucher code to access a peer coach to help them navigate systems upon release as well as 24/7/365 Crisis Support.
In this webinar, we will provide an overview of tech tools for treatment and recovery, explore the different opportunities for utilizing tech enabled supports for people at reentry, and discuss best practices for implementation
Speakers:
- Cassie Branderhorst, Vice President for Criminal Justice and Community Programs, Sober Grid
- Tyesia Williams, Program Director, ROAR, Recovery from Opioid Addiction and Re-Entry
Justice Counts: Mobilizing Policymakers to Make the Most Informed Data-Driven Decisions
This workshop will discuss a Bureau of Justice Initiative called Justice Counts which is a national, consensus-building initiative designed to help policymakers make better decisions with criminal justice data that are more timely, less disjointed, and as useful as possible. Through this initiative, BJA and its partners are working to aggregate publicly available data from each of the 50 states to provide timely, integrated information and identify opportunities to improve data collection, analysis, and reporting, developing an essential set of criminal justice metrics that every public official needs to inform budget and policy decisions, and creating a range of tools that will enable policymakers and practitioners to improve how their state or locality collects, analyzes, and reports criminal justice data.
Speakers:
- Kristen Mahoney, Acting Director, BJA
- Heather Tubman-Carbone, Ph.D., Senior Policy Advisor, BJA
- Ben Shelor, Project Manager, Council of State Governments Justice Center
- Sarah Lee, Council of State Governments Justice Center
- Karhlton Moore, Executive Director, Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services
- Andrew LeFevre, Executive Director, Arizona Criminal Justice Commission
4:00-4:30 PM ET | BREAK
4:30-5:30 PM ET|CONCURRENT WORKSHOP SESSION
Key Issues in Bail and Pretrial Reform
There are many facets of bail and pretrial reform emerging across the United States. This workshop will explore key issues that are coming to the forefront as research and policy meet practice and we gain a deeper understanding of the pretrial field.
- Introduction to bail and pretrial reform and why it’s important
- Perspective from the courts on the impact of bail and pretrial reform
- Implementing bail and pretrial reform from a practitioner perspective
Speakers:
- Alec Karakatsanis, Founder and Executive Director, Civil Rights Corp
- Honorable Michael R. Fields, Ret., Harris County, Texas
- Honorable Darrell W. Jordan, Harris County, Texas
- Alicia Virani, The Gilbert Foundation Director, Criminal Justice Program, UCLA School of Law
- Nick Sayner, Co-Founder, JusticePoint
What’s Happening with Drugs? Examining Trends in Drug Prevention and Control Strategies
Any hopes policymakers and practitioners had for bending the curve on the rise in overdose deaths were dashed during the pandemic. Drug-related deaths are at an all-time high and the data indicates these trends will continue after the pandemic. This panel will examine high level trends in supply and interdiction, drug use by region, and statewide strategies for drug prevention and control.
Speakers:
- Van Ingram, Kentucky, on an experienced view from the states
- Christopher Jones, Acting Director, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Lt. Frederick Shavies, Homicide Section Commander, Oakland Police Department
Moderator:
- Andrew LeFevre, Executive Director, Arizona Criminal Justice Commission
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14
1:00-2:00 PM ET| Plenary SESSION: Addressing Healthcare Needs within the RNR Model: Implications for Public Health and Recidivism Reduction
Community correctional programs represent an opportunity to deliver prevention and treatment services to justice-involved individuals during periods of amplified risk, personal susceptibility, and community-reintegration represented by the converging public health crises of OUD, hepatitis, and COVID-19. Increasingly community correctional treatment programs are called upon to serve a heterogeneous group of clients that vary in criminogenic risk and the complexity of basic personal needs, addiction, and co-morbidities. At the same time, participants in community correctional facilities are served for relatively short periods of time on average, with relatively low levels of medical staffing. Consequently, there is a general need for low-resource, evidence-based strategies to guide the development of individual-, community-, system-, and policy-level interventions designed to reduce health disparities, increase health equity and positive health outcomes among justice-involved men and women and to concurrently improve public health and public safety. Consequently, this presentation reviews what we currently know about the health of justice-involved individuals within the larger context of public health and within the context of successful reentry, discusses emerging evidence that supports the placement of public health considerations within the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) framework of recidivism reduction, and offers practical suggestions for consideration moving forward.
Speaker:
- Kimberly Sperber, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Health and Human Services Research (CHHSR) at Talbert House, the Enterprise Criminal Justice Program Lead for CareSource, and a Fellow at the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute (UCCI).
2:00-2:30 pm ET | Topical Roundtables
Forum attendees will self-select into topic-based breakout rooms. Each room will be hosted by an NCJA or ICCA Board member who will facilitate peer-to-peer discussion and networking. Rooms will be limited in size to encourage conversation.
2:30-3:00 PM ET | BREAK
3:00-4:00 PM ET | Concurrent Workshop Session
Self-care: You NEED it!
This interactive course covers the importance of self-care in community corrections and treatment. Five key contributing factors to the need of self-care are discussed in detail: x-factors, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, stress, and burnout. Six key focus areas of self-care will also be discussed in detail: physical, emotional, financial, spiritual, environmental, and social self-care. Extensive techniques, coping skills, and tips for effective self-care will also be shared in a discussion format.
Speakers:
- DaVante McKinney, Staff Development Specialist, Oriana House
- Jacob Sadon, Staff Development Manager, Oriana House
Treating the Justice Involved: How Jails, Prisons and Public Health Agencies are Addressing the Need for Addiction Treatment
Research indicates two-thirds or more of all justice-involved individuals have a substance use disorder and are at high risk of overdose within the first few days after release. Collaboration between community service providers and correctional professionals, as well as broader use of medication assisted treatment together with coordinated reentry planning are proving to be effective in reducing overdose deaths, preparing individuals to return to the community and providing them with the supports they need to make a fresh start. This panel will discuss current treatment trends and strategies for successful collaboration between confinement facilities, public health agencies and treatment providers.
Speakers:
- Dan Mistak, Acting President and Director of Health Care Initiatives for Justice-Involved Populations, Community Oriented Correctional Health Services
- Chief Laura Bedard, Chief of Corrections, Seminole County, Florida
- Warren J. Ferguson MD, Director of Academic Programs, Health and Criminal Justice Program Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, UMass Chan Medical School
Moderator:
- Simone Greene, Program Manager, National Criminal Justice Association
4:00-4:30 PM ET | BREAK
4:30-5:30 PM ET | CONCURRENT WORKSHOP SESSION
How States Can Respond to the Increase in Hate Crimes
BJA is interested in engaging in a dialogue with state leaders on ways that we can mutually support efforts to respond to the increase in hate crimes as well as hate and bias incidents. States can play key roles in this work, supporting hot lines for victims and those at risk for hate crimes to increase reporting and access to services; supporting state and local efforts to increase reporting and identification of hate crimes through outreach and education; supporting state and local efforts to investigate and prosecute hate crimes; creating and refining hate laws in conjunction with state legislators; and preventing hate crimes. This session will highlight some promising practices and seek feedback on ways BJA can work with states to support this work as part of its new Shepard Byrd Hate Crimes program, which was first funded in FY2021.
Speakers:
- Elizabeth Griffith, Acting Deputy Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice
- David B. Rausch, Director, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
- Aisha N. Braveboy, State’s Attorney, Prince George’s County, MD
Handle With Care: Minimizing the Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences
What role should law enforcement play when children are not considered to be in physical danger but have just witnessed what to most individuals would be a traumatic experience? How can the schools respond appropriately when in most instances, they aren’t even made aware of the situation? The children arrive at school the next day physically and emotionally exhausted, and potentially exhibiting disruptive behaviors resulting from the trauma that they experienced the previous night. They may complain of physical ailments, experience emotional meltdowns, or act out towards their peers. How do we minimize the short- and long-term impact of exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)?
This session will explore the innovative work being done by the Maryland Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth and Family Services to significantly impact ACEs as well as West Virginia’s Handle with Care Model which was created in response to a report released by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention on childhood exposure to violence and other traumatic events.
Speakers:
- Glenn Fueston, Executive Director, MD Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth and Family Services
- Andrea Darr, Director, WV Center for Children’s Justice, WV State Police, Crimes Against Children Unit
Moderator:
- Chris Asplen, Executive Director, NCJA
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21
1:00-2:00 PM ET | Plenary SESSION: A Vision for Equity in Victims Services: What Do the Data Tell Us About the Work Ahead
Bridging the gap between research, policy, and practice for those impacted by violence nationwide actually runs much deeper and wider across numerous pressing areas of justice reform. This presentation focuses on the most urgent part of that vision: having the courage to address the pervasive racial inequity that remains ever-present in this country and this field.
Speaker:
- Heather Warnken, Former DOJ Fellow
Moderator:
- Chris Asplen, Executive Director, NCJA
2:00-2:30 pm ET | Topical Roundtables
Forum attendees will self-select into topic-based breakout rooms. Each room will be hosted by an NCJA or ICCA Board member who will facilitate peer-to-peer discussion and networking. Rooms will be limited in size to encourage conversation.
2:30-3:00 PM ET | BREAK
3:00-4:00 PM ET | Concurrent Workshop Session
Mass Violence Readiness, Response and Resilience
The threat of mass violence, mass casualty and terrorism incidents (MVIs) is a critical concern for states, SAAs, and communities nationwide. SAAs have a critical role in collaborative, state-level planning for MVIs, and in leading coordinated responses in the aftermath of MVIs that help build individual and community resilience. This session will address the many resources available from the National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center relevant to MVI readiness, response and resilience; and provide an overview of statewide planning efforts in Tennessee.
As a result of attending this session, participants will be able to:
- Describe the key partners involved in MVI readiness, and the role of SAAs and victim service professionals in advance planning.
- Identify resources available from the NMVVRC and the U.S. Department of Justice to help SAAs prepare for and respond to MVIs in the immediate-, short- and long-term.
- Describe the core elements of statewide planning for MVIs, based upon the experiences of the Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Planning.
Speakers:
- Jennifer Brinkman, Director, Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Planning, Chair, NCJA Victims’ Rights and Services Committee
- Dr. Alyssa Rheingold, PhD, Director, Preparedness, Response and Recovery, NMVVRC
- Anne Seymour, Associate Academic Program Director, NMVVRC, Member, NCJA Victims’ Rights and Services Committee
Alternatives to Incarceration: Responding to Rising Crime Rates
This session will discuss non-law enforcement deflection and diversion including harm reduction strategies both pre-arrest and aftercare including the new 988 phone number and non-law enforcement crisis response. How do we pursue alternatives as crime continues to rise?
4:00-4:30 PM ET | BREAK
4:30-5:30 PM ET | CONCURRENT WORKSHOP SESSION
Violence Reduction Strategies: How to Answer Rising Violent Crime without Overincarceration
In 2020, the United States experienced an alarming spike in deadly violence, bringing loss and hardship to vulnerable American communities and potentially unraveling a growing consensus surrounding criminal justice reform. However, an expanding toolkit of evidence-based violence reduction strategies—spearheaded by law enforcement, impacted communities, and justice system practitioners—is available to meet this policy challenge. How do these strategies reduce deadly violence without reliance on overincarceration and overly punitive policing tactics? What steps are needed to scale, improve, and sustain these life-saving interventions? Join this session that includes speakers from academia, the faith community, and justice system practitioners to hear about solutions that are working.
Speakers:
- David Kennedy, Professor of Criminal Justice at John Jay College and Director of the National Network for Safe Communities
- Elizabeth Ruebman, Managing Director of the Community-Based Public Safety Collective
- Aqeela Sherrills, Director of Hyphen’s Community Violence Intervention Collaborative White House Initiative
- Bishop Daryl Harris, founding pastor of Total Life Christian Ministries and Faith-Based Coordinator for Ceasefire Detroit
Moderator:
- Kate Trammell, Senior Director of Advocacy at Prison Fellowship
How Bad is it Going to Get? Understanding and Addressing Record-Level Drug Overdose Deaths
This workshop features a panel of public health and medical experts who will discuss the sharp increase in drug overdose deaths, examine overdose trends in one local jurisdiction (Seattle/King County metropolitan area) and then consider the implications of decriminalization, adopting safe consumption sites and investing in other harm reduction strategies and approaches.
Speakers:
- Chelsea Shover, Ph.D., Assistant Professor-in-Residence, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine , Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research
- Brad Finegood, MA, LMHC, Strategic Advisor, Public Health—Seattle & King County, Office of the Director
- Dr. Kimá Joy Taylor MD, MPH, Anka Consulting LLC
Moderator:
- Steve Woolworth, CEO, Evergreen Treatment Services
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28
1:00-2:00 PM ET | CONCURRENT WORKSHOP SESSION
The Benefits of Jail Population Reviews
Jurisdictions are benefitting from a targeted analysis and collaborative problem-solving approach to reduce their jail populations, understand the needs of individuals disparately impacted by incarceration and evaluate the availability of community resources and public safety interventions. In this session hear from MacArthur Safety & Justice Challenges jurisdictions who have undertaken this review.
Speakers:
- Holly Matthews, Lucas County (OH) Justice Coordinating Council
- Josie Halpern-Finnerty, M.P.P, Project Director, Safety and Justice Challenge, San Francisco District Attorney’s Office
Moderator
- David Mauroff, CEO, San Francisco Pretrial
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
A Ransomware attack can be an ugly experience. Having to use crypto currencies to pay ransoms can be a Bad experience but a Good experience can be breaking into blockchains to identify initiators (Blockchain Forensics). This session will include a discussion of CyberSecurity threats and ways to defend yourself from Ransomware and other forms of hacking.
Speakers:
- Chief Ciro Cetrangolo, Richmond (IL) Police Department
- Jackie Burns Koven, Cyber Threat Intelligence Lead, Chainalysis
Moderator:
- Christine Cole, Executive Director, Crime and Justice Institute
2:00-2:30 PM ET | BREAK
2:30-3:30 PM ET | CONCURRENT WORKSHOP SESSION
How Change Agents (aka: Credible Messengers) are Advancing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Virginia
The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services has partnered with two men who, by virtue of their lived experiences, are changing how the agency serves the public. While it was originally envisioned that Paul Taylor and Weldon (Prince) Bunn would facilitate a pilot “Courageous Conversations” program that brings together marginalized communities and law enforcement to co-create healthy engagement, their impact has expanded well beyond that role. They have improved the connectivity between historically marginalized communities of color and the state and federal grants system; they have assisted in the Department’s update of law enforcement training standards; and, more importantly, they have opened the eyes and hearts of the Department which has led to an examination of how it serves the public to comprehensively reflect the needs of all communities.
Speakers:
- Paul Taylor, Founder of S.A.N.I.T.Y. (Standing Against Negative Influences Towards Youth) and RVA League for Safer Streets, Advocate for restorative justice and strong community engagement
- Weldon “Prince” Bunn, Mentor, S.A.N.I.T.Y. (Standing Against Negative Influences Towards Youth) and RVA League for Safer Streets
Moderator:
- Shannon Dion, Director, Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
A Trauma Informed Approach to Humanizing the Organizational Culture Change of Criminal Justice and Correctional Systems
This session will feature The Phoenix Association, a Connecticut-based nonprofit with the mission to change the organizational culture of criminal justice and correctional systems.
Starting with CT prisons, Phoenix enables culture change through a process of facilitated conversations and dialogues between and among correctional staff and formerly incarcerated persons (FIP). The immediate outcome is twofold: (1) correctional staff learn directly from FIPs what factors facilitate or inhibit success; and (2) through the process of shared life experiences, participants’ capacity for empathy, understanding, and compassion is quickly enhanced and misconceptions and false attributions and judgments altered. A shared understanding of trauma and adversity quickly increases understanding and humanizes the other. The mid-range and long-term outcomes are safer and more humane, restorative, trauma-informed, and rehabilitative prisons, and greater success upon release.
The program is being adapted to work with prosecutors; and can be easily adapted to benefit law enforcement and other justice, social, and community systems and organizations.
The Phoenix program is a unique process of culture change – no other culture change program incorporates formerly incarcerated persons. The essential catalyst for change is the sharing of lived experiences of participants in a group format that is accepting, respectful, and non-confrontational. Evidence-based practices (EBP) and evidence-informed programs (EIP) are more effective and positive results more sustainable if delivered a respectful, humane, and compassionate environmental and relational context.
Speakers:
- Steve Lanza, Founder and CEO of Justice Consultants, Faculty, University of Connecticut, Department of Human Development & Family Sciences and Norwalk Community College, Criminal Justice Program
- Scott Semple, Retired Commissioner CT DOC
- Emmanuel Ford, Chair of the Board, The Phoenix Association
3:30-4:00 PM ET | TOPICAL ROUNDTABLES
Forum attendees will self-select into topic-based breakout rooms. Each room will be hosted by an NCJA or ICCA Board member who will facilitate peer-to-peer discussion and networking. Rooms will be limited in size to encourage conversation.
4:00-4:30 PM ET | BREAK
4:30-5:30 PM ET| Closing PLENARY SESSION: Stepping Up Ohio
Stepping Up Ohio is part of the national Stepping Up Initiative, which focuses on assisting criminal offenders with mental illnesses to get connected to clinical treatment and other services so they can get well, make positive life changes, and stay out of jail. The Ohio Project has focused on promoting systemic changes and evidence-based practices to accomplish this goal. This session will discuss the work of the Stepping Up Ohio team with the 54 Ohio counties registered for the project and review some preliminary findings of the Bowling Green State University’s evaluation of the Ohio Project over the last five years.
Speakers:
- Justice Evelyn Stratton, Ret, The Supreme Court of Ohio and Project Director, Stepping Up Ohio
- Melissa Knopp, Project Manager, Stepping Up Ohio