Date: 04/27/2009
Final
Recidivism Reduction Presentation
COMMITTEE ON JOINT JUDICIARY
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01:41 PM -- Recidivism Reduction Presentation
Christie Donner, Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, thanked the presenters from Justice Strategies, the authors of the study entitled Reducing Recidivism: A Review of Effective State Initiatives (Attachment A). Ms. Donner distributed biographical information about each of the presenters (Attachment B) and a press release about the study (Attachment C). The study addresses the high number of American adults who are serving time in prison and the racial disparity in the prison population and in terms of parole revocations. It specifically addresses Colorado's prison population growth, including probation and parole populations. The fiscal consequences of high recidivism and increasing corrections populations are discussed at length. Finally, the study uses the Maryland Division of Parole and Probation as a case study for best practices in corrections.
Attachment A can be viewed at State Archives.
01:44 PM
Nestor Rios, Senior Policy Analyst and Director of Operations, Justice Strategies, submitted written testimony to the committee (Attachment D). Mr. Rios read from his prepared remarks.
01:49 PM
Judith Sachwald, former Director of Maryland Parole and Probation, provided written testimony and read from her prepared remarks (Attachment E).
02:08 PM
Judith Greene, Director, Justice Strategies, provided the committee with written testimony (Attachment F). Ms. Greene read from her prepared remarks.
02:22 PM
Senator Carroll asked Ms. Sachwald about the culture change that took place in Maryland during her tenure. Ms. Sachwald provided an example of a change that was made with regard to the chain of command policy. By easing the policy and moving away from a paramilitary-style chain of command, supervision decisions were made more flexible. Senator Lundberg asked about faith-based programs and recidivism rates. Ms. Sachwald discussed programs that are dedicated to a single purpose, such as faith or drug treatment. She stated that the challenge is after care for any such program. Representative Levy asked about the Maryland organizational model of combining probation and parole, rather than the separation that exists in Colorado. Ms. Sachwald discussed the advantages of the Maryland model. Many offenders have a split sentence and the combined model allows a single supervision agent and plan for the offenders. It is also very efficient in terms of training supervision agents.
02:29 PM
Representative Levy adjourned the joint meeting.