Red Lights and Green Lights

It’s the time of year when it seems like we see sparkling red and green lights wherever we look. But red and green are colors I pay attention to all year-round – because they’re signals used on the state outcomes “dashboard.”

Like the speedometer and fuel gauge on your car, this dashboard provides a quick-look at those aspects of your performance you can’t afford to ignore. For community corrections, those key performance areas include: re-offense rates, positive case closures and other outcomes. Green means better than average performance, red means there’s some work to do.

A mix of colors may be nice when you’re decorating for the holidays, but DCJ’s goal is to trim our performance dashboard in nothing but green. Going inside some of these measures gives us some idea on how to get the best results we can.

If you’ve been reading this newsletter regularly, you know that felons in Multnomah County re-offend at lower rates than the state average. Our rates of positive case closures – cases in which felons complete supervision successfully – also rate a “green light.”

But drilling down into these numbers suggests some ways we could drive down our re-offense rates down even further. Take a look at our current re-offense rates for offenders who have been on supervision for three years.

The chart shows that we’re doing an excellent job of keeping re-offenses low for felons coming out of state prison (21% re-offense rate under the ‘DOC Only’ category). That’s good, because these offenders have typically committed serious violent or property crimes. Fewer re-offenses by these parolees mean fewer new victims who suffer injury or significant property loss.

These results suggest that our “reach-in” efforts to prepare offenders for release before they leave prison, our transitional services that stabilize them in the early days after release and our specialized violence risk evaluations are paying-off.

Can we take the lessons we’ve learned with inmates leaving state prison – coordinated pre-release planning, connection to treatment services and transitional housing options – and apply this to other offenders?

I think we can – and we should. Right now, as we begin preparing our budget for next year, we’re looking at better ways we can allocate our supervision, sanction and treatment resources.

For example, who gets priority access to our drug and alcohol abuse treatment beds and slots? Is it the offender who has the highest risk of using drugs and committing a crime? Or is it the offender who is next in line, even if that person may not pose the most imminent threat of re-offending?

By looking at how we use our current resources, we can better determine where we could use additional services – and how we can best mitigate the impact of any cuts we may need to take.

One county resource that’s at the top of everyone’s list to put to better use is the Wapato facility. Could this facility be used to house and prepare short-stay inmates for return to the community? This is one option that I am continuing to explore in cooperation with the Sheriff and the state Department of Corrections.

That’s why our outcome measures are so important. Not only do our dashboards tell us how we’re doing, they tell us how we can get to where we need to go. Here in Multnomah County, we do many things well – and we have some things we can improve.

I’ll keep paying close attention to our outcomes, sharing these results with you and letting you know how we plan to convert these measures into improved interventions and a safer community. I look forward to the day I can tell you we have green lights all across the board.

E-mail me at scott.m.taylor@co.multnomah.or.us

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Juvenile Court Aims to Put Lid on Minors in Possession

Underage alcohol and marijuana use is a serious issue – teens who drink and use drugs are more likely to have problems in school, engage in risky sex, become victims of crime or get into serious legal trouble themselves.  

Last month, Multnomah County’s juvenile court began hearing cases involving teens who were arrested for possessing alcohol or marijuana. The goal? To interrupt emerging alcohol and drug problems that can later wreck the lives of teens – and hold them accountable if they do not take responsibility for their actions.

Beginning in November, juvenile court judges have begun reviewing cases in which minors are charged with a repeat offense for possessing alcohol or less an ounce of marijuana. Since November, judges have heard five cases.

At the hearing, teens are offered an opportunity to seek assessment and treatment – and have the charges against them dropped – or lose their driving privileges, and face possible fines.

The process begins when the district attorney finds legal grounds to support police charges. Next, DCJ juvenile probation officer Debbie Sweet summons the teen and his or her parents to court.

In court, a judge will offer the teen a chance to have the case diverted, if he or she admits to the minor in possession charges.

If the youth opts to have his or her case diverted, the court will require the teen to undergo a drug or alcohol assessment, which could result in recommended treatment. To ensure that the teen and his or her family cooperate, the court schedules a review hearing 45 to 60 days later to review their compliance. If the family demonstrates that the teen has complied, the court will dismiss the original petition.

If the youth refuses the drug or alcohol assessment, the court will order a suspension of his or her driving privileges.

Teens who fail to appear at either hearing receive a default finding and lose their driving privileges. Youth can also request a trial.  If a finding is made, the court can also offer diversion – with the requirement to comply with assessment and treatment. In cases, where a teen has more than two alcohol or marijuana cases, juvenile court judges can decide to withhold the option of court diversion.

After court, DCJ juvenile probation officer Debbie Sweet informs families about assessment and treatment, and helps uninsured teens enroll for Oregon Health Plan coverage, in collaboration with an assigned state Department of Human Services eligibility specialist.  Debbie and other DCJ juvenile officers also assist the families with any problems that can arise while their child is being assessed or treated, while the diversion case is pending.

DCJ Family Services Delivers Holiday Cheer to Recovering Moms and Their Children

The holidays came a little early to twelve Portland families this year. Last week, parole officers from DCJ’s Family Services Unit delivered food boxes to families with parents in recovery from drug or alcohol abuse. The food boxes were donated by Portland Police Bureau’s Sunshine Division.

As officers walked into homes, they found mothers and young children living in places that were often bare of warm clothes, furniture and toys – but were full of hope and the determination to lead a better life.

The food deliveries were an opportunity for officers to offer a little extra support and good wishes to mothers taking difficult steps to stay clean and sober after years of drug abuse.

Some of the mothers had temporarily lost custody of their children in the past. Now, following treatment, they are striving to become better parents and to play a productive role in their children’s lives.

Each of the families the officers visited is currently assigned to DCJ’s Family Services Unit (FSU). Each year, FSU supervises more than 250 adult probationers and parolees – more than 75% of these offenders have children under the age of seven. Others are in family constellations that include both adult and juvenile offenders living in the same household.

FSU is designed to address problems that place the entire family at-risk by integrating probation and parole supervision with child welfare assistance, housing, social and health services and drug abuse treatment.

FSU is also responsible for one of DCJ’s most important outcome measures: the number of healthy infants born to mothers on probation.

Last year, thirty seven babies were born to offenders supervised by FSU – all of them were born drug-free.

FSU is staffed by parole officers and counselors from the county’s Department of Community Justice and a nurse from the county Health Department. They have an up-close view of the struggles recovering mothers (and sometimes fathers) face, which helps them appreciate the successes the parents they supervise are able to achieve.

Lonnie Nettles, who manages FSU said, “These parents are rebuilding their lives from scratch. We want to support the changes they are making in every way we can because it not just their future at stake – it’s their children’s as well.”

In one home Lonnie visited, a family’s furniture consisted of nothing more than mattresses on the floor. But she saw other hopeful signs – the children were healthy, bright-eyed and energetic, in the arms of a supportive grandmother, and the kitchen and refrigerator were impeccably clean.

The boxes include a ham, bags of potatoes, onions and oranges and other foods. FSU staff still have a few more food boxes to distribute in the coming days.

And through the holidays and into the coming year, FSU’s officers and counselors will continue to provide the supervision, support and treatment that puts parents on the right track and gives children the chance to live healthy lives.

For more information, contact Robb Freda-Cowie at
robb.freda-cowie@co.multnomah.or.us