TRANSITION CONGRUENCY

JAMES H. KEELEY, DIRECTORPENNSYLVANIA JUVENILE CORRECTIONAL

EDUCATION

2004 TRANSITION CONFERENCEDECEMBER 8 & 9, 2004

SPONSORED BYNATIONAL EVALUATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER

EDUCATION OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH WHO ARE NEGELECTED AND DELILNQUENT, AND AT-RISKFOR

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Report available at: www.nicic.org, adapted for a juvenile transition project in Pennsylvania

TRANSITION GOALS

Provide HOPE for delinquent/at-risk youth Increase Public Safety – Protecting the Community Reduce Recidivism Avoid New Victimization Better Use of Resources Provide opportunities for transformation Increase Educational Achievement – Build Competencies Increase Secondary Credential Acquisition Increase Matriculation to Post Secondary Opportunities Increase Employment Opportunities Increase Community Participation as Crime Free Citizens

STUDENT PROFILE

Average age: school – 16.3 institution 17.5

Age range: 12 up to 21 Population: Daily 792

Annual 1602 Gender: Male 93%, Female 7%

STUDENT PROFILE

Race: White – 30%, African American – 42%, Hispanic– 20%,Other -1%

Residence: Urban – 63%, Suburban – 16%, Rural 12%

STUDENT PROFILE

Academic Achievement:0 – 4th grade – 30% 5th – 8th grade – 40%

9th – 12th grade – 30%

Achievement deficit: 3 – 5 years below peers

Special Education Pre-Identified*01-02 = 49% 02-03 = 58%

* 3 – 9 times greater than general population

Juvenile and Adult Releases

100,000 unconditional adult releases in 1999

100,000 Juveniles Released Annually (Sickmund,2000) )

The Current Transition Process Does Not Adequately Protect the Public

We know how to operate effective interventions, but our ability to do so is hampered because residential, releasing, supervision, and human service agencies:

Have conflicting priorities Lack continuity in their transition policies and practices Do not share informationThere are too few effective interventions for released offenders Placement requirements reduce delinquents’ incentives for programs Programs have been cut to reduce costs Legislated restrictions – Public housing, employment, welfare benefits,

mandatory alternative education placement, student loansA growing number of offenders leave institutions at the end of long

sentences with no supervision or services

Key Agencies in Transition Reform

Three agencies must take the lead in enabling Transition Reform in their jurisdictions:

Residential agency (which operates institutions) Releasing authority – Juvenile Court (which makes release and

revocation decisions) Supervision agency (which monitors, offenders released from

placements to the communities)These agencies must: Obtain approval of political leaders to proceed with Transition

Reform Sell the concept to other stakeholders Convene policy-level partnerships involving stakeholders

Pennsylvania’s Transition Plan:Education & Residential History

Prior July 2003 Interagency Congruency not clearly established Communication inconsistent Information sharing restrictions Meeting schedule difficulties Meeting notices inconsistent Meeting attendees as available Treatment plan input uniformity inconsistent Transition plan at end of placement Community Contacting responsibilities unclear Court/Community involvement weak

Pennsylvania’s Transition Plan:Education & Residential Future

Post July 2003 State level interagency direction agreement Meeting time compromise – 1 day/week – all disciplines represented Formal and informal regularly scheduled review meetings combined Division of labor:

– Meeting scheduling– Meeting process– Community contacting– Treatment plan content institution wide consistency

Transition plan begun at start of placement Court/Community involvement strategy developed & strengthened Title 1 Transition Clerk approved Teleconferencing utilization Information sharing restrictions under joint review

COURT TOINSTITUTION

QUARTERLY MCPC

TRANSITION MONITORED

TRANSITIONFINALIZED

MONTHLYMDT/MCPCCOMBINED

TRANSITIONBEGINS

TREATMENT PLAN DEVELOPEDMCPC, IPI/IEP

TRANSITION DESIGNED

INSTITUTIONAL TREATMENTPROGRAMS

COURT TOCOMMUNITYTRANSITION

IMPLEMENTED

TRANSITION STEPS

COMMUNITYTO COURT

DELINQUENT YOUTH

HOME

Principles of Transition Accountability Plans (TAP)

Measure offenders’ static and dynamic risk factors using validated assessment tools

Specify programs to reduce offender’s dynamic risks Identify partners to help plan and implement plans for individual

offenders Develop TAP soon after an offender is admitted to prison

Advantages of Transition Accountability Plans (TAP)

Allows administrators to accurately measure and reallocate resources needed to alter offenders’ dynamic risk factors

Identifies responsibilities of offenders, correctional agencies and system partners for:

– Creating,– Modifying, and– Implementing TAP

Promotes a continuum in interventions, services and information sharing over time and across and between agencies.

Stakeholders Involved in Partnerships

Leaders Juvenile Justice (judges, prosecutors, police, probation board,

etc.) Elected officials (legislators, local officials) Agency directors (residential, health, human services,

housing, employment, etc.)Enablers Private foundations Media Other existing partnerships (state and/or community level)Institutions and Communities Administrators (residential, heath, mental health) Staff representing major functions (and their unions) Community supervision agencies and staff Victims and victim advocates Faith-based organizations Education community

Need to Share Data

Effective case management requires different agencies to share data about persons with whom they work (e.g., residential, probation, health, employment, etc.)

Barriers to sharing must be over-come – e.g., confidentiality, turf, schedules

Case management is hampered if data sharing is:– Personal/Ad Hoc – works only if staff do not change– Expensive – redundant, labor-intensive– Slow-using manual transfer of paper records

We need a low-cost, seamless, real-time way to share information

FOR MORE INFORMATION

JAMES H. KEELEY, DirectorJuvenile Correctional Education

PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION333 Market Street

Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333717 783 9202 – Office717 215 1910 – Cell717 783 4305 – Faxjkeeley@state.pa.usjhkeeley@aol.com