Meg Ferguson, Chair - Criminal Justice Coordinator
Hon. Sandy Williams - District Court
Scott Shellenberger - State's Attorney
Thelma Triplin - Public Defender
Mike Vach - District Court
Pete Lally - Circuit Court
Jim O'Neill - Corrections
Sharon Tyler - Corrections
Kathleen Rebbert-Franklin - Bureau of Substance Abuse
Roe Davis - Local Management Board
Jim McClafferty - Juvenile Services
Bob Blankfeld - Bureau of Mental Health
Dan DeBold - Bureau of Mental Health
Tim Griffith - Social Services
Nick D'Alesandro - Social Services
Col. Jim Johnson - Police
Alan Hill - Public Schools
Tom McGrain - Parole & Probation
Bob Haukdal - Sheriff's Office
Kristen Mahoney - Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention
Mary Robbins - Patuxent Publishing
Scott Shellenberger, the new Baltimore County State's Attorney, was introduced and welcomed. He was elected in November, and took office in January. He plans to participate actively in the CJCC. He was a member of the State's Attorney's Office from 1982 to 1993, and at various times supervised the Felony Screening, Career Criminal and Automobile Manslaughter Units. For three years, he was Chief of the Child Abuse/Sexual Assault Division. He was in private practice from 1994 to 2006.
Two new Deputy State's Attorneys have been appointed. Robin Coffin, Deputy for Administration, will oversee the Circuit Court and the Felony Complaint Division, and specialized units within Circuit Court including Child Abuse and Sex Offense, Family Violence, Investigation/White Collar Crime, and Violent Crimes. Leo Ryan, Deputy for Operations, will oversee prosecutors in District Court, Juvenile Court, Auto Theft, and the Victim-Witness Division; he will also review all fatal accidents in Baltimore County, as well as all persons charged with Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) who are repeat offenders.
- Schedule for 2007 - The 2007 meeting schedule was distributed; this was approved at the December meeting. There will be no meeting in March or April.
- U.S. Attorney Anti-Gang Strategy Grant - Meg Ferguson reported that the County's application to the U.S. Attorney for a competitive grant for purchase of the GangNet computer system for the Police Department, and for overtime, investigative resources, and equipment for the Police Department Gang Unit was unsuccessful. We are continuing to discuss our need for the GangNet intelligence management system with the Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention, in hopes that other grant funds may be available. We did receive a noncompetitive allocation of $50,000, which the Police Department will use for juvenile gang prevention and intervention activities. Specific plans for this grant are still being developed and will be shared with the CJCC at our next meeting.
- Domestic Violence Coordinating Committee - This is a committee of the CJCC, and is being led by Marci Van De Mark (Department of Social Services) and staffed by Karen Keyser (DSS). The Committee includes community service providers and advocates. Meg Ferguson reported that the committee has made tremendous progress on two projects and was scheduled to meet later today to finalize both proposals; the meetings have been postponed to March because of inclement weather. The first project is adopting a Lethality Assessment Protocol, and an assessment Tool for first responders. The second is a comprehensive proposal to create a Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team, which would conduct interagency examinations of fatality and serious injury cases after completion of related court proceedings in an effort to improve handling and outcomes for similar future situations. Meg congratulated Tim Griffith on his department's work on these projects. Once the Committee has approved these projects, each will be reviewed by involved department heads and the Office of Law, and brought to the CJCC.
- Forensic Mental Health Workgroup - This workgroup is another committee of the CJCC. Recent meetings have focused on changes in Maryland statutes regarding mental competency, and on the increasing difficulty we face finding state hospital beds for defendants who require psychiatric assessments. There are not enough state hospital beds available to meet Court needs. The management of mental health cases by Judge Cooksey in Baltimore City District Court is in some cases resulting in those defendants jumping over the queue for beds, leaving individuals from other jurisdictions waiting long periods for competency assessments. Judge Williams has brought this to the attention of Chief Judge Clyburn and will be discussing this at upcoming judiciary meetings. Jim O'Neill stated that he is holding inmates who are waiting for hospital bed assessment placements.
There is also a statutory interpretation issue regarding whether patients whose assessment is complete can be returned to jail, thereby opening up a bed, or if they have to remain hospitalized until they can be brought directly to court for their trial. Baltimore County is returning them to the Detention Center; however, City inmates are being held in the hospital. If all inmates are held pending their court date, the bed shortage will become even worse.
- Very Young Juvenile Sex Offender Program (Tim Griffith) - Tim Griffith presented his Department's proposal and budget request for an expansion of the Department's Juvenile Sex Offender Treatment program to serve very young juvenile sex offenders. These children are too young (8 to 12 years) to be served effectively by DJS, and cannot be adjudicated as delinquent or easily handled as CINA cases. They have typically suffered serious abuse themselves, and need intensive and long-term therapy as well as intensive case management services for themselves and their parents. There are about six children per year who need these services. The pending budget request for $85,000 would cover staffing, consulting, transportation, and supplies for the program. It is a voluntary program but if parents fail to cooperate, the department would bring a CINA case to Court.
- 2007 Update of County Strategy/Priority Document for GOCCP - The CJCC's preliminary draft list of 2007 Priority Items for Criminal and Juvenile Justice Grants was distributed. Meg Ferguson is revising the narrative descriptions using information that has been provided by CJCC members, and will circulate a full draft shortly via email. The final document is due to GOCCP by February 28.
- Court Domestic Violence Database - Pete Lally reported that the Administrative Office of the Courts has received a large grant to create a statewide database for Domestic Violence information. The plan is to combine all the local court systems so the text of protective orders and other information can be accessed across jurisdictions. We need to ascertain which agencies will require the ability to access this new system. A more detailed briefing on this project will be put on an upcoming CJCC agenda.
Kristen Mahoney is the new Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention (GOCCP). She has worked in the Baltimore City Police Department since 1999, before Martin O'Malley became Mayor. She has learned what local governments and law enforcement agencies need, and hopes to be able to streamline GOCCP's operations so grant recipients can get full terms of funding from promised grants, among other improvements.
Mahoney previously worked at the U.S. Department of Justice, in the division that started Community Policing and under President Clinton brought 100,000 new police officers to the streets. Her unit reinvented the grantmaking process to make it shorter and easier to navigate.
GOCCP is going to assign one staff member to each jurisdiction instead of requiring local agencies to deal with a different GOCCP staffer for each grant program. This will make it easier for Mahoney to track the needs and priorities for jurisdictions.
Mahoney reviewed the funding outlook for 2007.
- There is still some money available under Youth Strategies. GOCCP will put together a small grant opportunity to address truancy, probably announced in April.
- C-SAFE program was provided $3.3 million in the Governor's proposed budget, but the design will be modified; will be asking Parole & Probation and jurisdictions to target violent and repeat offenders. Parole & Probation has already agreed to reduce the caseloads for staff assigned to C-SAFE areas so those agents can do proactive community supervision.
- Victim's Rights is another responsibility of GOCCP. We should be doing more to support victims and to communicate information about victim's rights and available support resources. There will be a series of regional victim rights compliance training sessions around the state; and interagency meetings to examine current practices and consider improvements. There will also be a victim support grant opportunity, probably announced in September or October.
- Byrne Justice Assistance Grants (BJAG) are federal grants that pass through GOCCP, with broad application. GOCCP will focus on three areas: adult population, juvenile population, and technology. Looking to address gaps in services, improving service to communities, and streamlining the justice system.
Mahoney stated that GOCCP is also supposed to assist and coordinate state agencies, and better support local agencies. Discussions are underway with Parole & Probation, and the State Police. Interoperability of radio communications is a continuing problem; in some rural areas, state police troopers carry three radios. The State Police lack an effective CAD record management system. There is a tremendous DNA collection backlog at the State Police, both in sampled not collected and in data not yet entered into the system. Jim O'Neill (Corrections), Jim Johnson (Police), and Bob Haukdal (Sheriff) noted that in Baltimore County, local police and deputy sheriffs are collecting required DNA samples using a biweekly report provided by the County Detention Center, because we know that the State Police lack the resources to do the collections.
Regarding general grant issues, Mahoney noted that it is hard to fund people with grants; it is important to have the commitment that when the grant ends, funds will be available to continue the program. Grant funding is hard to predict. She hopes to see requests for one-time technology projects, or for one-time projects with a commitment to continue after the grant ends.
Mahoney further stated that she has been directed to coordinate with MEMA on Homeland Security funding, and that she will seek to use homeland security grant funds to support criminal justice projects wherever that is possible and appropriate. She was responsible for homeland security grant funding in Baltimore City; homeland security funds were used to purchase the City's west side surveillance camera system.
Mahoney concluded by stating that Governor O'Malley expects state agencies and staff to work, and to work together. Infighting is unacceptable.
"Breaking the Cycle of Re-Arrest: Recommendations of House Bill 990/Senate Bill 960 Workgroup" (Sharon Tyler, Department of Corrections; member of statewide Adult Criminal Justice & Mental Health Workgroup)
Sharon Tyler is the Program Manager at the Department of Corrections. She was a member of the statewide workgroup that has prepared comprehensive recommendations to break the cycle of re-arrest and reincarceration for individuals with mental illnesses who become involved with the criminal justice system. The effort was mandated by the General Assembly in House Bill 990, with additional tasks assigned by Senate Bill 960. The workgroup had 23 meetings over 14 months and is now presenting its report at committee hearings in Annapolis.
Tyler distributed a summary powerpoint presentation outlining the workgroup's recommendations. Highlights include:
- Pre-Arrest Diversion: mental health crisis response systems, including hotlines and mobile crisis teams, should be expanded statewide. Jim Johnson (Police) noted that our Mobile Crisis Team only covers the east side; its services are needed Countywide, but we lack the resources to expand. This is already on our grant priority list.
- Post-Arrest Diversion: Bureaus of Mental Health should collaborate with local detention centers to replicate the Baltimore City DataLink project, to improve continuity of treatment so inmates do not lose their access and connection to mental health treatment due to being jailed. Jim O'Neill (Corrections) noted that our Jail Management System is capable of providing information; but our Health Department lacks the datalink capacity. Dan DeBold (Mental Health) stated that the department is exploring how to achieve this; it was agreed that this item will be added to our grant priority list.
- Screening for suicidal ideation/lethality is done at all local detention centers, but not more extensive assessments. These local facilities were neither designed nor intended to house the seriously mentally ill, and yet this is exactly what is happening in every county; without adequate community resources and programs this problem will continue to grow.
- Services are limited in local jails due to short lengths of stay and lack of funding. Outside of Baltimore City, detention center mental health services are a local responsibility. MHA funding for $1.9 million Maryland Community Criminal Justice Treatment Program has been stagnant for 10 years and does not account for size of jail population; Baltimore County gets same funding as Carroll County.
- Aftercare planning and services are major problem. Medicaid benefits are terminated upon incarceration, and reapplication is extremely difficult, requiring significant expert staff assistance to meet federal requirements. Applications are the responsibility of DHR (local Social Services departments), but DHMH should be requesting a federal Medicaid waiver to permit suspension, instead of termination, of benefits while recipients are incarcerated. DHMH also has to update its Medicaid eligibility computer system to make suspensions possible. Without planning and access to community-based treatment resources, clients leave facilities without needed medications or ongoing psychiatric care. The workgroup recommends that everyone should leave jail or prison with access to an adequate supply of medications and timely linkage to an appointment with a psychiatrist so that medications can be continued without a lapse.
- Patuxent Initiative - for inmates from Baltimore City, community-based providers visit Patuxent Institution inmates prior to release, to do community case planning and management. The Workgroup recommends that the same services should be provided for offenders with mental health needs who are returning to other areas of the state.
- Re-Entry issues include lack of housing, lack of necessary identification (including pending RealID requirements), lack of a required home address to put on identification cards and benefit applications, and shortage of community mental health programs willing to serve offenders with felony/violent convictions.
- Training recommendations for community mental health providers and for corrections and law enforcement officials are included in the report.
Following brief discussion, the CJCC agreed that Health, DSS, and Corrections staff will collaborate to identify items in the report of most interest and concern to Baltimore County, so we can pursue grant funding and agency cooperation to address them quickly.
V. Other Business
The focus of the May meeting will probably be juvenile justice issues and projects.
Note: Next meeting will be held Tuesday, May 8, 2007, 8 a.m.
Revised May 14, 2007
Courthouse 