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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSpecialty Courts UpdateFebruary 1, 2011 TO: FROM: RE: Board of Commissioners Dave Kanner Specialty Courts Department of Administrative Services Dave Kanner, County Administrator 1300 NW Wall St, Suite 200, Bend, OR 97701-1960 (541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 385-3202 www.co.deschutes.or.us During the budget process last spring, the Board requested a report from staff on the sustainability of the specialty court programs offered by the Circuit Court here in Deschutes County. Those courts are: Family Court; Mental Health Court; Family Drug Court; and Domestic Violence Diversion (DVD) Court. Attached is a memo from Community Justice Director Ken Hales that describes each of these courts and their funding sources. Of the four courts, only Mental Health Court and DVD Court receive direct support from the County, primarily in the form of staff resources. Joining Ken at the February 9 work session will be Trial Court Administrator Ernie Mazarol. Enhancing the Lives of Citizens by Delivering Quality Services in a Cost -Effective Manner To: From: Date: Re: Deschutes County Department of Community Justice J. Kenneth Hales, Director ve Kanner nneth Hales anuary 17, 2011 Specialty Courts MEMORANDUM As requested I have prepared a report on the specialty courts operated by the Deschutes County courts. Please see the attached. The report describes each court, their purpose, target population and financing. I am unable to provide recommendations to improve efficiency or effectiveness. I am able to provide descriptive information on how each court contributes to or impacts costs to system stakeholders. I am also able to provide an educated guess of the likelihood of each court's continued operation for the near future. Pursuant to the Board of County Commissioners interest in the ability of the 11th Judicial District courts to maintain essential services, a recommendation is provided. I must make clear that as it is currently structured; the adult parole & probation division cannot finance its currently approved FTE for felony offender supervision. Any service expansion would need to be resourced. I am available to discuss this further at your convenience. LI JAN 1 8 2011 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ADMINISTRATION 633360 Britta Street, Building 2, Bend, OR 97701 Adult Parole & Probation 541.385.3246; Juvenile Community Justice 541.388.6671 11th Judicial District Specialty Courts Report January 13, 2011 J. Kenneth Hales, Director Deschutes County Community Justice The 11th Judicial District (District) operates four "treatment courts". The treatment court supervisor is Christie Combs. Ms. Combs is an employee of the District. The four treatment courts are the Family Court, Mental Health Court, Family Drug Court, and the Domestic Violence Diversion Court. Most commonly the term "specialty court" refers to Family Drug, Mental Health, and Domestic Violence Diversion Courts and not Family Court for reasons noted below. Family Court Family Court has been in operation since 1995. The Family Court Coordinator is Brie Arnette. Ms. Arnette is a District employee. Currently 1.3 District FTE are dedicated to the Family Court. Family Court is unlike all other treatment courts because it does not have a specific judge. All judges do Family Court. There is no specific budget for Family Court. It is financed from the District's regular operating budget. The primary objective of the Family Court is to coordinate multiple cases among family members, creating a one -family, one -judge environment. This allows judges to review family issues in a comprehensive manner, consolidate hearings when appropriate, and issue non -conflicting orders. Secondly, the Family Court Coordinator utilizes mediation, negotiation, and conflict management to resolve issues outside of court thereby reducing frequency and duration of court hearings. Participating Family Court families must have an open dependency case, an open criminal case, and another open court case such as domestic relations. Families challenged by substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence, or sex abuse are priority. At any given time there may be approximately 95 families with active Family Court cases and the coordinator will be working with 15 to 20 families. Approximately 150 families are served each year. The key partners are the Oregon Department of Human Services, Deschutes County Health Department, Deschutes County Community Justice Adult Parole & Probation Division, CASA, and the local school district. This Family Court model is research based and has received outside review from the Center for Policy Research. Mental Health Court Mental Health Court has operated since 2002. The Honorable Stephen N. Tiktin presides over the Mental Health Court. Amber Clegg is the coordinator. Ms. Clegg is an employee of the Deschutes County Health Department. An annual budget of approximately $182,000 finances 2.75 health department employees; the court coordinator, a case manager, and a therapist and provides approximately $36,000 for materials and services. Of the $182,000, 54% comes from a Federal grant, 37% is financed from the Deschutes County Crime Prevention Fund and the remainder is financed from Health Department reserve funds. The Deschutes County's Mental Health Court program is a voluntary program with the goal of increasing access to and engagement in treatment for persons charged with or convicted of a crime who suffer from an eligible serious mental illness. Court participants are provided access to services which support the well-being of the participant, thereby reducing the likelihood that they will commit a new crime. Mental Health Court is held twice a month. The average number of active participants is 21. The program may serve approximately 60 persons each year. Key partners are the District Attorney, Circuit Court, Public Defender's Office, Deschutes County Community Justice Department Adult Parole & Probation Division, law enforcement, and the jail. In June of 2009 the Bureau ofJustice Assistance sent evaluators to Deschutes County for a site and program review. Family Drug Court Family Drug Court has been in operation since 2006. The Honorable Alta J. Brady presides over this court. District employee Colleen Kruse is the program coordinator. A $252,349 grant from the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission finances the coordinator position, provides $42,126 toward Deschutes County Mental Health Department employee costs, and provides approximately $143,000 for other purchased services. The purpose of the court is to help parents become sober and responsible caregivers, create environments where children are healthy and safe from abuse and prevent the removal or promote the return of the child to the family. Participants are parents who are involved with child welfare, the criminal justice system or both who have a significant current substance abuse problem and who either have had their children removed or are at risk of having the children removed from their care as a result of their substance abuse. The court averages 23 participants and will serve 43 participants each year. Court is held weekly for approximately one hour. This court receives grant oversight from the Oregon Criminal Justice Council and has received outside technical assistance. Key partners are local alcohol and drug treatment providers, the Deschutes County Health Department, Deschutes County Community Justice Department Adult Parole & Probation Division, the Oregon Department of Human Services, the District Attorney's Office, indigent defense attorneys, CASA, and Healthy Families of the High Desert. Domestic Violence Diversion Court Domestic Violence Diversion Court has been operating since 2007. The Honorable Michael C. Sullivan presides over this court. District program analyst Sharrie Owens directs 40% of her time to coordinate this court and monitors the 35 to 45 court participants not supervised by the Deschutes County Community Justice Department Adult Parole & Probation Division, which has one parole and probation officer to supervise approximately 80 court participants. The District receives no dedicated funding to support this court. Deschutes County Community Justice Department Adult Parole & Probation Division receives $50,000 from the County's Crime Prevention Fund to help finance the parole and probation officer assigned to supervise the Domestic Violence Diversion Court cases. Court participants are offenders arrested for a misdemeanor or a Class C felony domestic violence offense which did not involve a weapon or a victim under 14, have no previous history of person-to-person offenses, and are not under a restraining order, release agreement, or stalking order at time of the offense. Court is held twice a month for 2 to 2-1/2 hours. The Domestic Violence Coordinating Council has a Domestic Violence Diversion Supervision Program subcommittee which reviews program operations. This court and the supervision of the participating offenders dramatically increased the number of offenders entering pleas to domestic violence crimes, therefore avoiding cost and time demanded of the court, the District Attorney's Office, law enforcement agencies, and other system stakeholders. Domestic violence crimes are the second highest number of crimes in Deschutes County. Without this court many offenders would escape prosecution and the prosecution of others would demand additional expense and time of system partners. The quick resolution of these cases through the Domestic Violence Diversion Court has eliminated the year -and -a -half long backlog of domestic violence offenders awaiting prosecution or resolution. Analysis As noted above Family Court is unique from the other treatment courts because it is a method of handling cases rather than a specific judge holding court at a specific time. The activities of Family Court are now routine to and highly integrated into the District's regular business practices and budget. In the opinion of this writer Family Court will continue and the impact of future budget reductions on Family Court would be much the same as the impact of budget cuts on overall District operations. For example, if the court closed its doors certain days this would impact Family Court but the impact is not specific to Family Court. The Mental Health Court has specific funding to finance staff and purchase services. The budget reductions faced by the Oregon Judicial Department and the 11th Judicial District do not directly impact the operations of and financing for the Mental Health Court because it is financed from a different source and the expense of that court is borne primarily by the Deschutes County Health Department. A $252,349 grant from the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission finances the personnel and services devoted to Family Drug Court. In the opinion of this writer if grant funding is maintained the court can continue. If funding is marginally reduced the court could continue as a criminal drug court which is less expensive than a family drug court. The specialty court in the greatest jeopardy is the Domestic Violence Diversion Court. The District receives no financing for Domestic Violence Diversion Court. This court could not exist if the parole and probation division did assign a parole and probation officer to provide the supervision. Previously two PPOs supervised these cases. The one remaining PPO is partially financed by a $50,000 Crime Prevention Fund grant. As with the other courts the financial impact excludes the judge's time and clerical support, therefore the primary expense to the District is the 0.4 FTE the court allocates to monitor the Domestic Violence Diversion Court participants not eligible for Deschutes County Parole & Probation Division supervision. Because of the District's budget cuts and its shrinking ability to support various court operations it is almost a certainty that District will discontinue monitoring the court participants not supervised by the Deschutes County Parole & Probation Division by prior to the beginning of the next fiscal year. Recommendation In the opinion of this this writer the best opportunity for the Board of County Commissioners to assist the District to maintain essential services is not to provide direct financial aid, but to provide, to a limited degree, specified basic court services that benefit court operations. The Board of County Commissioners would assist the District and enhance public safety by having the Adult Parole & Probation Division of the Deschutes County Community Justice Department assume responsibility for monitoring all Domestic Violence Diversion Court participants. Monitoring these additional offenders will allow the Domestic Violence Diversion Court to maintain its current level of service. Monitoring these additional offenders is not an expansion of the department's mission or core functions, rather it places the supervision of these offenders in the agency most expert in that function. This would free up scarce District resources that could be redirected to meet essential District needs.