GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY SUPERVISION 2015 Annual Report CONTENTS 1 Letter from Commissioner Michael Nail 2 Our Work DCS Supervision Coordinating Care Where We Serve Enhancing Our Services 11 Indicators of Success 13 This is DCS Who We Are Leadership Executive Team Contact Us Looking to the Future It is my honor to present the first annual report of the Department of Community Supervision. As Georgia's newest state agency, DCS has spent 2015 in a state of continual change and progress. Fortunately for us, change is the heart of our business: our work changes the lives of the offenders, their families, and the communities we serve. In our first six months, we've focused on developing a strong foundation for our agency, and we are poised to do great things in our first full year of operation. Our proudest accomplishment thus far is the development of our staff. The professionals that serve DCS are some of the best and brightest working in the field of community supervision today, and they work tirelessly to improve our delivery of efficient, fair, and effective community supervision. Our goal for next year, and for the years to come, is lofty: we aim to transform community supervision practices in Georgia through an evidence-based, community-centric, holistic approach. To accomplish this, we intend to leverage the exceptional skills and passion of our team and the support structure of an agency developed from the ground up with the highest standards of innovation. This report serves as a general introduction to DCS, and provides an overview of the performance metrics that will guide our agency as we move forward. Sincerely, Michael W. Nail Commissioner OUR WORK After a comprehensive study of the current issues facing Georgia's community corrections system, it was clear to the Council on Criminal Justice Reform and Governor Deal that tremendous enhancements to public safety and governmental efficiency could be achieved by creating one state agency that is responsible for all offender supervision within Georgia's communities. As the next step in Governor Deal's ongoing criminal justice reform efforts, HB 310 was introduced during the 2015 legislative session. HB 310 transferred the responsibilities of the community supervision of parolees from the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, probationers from the Department of Corrections, and Class A and B juveniles from the Department of Juvenile Justice to the Department of Community Supervision. The bill also transferred the oversight responsibilities of private and governmental misdemeanor probation entities from the County and Municipal Probation Advisory Council (CMPAC) to the newly created Board of Community Supervision. The Georgia General Assembly passed HB 310 and on May 7th, 2015, Governor Deal signed HB 310 into law, thereby creating the Department of Community Supervision. Commencing operations on July 1st, 2015, as a part of the executive branch of Georgia's government, the Department of Community Supervision (DCS) is responsible for the effective and efficient supervision of approximately 180,000 felony offenders. OUR MISSION As an integral part of the criminal justice system, we protect and serve all Georgia citizens through effective and efficient offender supervision in our communities, while providing opportunities for successful outcomes. OUR VISION To become the national leader for innovative and progressive community supervision; we will accomplish this by: Embracing best and next evidence-based practices Utilizing an integrated approach to improve offender behavior Effectively coordinating between all concerned stakeholders Ensuring victim's voices are heard and victim rights protected OUR VALUES Accountability Integrity Selfless Service Teamwork Personal and Professional Development georgia department of community supervision 2 Our Supervision Philosophy DCS utilizes a holistic approach involving many facets of the community, including: Commitment to victims and their families Involvement in community activities Programs for offenders and their families DCS SUPERVISION DCS supervises approximately 180,000 felony offenders. Some have been granted parole or a reprieve by the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, while others have received probated or split sentences by Georgia courts. Providing Options We work to provide offenders under our care with the tools they need to lead productive lives in their communities during supervision and beyond. That means we are continuously seeking to identify resources and options to help them stay out of prison and strengthen public safety. Our supervision services include: Through the M.O.R.E. program, DCS collaborates with the Georgia Department of Corrections to provide reentry services to inmates who would otherwise max-out their sentences in prison and be released into the community without any transitional assistance. In certain cases, if an offender violates the terms of his or her supervision, the Probation Options Management Program (POM) enables DCS to modify the offender's current supervision without the requirement of a judicial hearing. This enhances public safety by swiftly and proportionately addressing violations, and helps make more non-custodial options available for offenders who slip on their paths to reentry. DCS is utilizing more effective, lower-cost technological tools to provide electronic and voice monitoring of offenders. Reduced monitoring fees help more offenders successfully complete the terms of their supervision. Performing community service is an important component of supervision for most offenders. DCS officers help connect offenders with community service opportunities, and ensure that offenders are fulfilling their obligations. georgia department of community supervision 4 DAY REPORTING CENTERS Day Reporting Centers (DRCs) are one of the core services we offer. DRCs provide a non-residential prison diversion program targeted at "high risk/high need" offenders with a history of substance abuse and noncompliant behavior. Located in 15 sites throughout Georgia, DRCs address the root problem of substance abuse, rather than the non-violent crimes that result from addiction. Offenders placed in DRCs complete an intensive, highlystructured, non-residential addiction recovery program lasting six months or more. In addition to substance abuse treatment, DRCs equip offenders with essential training and education, cognitive behavior classes, and offer opportunities for offenders to build supportive social networks and complete community service. In rural areas of the state which do not have the offender population for the full DRC program, DCS offers modified substance abuse programming in Day Reporting Centers Lite. Like DRCs, DRC Lites deliver evidence-based, highly structured treatment. DRC Lite programs are offered in 17 judicial circuits throughout the state. DCS refers offenders requiring residential substance abuse treatment to centers operated by the Georgia Department of Corrections. Specialized integrated treatment programs are available for offenders with concurrent substance abuse and mental health needs. For offenders who do not require or have completed residential treatment, DCS offers outpatient treatment services, including support groups, aftercare services, and substance abuse education programs for offenders and their families. DCS coordinates with private partners to provide access to additional services. DCS and private providers offer offenders access to cognitive behavior training. Programs such as Motivation for Change, Moral Reconation Training, and ProblemSolving Skills help offenders focus on changing problematic thinking patterns and develop healthier, more constructive behaviors. COORDINATING CARE By collaborating with partner organizations and programs, we're able to extend the scope of services available for offenders who need support most. One of the most effective ways to prevent recidivism is to provide high-quality treatment programs addressing offenders' needs in key areas: cognitive behavior, education, mental health, and substance abuse. In addition, offenders and the communities they seek to rejoin--which include offenders' families, employers, victims, health providers, and communities of faith--encounter unique challenges throughout the rehabilitation process. DCS helps connect offenders and their communities with resources that will help them succeed. Georgia's Office of Victim Services provides advocacy for victims and their survivors. The Georgia Commission on Family Violence is administratively attached to DCS and works with communities and systems across the state to help end family violence. Both agencies play a crucial role in supporting the well-being of community members impacted by offenders' previous crimes. The Governor's Office of Transition, Support, and Reentry, which operates under the umbrella of DCS, helps connect offenders to resources such as job skills training, housing and employment assistance, mentoring, and Healing Communities of Georgia, a faith-based support network. DCS counselors and private partners collaborate to best meet the diverse and dynamic mental health needs of offenders. DCS offers offenders in DRCs and DRC Lites classes in GED preparation, literacy, and life skills. DCS also refers offenders to external education programs. Some offenders are required to obtain a GED as a condition of supervision, and officers help connect offenders with opportunities to do so. georgia department of community supervision 6 DCS COVERAGE DCS's coverage of Georgia is divided into two sectors, East and West. Within these sectors, DCS field offices are aligned within Georgia's established judicial boundaries. 10 judicial districts supervised by a DCS District Direct2o0r1 5 49 judicial circuits supervised by a Coordinating Chief Community Supervision Officer DCS WHERE WE SERVE ONE OFFICER ONE FAMILY ONE COMMUNITY In the past, supervision caseloads were based on the criminal justice status of the offenders. The creation of DCS enables caseloads to be based on geographic area instead. MORE EFFICIENT Less time spent traveling will allow officers to effectively handle more cases and spend more time on each case. BETTER QUALITY OF SERVICE Officers will become better experts at identifying and accessing local community resources. CONTINUITY OF CARE Officers will have the opportunity to establish enduring relationships with the offenders they serve, even though the offender may change criminal justice statuses over time. georgia department of community supervision 8 GOVERNOR'S OFFICE OF TRANSITION, SUPPORT AND REENTRY In October 2015, DCS assumed responsibility of the Governor's Office of Transition, Support and Reentry (GOTSR). This transition helps maximize operational resources available for GOTSR as it continues working to ensure successful implementation of reentry initiatives throughout the state, and it also improves the ease of access to reentry resources for offenders under DCS supervision. MISDEMEANOR PROBATION OVERSIGHT HB 310 designated the DCS Board to provide oversight to private and governmental misdemeanor probation entities. While the supervision responsibility of misdemeanor probation cases does not reside with DCS, we do provide the oversight infrastructure needed to ensure the integrity of Georgia's misdemeanor probation system. With the DCS Board and the Board's Advisory Council now in place, our focus has shifted to the development of business processes and quality assurance tools. As a critical next step, we have established a Misdemeanor Probation Oversight Unit within DCS, charged with implementing the rules and regulations promulgated by the Board of Community Supervision. Additionally, the unit will develop processes for the registration and compliance of misdemeanor probation providers across the state of Georgia. We are currently working in concert with both private and governmental misdemeanor probation providers to ensure the existence of a transparent system that adheres to the intent of the law. JUVENILE OFFENDERS On July 1, 2016, the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) will transition components of their Division of Community Supervision and associated supporting personnel to DCS and DCS will begin providing supervision services for select Class A and Class B designated juvenile felony offenders. ENHANCING OUR SERVICES DCS was created in order to enhance Georgia's ongoing criminal justice reform efforts and help make community corrections services more streamlined, cost-efficient, and, most importantly, effective. We are continuously striving to find ways to expand the capabilities of our services to improve our value to Georgia citizens and best meet the needs of the communities we serve. Some current initiatives include coordinating caseloads for our officers and assuming responsibilities related to the Governor's Office of Transition, Support and Reentry, misdemeanor probation oversight, and juvenile offenders. COORDINATING OFFICER CASELOADS The unique new responsibilities of DCS Community Supervision Officers merge the supervision responsibilities of former parole and probation officers. As we move towards implementing these newly combined caseloads--the basis of our "one officer-one family-one community" strategy-- we're meeting ongoing supervision needs without a break in service. During our initial operations, officers have continued to work in parallel, complementary functions while we gradually adjust their caseloads to integrate all supervision activities. We expect for all DCS officers to work with combined caseloads within twelve months of DCS operation. July 2015 Six Months (January 2016) Twelve Months (July 2016) and Beyond PAROLE OFFICER FUNCTIONS PROBATION OFFICER FUNCTIONS COMBINED COMMUNITY SUPERVISION FUNCTIONS georgia department of community supervision 10 Indicators of Success HB 310 REQUIREMENTS HB 310 charges DCS with collecting, analyzing, and reporting on data regarding the impact of treatment programs on offender recidivism. In addition to the reporting requirements outlined in HB 310, DCS intends to track and analyze data that can help guide our work towards achieving the best outcomes for those we serve. Processes are currently being established for collecting and analyzing data, and first-year data may be incomplete. Incomplete data will be analyzed and reported as such in the 2017 Annual Report. HB 310 transferred the oversight responsibilities of private and governmental misdemeanor probation entities from the County and Municipal Probation Advisory Council (CMPAC) to the newly created Board of Community Supervision. The Board is responsible for reviewing and reporting on the uniform professional standards and uniform contract agreement standards, in order to enable the General Assembly to review the effectiveness of the minimum professional standards and, if necessary, revise them. In November 2016, the Board of Community Supervision formed an Advisory Council and is currently undertaking the review of standards. The report will be provided prior to its January 2017 due date. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS Our approach to supervision is dependent upon officers successfully identifying offenders' risk levels and needs, and connecting them with resources that will improve their chances of successful, lasting reentry as productive members of their communities. The training, technological tools, and caseload organization of our officers help enable them to identify the best available resources to meet an offender's specific treatment needs, and to dynamically assist the offender as his or her needs change over time. To hold ourselves accountable to our high standards of effectiveness, and to check that our programs are producing the intended benefits for the communities we serve, we will track the following metrics--considered best-practice indicators of success in delivering comprehensive, effective supervision services. Performance Measures of supervision effectiveness Compliance Meeting supervision requirements EMBRACING EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES Scientific corrections research has identified certain practices as most successful at reducing recidivism. By focusing our work on these evidence-based practices, we intend to maximize our positive impact. Measurements in the following areas will help us identify the effectiveness of our efforts: SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION We want more offenders to successfully complete their supervision terms. TIME TO FAIL Despite our intervention efforts, some offenders may fail supervision. For these offenders, we want to increase the average length of time they remain successful under supervision. TREATMENT PROGRAM PARTICIPATION We want more offenders who need extra support in the areas of cognitive behavior, mental health, substance abuse, and education to enroll in and complete treatment programs. EMPLOYMENT We want to increase the number of employable offenders who are employed. IMPROVING CHANCES Measuring compliance-related activities will help provide a more comprehensive portrait of the responsiveness of our officers to offenders' needs, and the availability of sufficient support for offenders as they work to reenter their communities. Examples of these measures include: Number of officer/offender interactions Offenders' residential stability Percentage of offenders fulfilling community service, drug screening, and financial and administrative obligations. georgia department of community supervision 12 This is DCS DEVELOPING OUR HUMAN RESOURCES As a new agency, DCS has taken every opportunity to embrace government enterprise best-practices from the ground up in order to foster a work environment that promotes innovation and effectiveness. Deploying a framework of cloud-based technology across our operations has provided us with coordinated access to information and faster, more reliable communication between every single employee--no matter where they are in Georgia. Our new technology enables more of our team members to utilize alternative work schedules, including flex-time and telework options, thereby improving employees' quality-of-life and productivity and helping streamline our operations. We take seriously our commitment to continuously develop the personal and professional skills of each team member by providing ongoing training, supporting higher education that will advance employees' professional opportunities, and requiring sworn officers to complete 20 hours of continuing education per year. WHO WE ARE DCS is 2,000 staff members strong. It is through their professional excellence that we intend to become a national leader and transformative force in the field of community supervision. While developing our team, we have sought out the brightest, most skilled, and promising employees to join us. Our most important hiring qualification, however, has been that each employee who works with us shares a dedication to the values DCS is founded upon: accountability, integrity, and dedication to selfless service, teamwork, and personal and professional development. MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER The new work of DCS merges roles and responsibilities formerly handled by the Georgia Department of Corrections and the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, and we now supervise approximately 180,000 offenders previously under their care. We have benefitted immensely from retaining the expertise of the more than 1,900 employees who have joined DCS from these agencies. 1,150 450 155,000 330 50 25,000 georgia department of community supervision 14 DCS LEADERSHIP The DCS Board provides critical guidance and oversight to ensure we are acting in the best interests of Georgia's citizens and towards our long-term goals. Our Board members' diverse backgrounds bring a vast amount of experience and knowledge to our organization. Board Homer Bryson DCS Board Chairman Commissioner, Georgia Department of Corrections Bobby Cagle Director, Georgia Division of Family and Children Services Terry Barnard Chairman, Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles Sonja Fillingame City Manager of Union City James Mills Vice-Chairman, Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles Avery Niles Commissioner, Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice Frank Berry Commissioner, Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Kevin Little Chairman, Walton County Board of Commissioners Sheriff Mike Yeager Sheriff of Coweta County Advisory Council The DCS Advisory Council is composed of practitioners appointed by the governor and court councils representing every level of the state's justice system. Their valuable insights help guide the Board and DCS. Judge Neal Dettmering Judge John Ott Judge Richard Kent Judge Chase Daughtrey Judge W. Allen Wigington Steve Page Michael Terrell Lon Kemeness State Court Superior Court Municipal Court Probate Court Magistrate Court Private Probation Public Probation Criminal Defense Attorney georgia department of community supervision 16 EXECUTIVE TEAM Our senior leadership team sets the strategic direction of our agency and drives the innovation, passion, and focus that undergird our daily work. Our leaders join DCS as proven veterans in the fields of criminal justice and public administration. Michael Nail Commissioner Scott Maurer Assistant Commissioner Sandra Thomas Executive Operations Director David Morrison Field Operations Director Mike Kraft Court/Board/Field Services Director Phil Sellers Chief Information Officer Robert Orange Chief Financial Officer georgia department of community supervision 18 Contact Us Office of Public Affairs: 404-309-7257 or bert.flewellen@dcs.ga.gov 2 MLK Jr Dr SE Ste 866 E Atlanta, GA 30334 DCS.GEORGIA.GOV DCS employs evidence-based practices to hold offenders accountable and reduce the state's recidivism rate. We utilize a holistic approach to offender supervision that involves all facets of the community which includes, but is not limited to: victims and their families, programs for offenders and their families, involvement in community activities and partnerships with other criminal justice agencies. We also provide offenders the opportunity to make positive changes while in the community by providing individual support, programs and assistance. GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY SUPERVISION dcs.georgia.gov