Assessment of Disciplinary and Administrative Segregation Proposal Submitted to: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Central Office 1920 Technology Parkway Mechanicsburg PA 17050 US Submitted by Vera Institute of Justice 233 Broadway, 12th floor New York, NY 10279
I. Introduction The Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) is a non-partisan non-profit organization that works with government and civil society partners to improve the systems people rely on for justice and safety. Vera s research, technical assistance, and demonstration projects have touched every aspect of the criminal justice system, beginning with the creation of the first pretrial screening program in the country in 1961, and including work with jails, prisons, courts, prosecutors offices, parole agencies, and the creation of the first pretrial services program in New Orleans. Vera has a staff of 180 policy experts, researchers, corrections and mental health specialists, and lawyers in four U.S. offices: New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and New Orleans. Over its 52 years, Vera has developed substantial staff expertise, intensive on-the-ground experience, and the infrastructural capability to enable it to deliver practical and robust assessments and technical assistance across varied criminal justice settings nationally and internationally. The work proposed here will be housed in Vera s Center on Sentencing and Corrections (CSC). CSC is currently working closely with the corrections departments in Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Washington State. CSC s work is supported by other centers and programs at Vera, including Vera s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Program, the Family Justice Program, and the Cost-Benefit Analysis Unit. Staff in these units are engaged in multiple related projects, including reentry planning for mentally ill inmates in New York City and Los Angeles, responses to vulnerable and special needs populations in prisons and jails, reintegration of former prisoners into public housing and supportive housing, and estimating the costs and benefits associated with changes in policies and practices. CSC s Segregation Reduction Project (SRP) was launched in January 2010 in response to the many challenges facing correctional agencies in managing segregated housing populations. The SRP is the only project of its kind in North America and the first to do comprehensive assessments and data analyses focused on all types of segregation. Directed by Dr. Angela Browne, the SRP partners with jurisdictions to assess their use of segregated housing and provide recommendations tailored to each system s unique challenges and needs. Current partners include the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Washington State Department of Corrections, New Mexico s Corrections Department, and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Based on four years of comprehensive state-based assessments in 21 key facilities, the SRP has developed and fine-tuned a system for on-the-ground collaboration with state departments of correction to assess their use of segregation, analyze outcomes of that use, provide recommendations for safely reducing the use of this costly alternative, and enhance responses to restricted housing and special needs populations. Vera s approach combines in-depth site visits to key facilities, working group sessions with system and facility administrators and staff, policy and case reviews, and internal briefings. The SRP also provides comprehensive quantitative data analyses of the use of segregation and outcomes of that use. In consultation with administrators and staff, Vera designs tailored recommendations and strategies to enhance policies and practices. Recommendations include 2
strategies for providing safe congregate opportunities in high-security segregated settings, transitioning disaffiliating gang members out of segregation while preserving safety, and alternative responses to vulnerable populations. If desired, Vera can continue to assist the DOC while they plan and implement change. 1 In one current partner state, Vera analyzed infractions and violence levels before and after the release of prisoners from segregation to general population. This is helpful in demonstrating that the process is safe and in gaining a better understanding of the effectiveness of disciplinary sentences and lengths of stay on subsequent violations. Vera is continuing to visit two partner states to assist with the implementation of recommended changes and to observe new initiatives and solutions as they are designed and implemented. The project is also working with these states to document best and promising practices as a result of the partnership with a goal of disseminating those practices for use by other jurisdictions. II. Proposed Scope of Work Vera will perform a comprehensive assessment of the use of administrative and disciplinary segregation and responses to special needs populations for the Pennsylvania DOC. This assessment will be conducted using a time-tested collaborative, on-the-ground approach that combines (a) intensive site visits to key facilities, (b) in-depth workgroup sessions with system and facility administrators and staff at each facility on their use of segregation, challenges, and needs, (c) policy and case file reviews, (d) internal briefings for administrators and staff on project findings, and (e) comprehensive quantitative analyses of administrative data to provide corrections officials with (f) data-informed recommendations. An interim report will be provided after each site visit trip. The project will conclude with a final report and meeting to discuss results and recommendations. Below is a detailed description of the core tasks. Appendix A provides an estimated timeline for the project Initial Meeting. SRP staff will meet with DOC leadership and superintendents of eight DOC facilities with significant segregation populations to develop a mutual understanding of what the leadership team wants to accomplish, key concerns of the leadership, specific goals for the project, and the way segregation is used within the system. This understanding will inform Vera s approach and requests for data, policies, and procedures. This will be approximately a two-hour meeting and will formally launch the collaboration. Policy Review. After project launch, SRP staff will request and review DOC policies relevant to disciplinary and administrative segregation, such as: disciplinary matrices and sentencing guidelines; policies on status reviews and dispositions; policies regarding out of cell time, meetings with counselors, visits, and mental health care; policies related to gang membership and assessment and use of segregation related to gangs; step-down and other programming and procedures for transitioning prisoners out of segregation; policies regulating the use of segregation for mentally ill, developmentally/intellectually delayed, and protective custody prisoners; and other relevant areas. These reviews will be conducted as site visits are being arranged, data requests are filed, and preliminary data analyses are conducted. 1 The implementation assistance is beyond the scope of the current proposal and budget. 3
Facility Site Visits. Soon after project launch, SRP staff will conduct tours of segregation, related mental health, special needs, and protective custody units at: (1) SCI Greene, (2) SCI Fayette, (3) SCI Pine Grove, (4) SCI Graterford, (5) SCI Muncy, (6) SCI Camp Hill, (7) SCI Huntingdon, and (8) SCI Smithfield. These facilities were selected in a joint meeting with DOC leadership prior to submission of this proposal. At each facility site visit, SRP staff will conduct an informational meeting with the facility superintendent and administrative officers, correction officers, other security personnel, mental health staff, and social work staff. These meetings will allow SRP staff to learn how segregation is used at that facility and which services are provided for segregated populations. SRP staff will also gain an understanding of the decision points for segregation placement, sentencing, transition to special housing, and release to the general prison population or the community. The SRP team will then tour relevant units with facility leadership. At each facility, Vera staff will also review randomly selected case files, discuss these cases with staff, and examine how segregation decisions are recorded and communicated to prisoners. Visits take approximately four hours per facility and allow Vera to see conditions, talk to staff on the ground, and understand the unique challenges and needs of each facility visited. Approximately three institutions can be visited per 3-4 day trip depending on their locations. Analysis of Administrative Data. SRP staff will provide the DOC with analyses of individuallevel administrative data related to segregated populations (no individual identifying information will be reported. Only aggregate statistics will be used in reports and presentations). These analyses include: 1. A detailed assessment of the DOC s use of segregation, including: the number of people held in different types of segregation (e.g., disciplinary segregation, administrative segregation, and protective custody); their demographic characteristics; factors related to their incarceration (e.g., offense for which they were sentenced to prison, history of rule violations in prison, and mental health status); types of violations for which prisoners are sent to segregation; and lengths of sentences to and lengths of stay in segregation; 2. An in-prison recidivism analysis of the effects of segregation, including the rate at which people released from segregation commit new violations within the prison system, the nature of those violations, and whether they return to segregation. III. Deliverables Debriefings: At the end of each site visit, Vera will debrief with facility and agency leadership to ask questions, review preliminary observations, and share any immediate recommendations. Interim Reports: Vera will prepare interim written reports for DOC leadership after each site visit trip with preliminary observations and findings (Interim Reports 1, 2 and 3). Vera will also provide an interim findings report to DOC leadership for discussion based on the analysis of administrative data (Interim Reports 4 and 5). 4
Final Report and Meeting: Vera will convene DOC leadership along with superintendents of the facilities visited and other key staff to discuss the results of the site visits, policy and case file reviews, and administrative data analyses. After consulting with DOC staff, Vera will recommend strategies to safely reduce the use of segregation, enhance responses to restricted housing and special needs populations, improve conditions of confinement, and prepare for data tracking of effects of key changes in segregation practices and policies. VI. Key Project Staff Angela Browne, PhD will serve as the Project Director. Dr. Browne is Vera s Senior Fellow and a specialist in use of incarceration in the U.S., policy research, and strategic technical assistance. Before joining Vera, she worked for RTI International as a Senior Research Scientist and led the DC Policy Initiative, acting as research and policy liaison to the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and other federal and local agencies. Dr. Browne is nationally and internationally known for her research on violence perpetration, long-term effects of trauma, offending and incarceration, national homicide trends, and incarceration trends. Since 1989, she has consulted to maximum-security and supermax prisons, juvenile justice agencies, and city and state/regional entities in the U.S., Russia, and Greece. After coming to Vera in 2008, she developed and has led Vera s Segregation Reduction Project (SRP), collaborating nationally with states departments of corrections to assess their use of segregation policies and practices and provide recommendations tailored to their needs. For the past four years she has led on-the-ground site visits and SRP assessments of restricted housing in more than 20 facilities in the U.S., working closely with agency administrators, meeting with staff at all levels, and producing interim and final reports with recommendations tailored to each institution. Dr. Browne will direct the collaboration, work closely with DOC leadership, lead facility site visits and debriefings, oversee staff activities and written deliverables, and secure approvals from Vera s Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the project, Allon Yaroni, PhD will provide project oversight for CSC. Dr. Yaroni is the Research Director of Vera s Center on Sentencing and Corrections (CSC). During his years at Vera, Dr. Yaroni has designed, overseen, and implemented multiple research projects. He is the Principal Investigator (PI) of a multi-year National Institute of Justice-funded research grant to study the implementation and impact of the use of video visitation program in Washington State prison facilities and served as the PI for Vera s Los Angeles jail overcrowding reduction study. Working closely with Dr. Browne, Dr. Yaroni will oversee quantitative and qualitative research for the project including administrative data collection and analysis, assure timely completion of Vera staff s work, and oversee and coordinate staff efforts within CSC. Sara Sullivan will serve as Senior Program Associate for the project. Ms. Sullivan came to Vera from the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), where she staffed a statewide task force of leaders in criminal justice and human services charged with selecting an assessment tool for use in identifying offender risks and needs throughout the criminal justice system in Illinois. At IDOC, she worked directly with the Director, Assistant Director, and Senior Policy Advisor on the department s statewide policy initiatives. In partnership with public policy centers, Ms. 5
Sullivan served in a leadership role to implement Illinois Crime Reduction Act. She also coordinated the partnership with IDOC and Vera s Segregation Reduction Project, reviewed other states correctional policies and procedures for IDOC leadership, and served as liaison to the Department s Advisory Board. Prior to coming to IDOC, Ms. Sullivan was in the Illinois Governor s office and worked with the Senior Advisor for Criminal Justice and Human Services Agencies on the coordination of a multi-agency steering committee and 19 subcommittees. At Vera, Ms. Sullivan has worked with Justice Re-Investment Initiative states on identifying and collecting performance measures and staffs the European-American Prison Project. Léon Digard, PhD will serve as lead researcher for the project. Dr. Digard joined Vera in 2010. As the lead researcher on CSC s Los Angeles Jail Overcrowding Reduction study, he linked massive data sets from the courts, the jail, and the prosecutor s office to develop a comprehensive picture of the population in the Los Angeles criminal justice system and the time frames in which significant steps in case processing took place. Since the conclusion of that project, Dr. Digard has, among other projects, led an implementation and impact evaluation of a case management system in Multnomah County, Oregon, and conducted fieldwork in South Sudan for Vera s International Program. Dr. Digard is currently Co-Principal Investigator on the project evaluating the impact of a video visitation program on in-prison and post-release behavior in Washington State. Dr. Digard received a Bachelor of Science in psychology from the University of London and a master s degree and PhD in criminology from the University of Cambridge. Prior to that, he worked as a research assistant for the Prisons Research Center at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, in an ethnographic study of the management of deliberate self-harm in a women s prison. Suzanne Agha, PhD will serve as Senior Research Associate for the project and will assist and advise on issues related to collection and analysis of relevant administrative data. Dr. Agha has led the quantitative analysis for the SRP since January 2010, travels with the project on facility site visits, and works closely with researchers in each system in analyzing complex administrative data related to segregation. Dr. Agha s recent experience includes an analysis of the total corrections population in Delaware during the state s recent efforts to reduce overcrowding. For this project, Dr. Agha worked closely with Delaware s corrections agency, statistical analysis center, and courts, and reported her findings to a group of policymakers (legislators, judges, and district attorneys) who had never before had this kind of analysis to inform their policymaking and decisions. The result was a sweeping package of legislation passed in 2012. Dr. Agha has extensive experience cleaning, merging, and analyzing large data sets from the Illinois and Maryland Departments of Corrections, as well as Pennsylvania Sentencing Commission data, Monitoring the Future, Uniform Crime Report, and Interpol crime data. 6
Appendix A - Estimated Timeline Assessment of Disciplinary and Administrative Segregation Project Month TASK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Initial Meeting & Facility Site Visits Plan Initial Meeting and Site Visit 1 (SCI Green, Fayette, Pine Grove) Conduct Initial Meeting Conduct Site Visit 1 including case file review and debrief meetings * Draft Interim Report 1: Preliminary Observations from Site Visit 1 Plan Site Visit 2 (SCI Graterford, Muncy) Conduct Site Visit 2 including case file review, and debrief meetings * Draft Interim Report 2: Preliminary Observations from Site Visit 2 Plan Site Visit 3 (SCI Camp Hill, Huntingdon, Smithfield) Conduct Site Visit 3 including case file review, and debrief meetings * Draft Interim Report 3: Preliminary Observations from Site Visit 3 Discuss with DOC interim Reports 1-3 (by phone or video-conference) Policy Review Request policies from DOC Review policies and draft summary of key policies Consult with DOC on key findings for policy review Finalize summary of key policies (for internal use) Analysis of Administrative Data Request updates for individual-level administrative data Review update administrative data and prep for analysis Consult with DOC on data issues and preliminary findings (ongoing) Perform descriptive analysis of administrative data Draft Interim Report 4: Preliminary descriptive analysis Discuss with DOC interim Report 4 (by phone or video-conference) * Finalize Interim Report 4 - Preliminary descriptive findings Perform internal recidivism analysis Draft Interim Report 5: Preliminary internal recidivism analysis Discuss with DOC interim Report 5 (by phone or video-conference) * Finalize Interim Report 5: Preliminary internal recidivism findings Final Report and Recommendations Meeting Draft Final Report; consult with DOC staff Plan logistics for Recommendations Meeting * Complete Final Project Report * Conduct Recommendations Meeting * Project Deliverable