Work To Break the Cycle

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

Shelby County, TN Mayor Lee Harris’s “Work to Break the Cycle” is a job website featuring updated Shelby County Government positions for individuals with arrest or conviction records. It complements the 2020 Ban the Box Ordinance, which removed questions about criminal history from job applications. This initiative has facilitated numerous opportunities for previously incarcerated individuals to join the county government workforce, with over 100 employment offers extended. By offering tailored jobs, Harris aims to reduce recidivism rates, as employment cuts reoffending chances by 20%. This dedicated job site enhances application confidence, promotes local economic engagement, and reduces incarceration expenses, aligning with the goal of reintegrating justice-impacted individuals into the community.

Impact:

Harris believes each hire is a marker of success. Since launching in May 2023, the program has resulted in employment offers to over 100 individuals so far, with plans to partner with the local Chamber of Commerce to provide more job opportunities. These jobs not only change their situation, but it has a ripple impact for their families and the Shelby County Community as a whole.

Work To Break the Cycle

 2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

Shelby County, TN Mayor Lee Harris’s “Work to Break the Cycle” is a job website featuring updated Shelby County Government positions for individuals with arrest or conviction records. It complements the 2020 Ban the Box Ordinance, which removed questions about criminal history from job applications. This initiative has facilitated numerous opportunities for previously incarcerated individuals to join the county government workforce, with over 100 employment offers extended. By offering tailored jobs, Harris aims to reduce recidivism rates, as employment cuts reoffending chances by 20%. This dedicated job site enhances application confidence, promotes local economic engagement, and reduces incarceration expenses, aligning with the goal of reintegrating justice-impacted individuals into the community.

 

Impact:

Harris believes each hire is a marker of success. Since launching in May 2023, the program has resulted in employment offers to over 100 individuals so far, with plans to partner with the local Chamber of Commerce to provide more job opportunities. These jobs not only change their situation, but it has a ripple impact for their families and the Shelby County Community as a whole.

 

Tennessee Senator Raumesh Akbari: New Efforts to Increase Public Safety with Better Policing

As the Memphis community continues to grapple with the aftermath of the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police officers, NewDEAL Leader Tennessee Senator Raumesh Akbari, who represents the city, introduced a legislative package to strengthen police reforms in the state. Among the proposals, Akbari addresses the urging of RowVaughn Wells, Tyre Nichols’ mother, to establish a duty to intervene for any police officers when they observe a fellow officer using excessive force. Other legislation would address criminal consequences around the improper use of force and the failure to render medical aid to individuals injured during an interaction with officers. In a statement, Akbari said she understands the heavy burden on police officers, but that the new laws will lead to better policing, “After George Floyd, Tennessee was one of the few states that adopted many of the ‘8 Can’t Wait’ legislation, around chokeholds, around duty to intervene, around use of force, but for me we need to strengthen those laws right now. We need to actually have real criminal consequences.” Read more about Senator Akbari’s efforts to build on and strengthen the landmark police reform bill enacted in the wake of the death of George Floyd in 2020.

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROTECTION – Texas: Bexar County District Court Judge Monique Diaz

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROTECTION – Texas: Bexar County District Court Judge Monique Diaz, who co-chairs the county’s Collaborative Commission on Domestic Violence, released a new report highlighting the commission’s progress, which includes providing case workers to support survivors, training more than 300 medical students on available resources, and giving judges new tools aimed at keeping guns away from perpetrators of domestic violence.

Community Not Incarceration

Problem

The Salt Lake County jail struggles with overcrowding and high recidivism rates. A substantial percentage of those in jail have committed nonviolent crimes associated with mental health issues and substance abuse. Repeated arrests add to their criminal record but do nothing to address the underlying problems.  When they leave jail without appropriate interventions, they often are re-arrested and incarcerated.  Research has shown that an evidence-based assessment and referral to the appropriate type of treatment services increase the chance that they won’t re-offend.

Solution

Mayor McAdams’ team proposed using state grant funding for sheriff’s staff to conduct screenings for recidivism and behavioral health concerns in the jail.  The county then combined the findings from that screening with case management by Criminal Justice Service staff to ensure the appropriate level of supervision, placement and follow up with treatment. The partnership between the Mayor, the Sheriff, the District Attorney and the County Council ensures that the right people and funding levels are aligned with a desired outcome: enhanced public safety, less jail overcrowding, reduced recidivism and access to behavioral health treatment to address the underlying cause of nonviolent crimes.

Justice Web

Problem

The historical lack of communication and information sharing between municipal courts in Montgomery County and the jail led to higher prison costs and duplicative efforts to track down information. This lack of coordination also hindered the social service system providers such as Children Services, Child Support Enforcement, and the tracking of Child Daycare Providers. 

Solution

County Commissioner Dan Foley helped create JusticeWeb in 2005, a multi-county comprehensive criminal justice information system designed to improve mission critical data support for all levels of the justice system. Since its inception, JusticeWeb has saved taxpayer dollars by allowing the county to better manage its jail population and lower costs, and provide law enforcement with real-time data to make the community safer. JusticeWeb continues to grow and evolve as additional data is obtained and new technology develops. Most recently a mobile application was developed for use on most smartphones. 

Police Shooting Reporting

Problem

There is a national data gap on police officer use of deadly force, and officer-involved shootings because there is no mandatory reporting policy at the national level to capture information about these incidents. While Texas law already requires law enforcement agencies to report information on a number of different types of incidents to the state, including in-custody deaths, it does not require law enforcement agencies to provide statistics on police officer shootings. This means there is limited information for local police to address these issues and no aggregate data for policymakers, researchers, and law enforcement agencies to analyze in order to better understand and address possible trends or issues.

 

Solution

Representative Johnson has proposed legislation to increase transparency by requiring law enforcement agencies to report information on officer-involved shootings to the Office of the Attorney General and making this report available to the public so that the data gathered informs research and future policy. One of the biggest things that sets this law apart from other state approaches is the parallel reporting system that tracks incidents in which a civilian shoots a police officer in the course of duty. Additionally, unlike the majority of other state laws, the Texas reporting requirement has a strict reporting timeline for each incident to ensure that the data is gathered and reported in a timely fashion. Finally, keeping track of police officer shooting statistics can help increase transparency and maintain public trust in police officer agencies

The Santa Cruz Pact

Problem

Santa Cruz has long grappled with persistent drug and alcohol abuse-fueled petty crimes in its downtown area. The community’s sense of safety and economic prosperity are adversely impacted by this cycle of recidivism and many in Santa Cruz consider the local criminal justice system to be a revolving door for low-level criminals.

Solution

The City and County of Santa Cruz have joined forces to reduce recidivism among the community’s most chronic low level offenders. County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty helped launch PACT in April 2014, an innovative multi-agency and multi-disciplinary team, working collectively to provide street outreach, case management and treatment in exchange for strict court accountability. This adaptive program offers wraparound services to chronic offenders, on a voluntary basis, in exchange for strict accountability for their actions. The PACT program has already seen evidence of success with recidivism rates for PACT-intervened clients greatly reduced in the first twelve months of the program.

The POST Act: Ensuring Greater Public Oversight of Police Surveillance Technology

Problem

Since 2001, there has been a massive expansion in the use of technology to conduct domestic surveillance. Federal grants have enabled local governments nationwide to purchase these technologies, which are often acquired and used in secret. This creates a range of problems for individuals, communities, and the police, and will only increase as the Trump administration seeks to expand the use of military-grade police gear and surveillance. Over-reliance on secret surveillance technology can exacerbate distrust between communities and police. Secret technologies also often have secret methods of data storage. In an era of hacks and data breaches, the public deserves an understanding of how governments will safeguard sensitive data gathered by surveillance. 

Solution

The Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act would make NYC a leader in public engagement, police accountability, and data security by requiring NYPD to disclose certain details about its surveillance tools, and review public comments, before using new technologies. This first-ever system of public oversight for NYPD’s surveillance tools would help the public understand how these tools may impact their privacy, and whether New York City — a sanctuary city — is sharing sensitive data gathered by surveillance with the federal government. In the absence of public oversight, police operate in a bubble, so public input can also allow them to uncover blind spots in their approach.

Second Chance Incentive

Problem

Columbus has a generally low unemployment rate, hovering right around four percent. But in some neighborhoods, unemployment rates exceeds 20 percent. Neighborhoods that are persistently underemployed often struggle with resulting symptoms of poverty. Many unemployed residents are employable but overlooked due to having served time in prison, and the City of Columbus’s retraining program for restored citizens and other reentry programs report that their largest limiting factor is the lack of available jobs to plug into. This shows us we can’t solve the problem without private sector engagement. 

Solution

To encourage the private sector’s investment in more job opportunities for a set of residents with a lot to give, we have added the hiring of disadvantaged workers, such as restored citizens, to the factors considered during the pre-qualification process for companies who bid on city construction contracts. Advancing opportunities for those who otherwise struggle to find a job is a win-win proposition: It helps businesses tap into an available talent pool, and it helps more residents support their families and build up our neighborhoods.

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