$16.3M state grant showed recidivism can be cut, says Judicial Council report

A $16.3 million state grant kept recidivism rates low by funding collaborative court programs, according to a report released by the Judicial Council, but the data collected from pretrial risk assessment programs funded by the same grant was “inconsistent” in quality.

Between 2015 and 2018, only 66 of more than 4,000 participants were discharged from the funded collaborative court programs because of a new misdemeanor or felony charge, said the report sent to the Legislature on Friday.

The programs, which were implemented in 20 counties and supported by the council’s Recidivism Reduction Fund, lent support to criminals who were homeless, veterans or struggled with addiction or mental illness. There were also programs tailored for those convicted of domestic violence which gave them opportunities to earn a high school diploma or equivalent.

Pretrial risk assessment tools introduced through the fund were used in 11 counties. The tools, which proponents have advocated as a way to increase the efficiency of the pretrial process if cash bail is eliminated, use criminal history data to assess whether defendants can be safely released before arraignment.

Between 2015 and 2018, 49,607 assessments were conducted by the counties, the council report said. While these assessments were “consistent” with the number of released defendants who ended up failing to appear in court or being arrested for another crime, the report noted that “data quality was inconsistent and reported numbers are likely an undercount.”

All of the participating counties used either the Ohio Risk Assessment System or the Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument, with the exception of Sonoma and Imperial counties. The tools have been criticized by researchers from Harvard, Princeton, New York University, UC Berkeley, Columbia University, and MIT, who published a statement last summer alleging the tools discriminated against minorities due to the quality of the criminal data they use.

Noting the 2019-2020 state budget includes funding to expand the efforts of pretrial pilot courts, the council report said its findings could “provide a road map for the new pilot courts to implement policies and procedures to maximize pretrial release while maintaining public safety.”

Out of all the individuals who were assessed using these tools, the report said, 7,405 were released and subject to pretrial monitoring that was also funded through the Recidivism Reduction Fund.

Each county used 78% to 100% of the budgets they were given for collaborative court and pretrial programs.

Eight small grants were also distributed among several courts to train and give technical assistance for their staff and local partners.