Tag: Justice Reinvestment Act

Column: Reinvesting in West Virginia, Fighting Back Against Substance Abuse

During the five years I have served as your governor, I have made it a priority to develop a skilled workforce, reduce our state’s prison and regional jail inmate population, rehabilitate those offenders when possible, and fight the battle against substance abuse. I know there is more work to be done, and I’m pleased that additional attention is being paid to these critical issues. But I also am proud of what we have already accomplished.

In 2011, I established the Governor’s Advisory Council on Substance Abuse (GACSA) and charged members with developing a comprehensive plan that addressed both local community and statewide concerns. Since then, more than 3,000 people have attended 96 public meetings to share specific recommendations to combat drug abuse in communities across West Virginia.

Ideas discussed during these regional meetings have led to a number of critical legislative and administrative reforms, including the adoption of a prescription drug monitoring database, establishing stricter regulations for opioid treatment centers and pain clinics, and expanding access to Naloxone – a life-saving drug – to first responders and family members of those struggling with addiction.

By expanding access to and reinvesting in community-based treatment services, we’re giving those struggling with addiction the help they need to get on the road to recovery.

In 2013, with bipartisan support from the executive, legislative and judicial branches and with the help of the Council of State Governments (CSG), I signed into law the West Virginia Justice Reinvestment Act, establishing a new and comprehensive path forward to improve West Virginia’s justice system.

This legislation outlined three specific objectives: strengthen community-based supervision; focus resources on inmates at risk of re-offending; and invest in drug courts and other community-based treatment options to tackle substance abuse in West Virginia.     

Since then, we have implemented a number of new programs through Justice Reinvestment to strengthen parole and probation capacity and effectiveness, develop the use of graduated sanctions for probation and parole violations, ensure inmates with violent histories are not released without mandatory supervision, and improve information sharing and coordination among state agencies and external organizations.

We continue to work with our state’s businesses, labor groups and educational institutions to put into place innovative strategies to reduce re-offense rates through workforce training programs and put people on the path to recovery, rejoining their families, communities and workplaces.

As part of Justice Reinvestment, West Virginia has committed nearly $10 million to support community-based substance abuse services at existing facilities. Over the past five years, the Bureau for Behavioral Health & Health Facilities has provided nearly $29 million – an average of $5.8 million a year – for substance abuse-related services and activities, and has awarded nearly $3 million to develop or expand drug treatment programs in counties across West Virginia where services were formerly limited or non-existent.

I recently announced an additional $250,000 in grant funding to support five new projects across the state that will assist communities participating in the pilot phase of Justice Reinvestment Treatment Supervision program, to expand access to outpatient and intensive outpatient services, community engagement specialists and recovery coaches.

Our efforts have led to significant progress in the fight against substance abuse, and I’m pleased to see recent local and federal efforts to also focus attention on this issue. For the second year in a row, we have seen a decrease in the misuse of prescription drugs, and over the past three years, West Virginia has seen a significant decrease the use of in marijuana and illicit drugs.

I’m proud of the progress we’ve made – together. By continuing to fight back against substance abuse and reinvesting in the lives of West Virginians struggling with addiction, we can create a brighter future for our state and those who call her home.

Gov. Tomblin Says $250,000 Awarded to Substance Abuse Programs in W.Va.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin says a quarter of a million dollars in state grants have been awarded to programs across the state to expand access to substance abuse treatment.

The $250,000 grant will fund five projects across West Virginia, all focused on addiction treatment and recovery.

Part of Tomblin’s 2013 Justice Reinvestment Act, the grant funds are part of the Treatment Supervision Program. The pilot phase of the program focuses on funding outpatient and intensive outpatient services, community engagement specialists, and recovery coaches in West Virginia.

United Summit Center was awarded $180,000 for two outpatient/intensive outpatient sites that will be located in Monongalia and Randolph counties.

Jefferson County Day Report Center was awarded $70,000 for two recovery coach positions that will serve residents of Berkeley, Jefferson, Mineral and Morgan counties.

Tomblin has committed 9 million dollars in state funding for the expansion of community-based treatment programs. Nearly 2 million dollars have previously been awarded to expand access in nine locations serving 18 counties in the state.

Charleston Correctional Center Increases Access to Community Based Treatment

Offenders looking for treatment and rehabilitation within their communities now have a new home in a Charleston facility that celebrated its opening today. 

Dozens of Division of Corrections employees joined with state and local officials to celebrate the opening of the Charleston Correctional Center on the city’s East End Thursday.

The 40,000 square-foot facility has 96 beds for both male and female work-release participants and an additional 32 bed female Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Unit.

The facility is part of Governor Tomblin’s larger plan to reduce incarceration rates in West Virginia by focusing on community based treatment options for non-violent offenders. That plan started with the governors’ Justice Reinvestment Act passed by lawmakers during the 2013 legislative session.

“The problems of substance abuse, the problems with criminal justice, they’re not going to be solved in this next year. They’re not going to be solved in Gov. Tomblin’s term. They’re not going to be solved most likely for a long time,” Joseph Garcia, Tomblin’s legislative affairs director said during the dedication ceremony, “but what we can do and what Gov. Tomblin has strived to do is build a foundation to face these problems.”

The Charleston Correctional Center will replace an aging Charleston Work-Release Center that currently houses 60 offenders.

The new building will also hold the offices of the West Virginia Parole Board. 

Court of Claims Says Pothole Bills Up, Prison Bills Down

Members of the Senate Finance Committee took up a bill Thursday they see every year, a bill to settle some of the state’s small claims law suit debts. This year lawmakers found out they owe substantially less than previous years, though, because of a reform bill passed two years ago.

House Bill 2876 is short titled the Court of Claims bill. The court hears citizen claims of damages against the state and awards compensations in verdicts to pay for anything from pothole damages to wrongful death suits.

The bill proposed for the 2016 budget has a $1.5 million total from the state’s general revenue, special revenue and road funds.  

Cheryle Hall, administrator of the West Virginia Court of Claims, told lawmakers the bill is substantially less than in year’s past because of the 2013 Justice Reinvestment Act and the decrease in overcrowding in the state’s prisons.

“Normally we have a multimillion dollar claim by the Regional Jails against the Division of Corrections for inmates that are held up in Regional Jail Facilities,” Hall explained.  

The RJA typically files a suit when the Division of Corrections can’t pay the bill from their budget. This year, however, Hall said the funds were available, saving the state some $3 million.

Claims went up, however, in another area the court often deals with, damages to West Virginians’ cars from potholes. Hall said this year the bill contains more than a thousand claims against the Division of Highways, up exponentially from the 300 or so they receive in a normal calendar year.

Senate Finance Chair Mike Hall said those totals are indicative of the lack of funding for road maintenance in the state, something he’d like to see tackled by a road bond to fund all new construction. The State Road Fund, Halls said, could then be dedicated to maintaining West Virginia’s 39,000 miles of highways and county routes.

“Right now, new construction and maintenance compete for money,” he said after the meeting, “and I know that sooner rather than later, and hopefully not until the next legislative session, will get together and focus on the concept of roads.”

Members of the Finance Committee have called on the governor to share with them the recommendations from his year long Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways’ study on funding state roads.

Hall said without the final recommendations, lawmakers still know what they need and that’s more revenue, but that the public should have some input in how those revenues are made.

Under pressure from the legislature, those final Blue Ribbon Commission recommendations are expected possibly next week.

The Court of Claims bill was approved by committee and now goes to the full Senate. 

W.Va. Opts Not to Pursue Out-of-State Corrections Facility

State officials have decided against housing some inmates outside the state.

In 2013, West Virginia had asked national companies to bid on sending West Virginia inmates to their out-of-state facilities in the hopes of curbing the state over crowding problem. The proposal envisioned the short-term transfer of up to 400 inmates who agreed to the move to receive educational and rehabilitative programs.

West Virginia Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein said in a news release that he thanked Corrections Corporation of America for its interest in the proposal. CCA was the sole bidder for the project, and proposed to house West Virginia inmates at its Lee Adjustment Center in Kentucky.

The release says the Justice Reinvestment Act, signed in 2013, and related steps have reduced the regional jail backlog by hundreds of inmates. Legislation enacted last year has helped to ensure access to needed programs for inmates at the jails.

State Making Progress in Reducing Prison Population

It’s only been a little over a year since Governor Tomblin signed the Justice Reinvestment Act into law, but the state is already seeing results in the amount of people being held in state jails and prisons.

The legislation was passed in 2013 by the state legislature and was crafted in partnership with the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center. It suggested states look at corrections in a slightly different way, focusing on rehabilitation and integrating inmates back into society by giving them access to more classes while they’re in prison, assisting them in securing housing, and preparing them for parole and probation.

At a press conference with the CSG in Washington, D.C., Thursday, Tomblin presented the most recent prison population numbers for West Virginia.

He reported the state has decreased its prison population by about 5 percent for the first time in 16 years. In the regional jails, the overcrowding  is down by more than 50 percent. Those numbers are significantly less that what estimates predicted.

He equated those decreased numbers to the success of the Justice Reinvestment Program, but says there is still work to be done helping inmates adjust to society when they are returned to their communities.

Editor’s Note: Previously reported numbers of the decrease in population were incorrect. This story now reflects the correct decrease in prison population.
 

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