In This Issue:

• Recent Events:
  Juvenile DNA Collection Roundtable
  

Prisoner Reentry Initiative Grantee Workshop

National Charter School Conference Workshop

• Keynote Addresses:
  Reintegration Puzzle Conference
  

Out4Life Texas Conference

• In The News:
  Jesse Jannetta interviewed for German Publik Radio
  

Nancy La Vigne quoted in Associated Press story

• JPC at the NIJ Conference
  
• JPC Welcomes Akiva Liberman and Says Goodbye to Aaron Morrissey
  

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On June 16th, 2010, JPC researchers Julie Samuels, Allison Dwyer, Robin Halberstadt and Pamela Lachman led a roundtable titled “Assessing the Performance of the Juvenile DNA System.” With funding from the National Institute of Justice, JPC has been examining the collection and use of DNA samples obtained from juvenile offenders to shed light on the benefits and challenges of juvenile DNA collection. Thirty states collect DNA from juveniles for DNA databases, yet little is known about the practice or its implications for public safety or juvenile justice. The roundtable participants discussed the nature and extent of juvenile DNA profiles included in state and federal databases; the policies and procedures for juvenile DNA collection, including expungement provisions and how they differ from adults; the impact and ramifications – both anticipated and unanticipated – of juvenile DNA collection; and recommended improvements in policies and procedures.

JPC Senior Fellow Shelli Rossman hosted a workshop for the FY 2007 Prisoner Reentry Initiative (PRI) grantees from June 22nd to 23rd, 2010. The workshop is supported by a Training and Technical Assistance Program administered by the Center for Effective Public Policy and its partners, The Urban Institute and The Carey Group. More than 20 participants from 13 of the grant sites (and representatives from the Bureau of Justice Assistance) participated in the workshop, where they shared their experiences, successes, and lessons learned from the PRI Initiative with their colleagues from around the country. The workshop was also designed to assist PRI grantees in enhancing the impact of their reentry efforts.

On June 30th, 2010, JPC Research Associate Jocelyn Fontaine facilitated a workshop, titled “Safety and Security: Best and Promising Practices in School Violence Prevention,” at the National Charter School Conference in Chicago, IL. Conducting the workshop with two staff persons from the Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., Fontaine discussed best practices in school violence prevention, the use of traditional and non-traditional school violence prevention approaches, and student/faculty perceptions of these approaches using Thurgood Marshall Academy as a case study.

Jocelyn Fontaine was a keynote speaker at The Sixth Reintegration Puzzle Conference on June 25th, 2010 in Hobart, Australia. Her presentation, titled “The Role of the “Justice Intermediary”: Successes and Challenges Implementing a Community-Based Comprehensive Prisoner Reentry Model,” highlighted JPC’s lessons learned in designing, implementing, and evaluating the Safer Return Demonstration Project, a comprehensive, community-based prisoner reentry model in the East Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago, IL. The Safer Return demonstration was built on best and promising practices in the field of prisoner reentry, testing the concept of a “justice intermediary.”

JPC Director Nancy La Vigne was the breakfast keynote speaker at the Prison Fellowship’s Out4Life Conference in San Antonio, TX on June 29th, 2010. She presented on the issues surrounding prisoner reentry, many of which were detailed in the recent JPC report Life after Prison: Tracking the Experiences of Male Prisoners Returning to Chicago, Cleveland, and Houston, which was also mentioned in the Washington Examiner this month. La Vigne described the Returning Home initiative, and discussed the characteristics of the study participants and their reentry experiences—including program participation, housing, family relationships, substance use, employment, reoffending, and reincarceration.

JPC Research Associate Jesse Jannetta was interviewed for German Publik Radio (ARD) about the use of electronic monitoring for individuals under community supervision (the German Legislature is considering implementing a similar policy). Jannetta discussed the various components of electronic monitoring (radio frequency, GPS, SCRAM, etc.), and described who it is used for, how prevalent it is, and what is known about its effectiveness.

Nancy La Vigne was quoted in an Associated Press story titled “Jail population declines for first time since '82.” The article discussed the recent decline in jail populations that coincided with the economic downturn, which has significant implications for county and city government budgets. La Vigne discussed the implications of continuing to house many nonviolent, homeless and substance abusing individuals in jails, observing that “county governments are looking at how they want to spend their resources and are deciding that maybe jail isn't the best place.”

JPC researchers were prominent presenters at the NIJ Conference from June 14th to 16th, 2010. JPC Senior Research Associate John Roman presented on a panel titled “Social Science Research on Forensics,” where he discussed findings of the follow-up study of the DNA property crimes field experiment. For Part II of the field experiment, researchers reviewed court dispositions and criminal histories of offenders prosecuted for property crimes using DNA evidence.

Roman also presented with JPC Senior Fellow Shelli Rossman, Mia Green, Senior Research Associate at the Center for Court Innovation, and Christine Lindquist, Senior Research Sociologist for RTI International, on the NIJ-funded longitudinal process, impact and cost evaluation of adult drug court treatment programs. Panelists discussed the impact of drug courts on relapse, recidivism and psychosocial outcomes; how program policies and practices affect participant experiences; and how drug courts produce different outcomes given offender characteristics and attitudes.

Nancy La Vigne presented on the results of three studies that evaluated the application of situational crime prevention (SCP) principles: 1) an evaluation of the Safe City initiative in Chula Vista, CA; 2) a randomized controlled trial that assessed the effectiveness of SCP to reduce car crime in Metro’s parking facilities; and 3) an evaluation of the impact of SCP on preventing sexual assaults and inmate misconduct in a jail setting.

Akiva Liberman, Senior Fellow at JPC, presented on a panel titled, “Studying Implementation: The Example of the National Criminal Justice-Drug Abuse Treatment Studies Research Collaboration.” He discussed NIDA’s National Criminal Justice-Drug Abuse Treatment Studies, a research collaborative currently examining how to improve implementation of interventions at the organizational level in three domains — assessment process, medication-assisted treatment, and HIV testing and treatment — for offenders with drug problems.

This month, JPC welcomed new Senior Fellow Akiva Liberman. Prior to joining the Urban Institute, Liberman was a program official at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, where from 2007 to 2010 he managed NIDA’s extramural criminal justice research, with a particular focus on research concerning the implementation of effective drug abuse treatment for offenders. From 1999 to 2007, he managed much of the National Institute of Justice's extramural research portfolio on juvenile offending and juvenile justice. Liberman's edited volume The Long View of Crime: A Synthesis of Longitudinal Research, was published by Springer, and reissued in paperback in 2010.

JPC is sad to bid farewell to Administrative Associate Aaron Morrissey, who is leaving JPC to become Editor in Chief of DCist, a blog about issues and activities in the nation’s capitol. Aaron was a crucial part of JPC for nearly four years, assisting Center researchers with a variety of operational tasks, from grant administration to simple logistical questions, and played a large role in Center-wide proposal writing and report production initiatives. In addition, Aaron also played a significant role in the development of this newsletter and coached the Urban Institute softball team through two (relatively) successful seasons. Says Aaron “I’ll miss the unique atmosphere at JPC, and I hope that the center will continue to produce the insightful and relevant research it is known for in my absence.”