Core Capacity Building Project - Program Area I, B & C:Substance Abuse Treatment Program as an Alternative Sentence

The State Justice Statistics (SJS) Program is designed to maintain and enhance each state's capacity to address criminal justice issues through collection and analysis of data. The SJS Program provides support to each state to coordinate and conduct statistical activities within the state, conduct research to estimate impacts of legislative and policy changes, and serve as a liaison in assisting BJS to gather data from respondent agencies within their states.

The Kansas Sentencing Commission (KSC) was established by the 1989 Senate Bill 50 and is the designated Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) for the state. The SAC research staff is also the research staff for the Commission. Staff duties include conducting research and analyzing issues and processes in the criminal justice system, identifying alternative solutions and making recommendations for improvement. Tasks specific to SAC staff include producing statistical reports on findings regarding the impact of sentencing guidelines on prison populations; and conducting ongoing analysis of data derived from felony journal entries, probation revocation journal entries, and the SB 123 program. The SAC also provides statistical information to state and federal agencies, academic entities, criminal justice associations, and other interested parties.

Under this award, the Kansas Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) will conduct activities under the following Core Capacity areas: Measuring criminal justice system performance and Increasing access to statistical data. Through the study of program and outcome data, the SAC has reached the conclusion that SB 123 Substance Abuse Treatment Program as an alternative sentence is a successful policy and a valuable tool to combat the cycle of drug abuse, recidivism and incarceration. The SAC plans to expand and improve the program by increasing the availability of offender and situational data in real time so that the SB 123 Treatment Program may be more responsive in shaping the course of drug treatment by improving access to medical, mental health and community resources; fine-tuning supervision standards; and implementing consequences for failure to adhere to the program guidelines. The Kansas Sentencing Commission will collaborate with the Department of Corrections, probation supervision entities, district courts, and drug and mental treatment providers to ensure smooth processing and exchange of data that will aid in improving offender outcomes. The SAC will continue to track, monitor, analyze and measure the system performance of the program and tailor program policy to produce the best outcomes to lower recidivism and increase public safety. Results will be published to KSC's website. This year's project will be the initial phase of a multi-year project. Funding is also being requested for travel to attend the 2015 NCJA Conference where JRSA will facilitate a track for the SAC. (CA/NCF)