December 2019 CJAB Meeting Summary

Judge Meyers called the meeting to order at 12:07 PM and welcomed the group.

Grants Management is collaborating with Nancy Dering Mock to develop a second draft of the 2020-2023 CJAB Strategic Plan to provide to the Executive Committee prior to the January meeting. Once reviewed during Executive Committee the final draft will be distributed to the full CJAB for review prior to the February CJAB meeting.

Commissioner Keller presented the 2019 Judge Richard Walsh Award to President Judge Van Horn for her exemplary dedication to the CJAB and years of hard work, dedication and commitment of service as the President Judge and CJAB Chair. Judge Meyers accepted the award in President Judge Van Horn’s absence.

Glenda Helman provided the Criminal Justice Advisory Board office report. The Child Advocacy Center Endowment Act Medical Services for Victims project modification request was approved for a no cost extension through March 2020. The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency County Jail-Based Medication Assisted Treatment Grant application was approved and will expand services for non-Vivitrol medication assisted treatment.

Todd Ferettii, Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) Liaison, emailed PCCD updates. The County Sheriff Body-Worn Camera (BWC) Policy and Implementation Program (PIP) solicitation has been distributed by PCCD. This application is due to PCCD by January 14th, 2020. The Federal JAG Grant solicitation will be released in early 2020.

Matt Fogal, D.A provided the Overdose Taskforce Report. So far, in 2019, there have been 26 fatal overdoses. During this time in 2018 there had been 32 fatal overdoses. The Overdose Taskforce has completed their 2020-2023 Strategic Plan. The Overdose Taskforce will be providing a status report in early 2020.

Each CJAB committee provided a brief overview of work completed during 2019:

Executive Committee spent the year planning for the Strategic Planning Retreat, developing a draft plan, and collecting committee feedback. Judge Van Horn and Judge Meyers have been collaborating on the transition of leadership.

Case Flow expanded the committee structure to include Juvenile Probation Case Flow members to discuss matters of certification and decertification. This committee plans to work on issues related to the courthouse facility development project, security, safety and flow of courthouse operations, Gagnon 2 2020 guidelines, and pretrial release.

Stacie Horvath was welcomed as the newly appointed  chair of the Behavioral Health Committee. This year, the Behavioral Health Committee has focused on expanding services to include the 8-bed Forensic SCR, bringing MAT services to Waynesboro, expanding Operation Save A Life Trainings, updating the SIM, etc. The committee is looking at pursuing an assessment tool, such as the DLA-20, utilizing a data collection tool kit provided by SAMHSA, and exploring ways to provide outcomes data to the group.

First Contact has collaborated on the 8-bed Forensic SCR. The CIT trainings and Mental Health Co-responder programs have been successful. Fingerprint Compliance rate is at 94%, above state average. The group is working on allocating $31,000 in grant funds from AOPC to update security in the MDJ offices. The group has also collaborated with the Chambersburg Borough Police Department to secure Livescan equipment to replace outdated county equipment.

The Technology Committee has monitored the removal of the UCMS and provided oversight to the Electronic Discovery Universal Behavioral Health Release update. Warden Bechtold noted the Jail has updated to a new OMS system to improve security. Tablets for inmates will also soon be available. This technology provides access to legal information, library resources as well as education and religious materials. The new body scanner machine has been running for approx. 3-4 weeks. Less contraband is coming through on the inmates. As a result an increase in contraband through the mail is occurring. The Jail is working with an outside company who will be able to scan inmate mail to view on tablets to prevent this occurrence and further increase security.

Victims Impact continues to meet twice yearly. Victims Impact will be focusing on maintaining safety for victims during the courthouse facility improvement project.

Juvenile Justice has discussed legislation changes and education options for youth in addition to other topics. In 2020 this group will be focusing on prevention activities and collaborating significantly with the education system and Healthy Communities Partnership. Vaping issues in schools have become an increasing concern. Brad Ocker, Principal of Chambersburg High School, is also collaborating with local employers to provide more opportunities for at risk youth and has participated with the Juvenile Justice Committee.

Reentry Coalition, Franklin Together, has 60 regular attendees during bimonthly meetings. This coalition has been recognized by the State Attorney General as the best Coalition in the state. The Franklin Together Executive Committee has been invited to develop minimal standards for Pennsylvania Reentry Coalitions. On January 8th, Franklin Together will be providing a Reentry Simulation for Leadership Franklin County. The IRCM Grant will be ending on 12/31/19. This program has served 61 individuals who had no home plans and were high risk, high needs. These participants would have otherwise remained in jail with no home plan if not for this program. Seventy-four percent of the participants were successful in not returning to jail. Interventions provided to participants included financial assistance for housing, food, clothing, hygiene, furniture and transportation. Currently, the CARE program has 28 participants served by Keystone and PA Counseling. This committee also collaborated with the Jail and Fiscal Department on the Bloomberg Foundation application for the Jail to Community Treatment program.

The group thanked Steve Nevada and Commissioner Bob Thomas for their service contributions to the CJAB. D.A. Fogal introduced Becky Voss as the new Executive Director of Over the Rainbow Child Advocacy Center.

Find minutes for the December 2019 meeting here.

The meeting adjourned at 1:27 PM. The next meeting of the Franklin County Criminal Justice Advisory Board will be held on Thursday, April 23rd, 2019 at noon in the Jury Assembly Room at the Franklin County Courthouse Annex.

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