CSDA Education Committee

IncarcerationSubcommittee

March 20, 2014

MINUTES

Teleconference Dial-in Information

Phone Number: 1-800-867-2581

Passcode: 4466700

In Attendance

Tamara Thomas-Stanislaus / Cyndi Darrah-Madera
Kari Gilbert-Fresno / Jeannine Friemark-Yuba
Laura Roth-El Dorado / Dawn Meyer-Glenn
Pam Posehn-Solano / Dave Oppenheim-CSDA
Barbi Borkhoff-Kings / VaDonna Danesi-Marin
Keith Pepper-Marin / Maria Cuellar-Monterey
Vic Rea-San Bernardino / Freda Randolph-Yuba
Josie Garcia-Sierra Nevada / Kim Cagno-San Mateo
Lori Cruz-San Joaquin / Phyllis Nance-Kern
  1. Welcome(Pam Posehn)
  2. Changes to the I/O page on the CSDA Website (Pam Posehn and Laura Roth)

Discussions with CSDA regarding changes to the Incarcerated Obligor page have been delayed due to a staffing change at CSDA. The new CSDA staff person has been hired, and Pam Posehn and Laura Roth will be meeting with that new person within the next month.

  1. Report on Meeting with Elizabeth Howard Espinosa, California State Association of Counties (CSAC)- Pam Posehn and Laura Roth

Pam and Laura held a conference call with Elizabeth Howard Espinosa of CSACto discuss how local child support agenciescan work with other county agencies and work that is going on between LCSAs and local probation departments. There is a possibility that they will be giving a presentation at the May CSAC meeting. Also, CSAC may be willing to host one or two webinars which could address issues such asways to serve the currently incarcerated (for local sheriff departments) as well as the re-entry population. This has been discussed with the CSDA membership, which gave its support to the subcommittee to proceed.

  1. Incarceration Data Success in Stanislaus-Tamara Thomas

Tamara Thomas noted that it appears many LCSA staff are not aware of all the informationthat is included in the SOMS database. Stanislaus DCSS runs a monthly report against CSE, and posts EXCEL listsfor their staff to work. The report shows the individual’s full incarceration/parole/discharge history, and each case is reviewed by caseworkers. Tamara shared outcomes from these reports on cases identified in SOMS, including significant numbers of closures, modifications, Summons Complaints, and a total of $1.4 million in arrears that was removed.

Tamara also stated that the CSDA Training committee will be working on a training package dealing with incarcerated obligors.The material may be presented as a power point or a webinar.

  1. Review Stats from Men’s Prison DVD-Laura Roth

Laura indicated that the number of forms submitted from inmates has dropped. For the most part, the men’s video is not being shown on inmate television anymore. Laura believes that follow-up is needed with prison wardens to re-emphasize the importance of showing the video on a regular basis. Laura will contact Debbie Herndon (Friends Outside)to see if she can get invited to the next warden’s meeting.

Senator Beall (Santa Clara) spoke at the Policy Symposium. He is interested in adult foster care and incarceration programs. He will be part of a group that will meet with women inmates at Chowchilla to discuss their thoughts regarding prison overcrowding. Pam and Laura shared information with him regarding what the child support program is doing with the incarcerated. Senator Beall believes there is a need to include child support in policy discussions about the incarcerated.

Pam noted that the women’s video was released last week. A memo from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that accompanied the video should have been received in each institution by now. The video will be showed on inmate TV weekly in women’s prisons.

Laura also mentioned the continued enthusiasm of the LCSA I/O liaisons, stating that they are very involved, and communicate regularly with her. Pam suggested adding some members from that group to this subcommittee. Laura will talk to the liaisons to see if there is interest on anyone’s part in joining, emphasizing the importance of them having their director’s support.

Laura also noted that Kern County DCSS set up a kiosk in their County jail that connects directly to their office so inmates can talk to their caseworkers, and that prisoners in the federal prison in Los Angeles County can send e-mails to their caseworkers. This is a pilot program which could be expanded to other prisons.

  1. Status Update on the Female Prison DVD-Keith Pepper

Keith Pepper stated that Solano County DCSS will begin accepting case inquiry forms from female prisoners. They will use same the process that El Dorado uses for forms submitted by male prisoners. Solano will report on the number of referrals which are received. The DVD has been sent to all of the LCSAs and has been posted on the CSDA website. Laura will send a link to the video to I/O liaisons.

  1. Discuss Contact with Friends Outside-Laura Roth

On behalf of workgroup 1, Laurahas contacted Gretchen Newby of the Friends Outside organization to discuss ways the child support program can collaborate with their organization to serve mutual clients. If they are unable to connect, Laura may contactDeborah Herndon, who is on the Friends Outside board.

  1. Workgroup Report Outs

3 / Exploring opportunities to educate parents on ways by which they can reconnect with their children while they are incarcerated, or after their release from jail.
Kim Cagno sent Sesame Street DVD packages to the subcommittee members. Copies are also being sent to directors, and it may be played at the CSDA conference. Kari Gilbert is considering placing the DVD in Fresno’s lobbies, and may share with it with the local juvenile justice center. Follow-up will be done to see what the distribution of the packet has been so far.
6 / Collaborating with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to identify and implement activities which support the objectives of the workgroup. Such activities include the development of an automated interface with CDCR data systems.
A meeting was held in January to discuss preparing a White Paper for State DCSS discussingthe importance of developing a CSE/SOMS interface. The recommendation is to not proceed with the White Paper at this time.
7 / Identifying and developing processes and procedures for gathering and analyzing data.
Developing a collection of research information, and actively pursuing grant opportunities that can be used to provide services to the incarcerated, and recently released, population
The results of the Incarcerated Obligor data survey were discussed, including issues related to training, the accuracy of reports, and updates to the matrix. Next steps are to prepare an analysis of the survey results and to follow-up on LCSA recommendations. Also the workgroup will review different research repositories to identify data sources which LCSAs can use when preparing I/O grant applications.
  1. Walk On Items – All

a)Kari indicated that the Fresno County Probation department is interested in getting access to CSE. It was suggested that she meet with Probation to get more specifics about what they want and to see if they can be accommodated.

b)Pam stated that she shared the female prison DVD with Elise Wing from Region IX. They discussed the possibility of OCSE placing an I/O liaison at each central registry. Elise promised to look into that.

c)Data will be gathered from the male and female prison video and made available to LCSAs for various awards (e.g., NACO, NCSEA). The committee will look at possibly submitting award nominations in the future.

d)Tamara will provide outcome information from some of the reports being generated by Stanislaus County DCSS.

  1. Schedule next meeting

May 20, 2014. (1:30-3:00).