Delaware to Participate in National Criminal Justice Reform Project

Efforts will focus on reducing recidivism, improving substance abuse & mental health treatment for offenders

WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor John Carney announced on Monday that Delaware has been selected to participate in the National Criminal Justice Reform Project – an initiative led by the National Governors Association and the National Criminal Justice Association Center for Justice Planning to assist states in implementing evidence-based criminal justice reforms.

Governor Carney’s office, the Delaware Criminal Justice Council, and a newly-created Criminal Justice Reform Committee will lead Delaware’s work with the national project.

Reform efforts will focus on two specific areas:

  • Improving the reentry process for offenders in Delaware’s correctional system, and reducing recidivism;
  • And improving access to mental health and substance abuse treatment for offenders in Delaware’s criminal justice system.

“We all have a stake in making sure that, once offenders serve out their sentences in Delaware’s correctional system, they are able to successfully reenter their communities and positively contribute,” said Governor Carney. “This work will not only help offenders successfully transition back into society, but will improve public safety, more effectively coordinate treatment services, and reduce costs for Delaware taxpayers.”

Earlier this month, Delaware and Vermont joined Illinois, Arizona and Oregon as states participating in the National Criminal Justice Reform Project. The project assists participating states in using data to plan and implement evidence-based criminal justice reforms.

Delaware continues to experience high rates of incarceration and recidivism, which come at a high cost for Delaware taxpayers. The average cost of incarcerating one prisoner each year is $35,000 – or 20 times the cost of probation.

Additionally, 24 percent of Delaware’s offender population was receiving some form of mental health treatment in 2015, and 80 percent of the offender population experienced issues with substance abuse.

Challenges with substance abuse and mental health can prevent offenders from successfully reentering their communities. The Delaware Criminal Justice Reform Committee will focus on more effectively coordinating treatment services.

“The Delaware Criminal Justice Council is excited to work with Governor Carney and the Criminal Justice Reform Committee to build on the continuing work of improving reentry services to all offenders and providing treatment to those in our system with mental health challenges,” said Christian Kervick, Executive Director of the Criminal Justice Council. “This is a great opportunity to work with experts and implement national best practices to improve our Criminal Justice System.”

The Delaware Criminal Justice Reform Committee will begin meeting next month. The committee will use technical assistance from the National Criminal Justice Reform Project to improve collaboration between various state agencies working on reentry issues and community groups, and to improve data collection. Its members also will focus on strengthening and streamlining strategic planning processes around criminal justice reform.

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The Criminal Justice Reform Committee will include representatives from:

  • Law Enforcement
  • Delaware Department of Justice
  • Delaware Courts
  • Office of Defense Services
  • Department of Labor
  • Department of Health and Social Services
  • Department of Services for Children, Youth & Families
  • Department of Safety and Homeland Security
  • Department of Correction
  • Department of Education
  • Research Partners from the University of Delaware
  • Statistical Analysis Center
  • Community Members
  • Local Govt. Representatives
  • Delaware Center for Justice


9th Annual Day of Remembrance

(WILMINGTON, DE)- The Delaware Criminal Justice Council would like to recognize the 9th Annual Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims, hosted by the Delaware Victims’ Rights Task Force (VRTF).  The Day of Remembrance will be held at P. S. DuPont Middle School this Thursday, September 22nd. Doors will open at 6:00pm for memorial decoration and resources. The event will start promptly at 7:00pm.  Those who have lost a loved one to violence are invited to attend to pay tribute to their loved ones, visit with local resources and connect with local community groups that support families affected by violence.

Delaware’s Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims coincides with the National Day of Remembrance, an Annual event started in 1996 by the National Organization for Parents of Murdered Children (POMC). The mission of the Day of Remembrance is to pay tribute and honor murder victims and their surviving family members.   The event has several opportunities for families to memorialize their loved ones.   Those that come submit names to be read aloud during the event, memorials bags are available for people to decorate with the names of their loved ones and a Remembrance Tree, created in 2015 by C. Mercedes Walls, becomes a display of leaves and memories that people attach to her art.

For more information about this event please call The Delaware Victims Center at 1-800-VICTIM-1 or visit: https://sites.google.com/site/delawarevrtf. Follow Delaware’s Day of Remembrance event and talk about your own ways to memorialize your loved ones by using #De_Remembers.

The Day of Remembrance for Murder Victim

Date: Thursday, September 22, 2016

Location: P.S. DuPont Middle School (701 W 34th St, Wilmington, DE 19802)

Time: Doors open at 6:00pm for memorial decoration and resources, Event starts at 7:00pm

Please view the invitation for this event: day-of-remembrance-2016

Anyone seeking more information information about the work of the Delaware Victims Rights Task Force, may use the following contact information:

E-mail: DelVRTF@gmail.com

Mailing Address: DVRTF c/o Victim Services 300 N Walnut St., Wilmington DE 19801

DVRTF is supported by the Delaware Center for Justice Member Agencies: Child Inc., Contactlifeline, Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Delaware Center for Justice, Inc., Delaware State Police Victims Center, Department of Correction, Department of Justice, Developmental Disabilities Council, Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, Dover Police Department Victim Services, Newark Police Department Victim Services, New Castle County Police Victim Services, People’s Place II, Sexual Assault Network of Delaware, Sexual Offense Support, University of Delaware, SOAR Inc., U.S. Attorney’s Office, Victims’ Compensation Assistance Program, Wilmington Police Department Victim Services, Victims Voices Heard Inc.

 

 


Criminal Justice Council Receives VOCA-Victims Assistance Increase

WILMINGTON, Del. – The Delaware Criminal Justice Council is pleased to announce the agency has been awarded $6,099,408 under the FFY2015 VOCA-Victims Assistance Formula Grant Program. This amount more than triples the average award amount the State receives annually. This comes through an award to the States from the United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Program, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC).

The primary purpose of the VOCA-Victims Assistance grant is to the support the provision of direct services to victims of crime. Services are defined as “those efforts that respond to the emotional and physical needs of crime victims; assist victims of crime to stabilize their lives after victimization; assist victims to understand and participate in the criminal justice system; and provide victims with a measure of safety and security.”

This significant increase will help maintain critical direct services offered to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and crimes designated as “underserved victimizations” such as elder abuse, services to survivors of homicide, services to victims/survivors of DUI, victims of hate and bias crimes, assault, human trafficking, and other violent crimes.

“This significant increase in VOCA-Assistance funding will allow the Criminal Justice Council to work with our partner agencies to provide holistic services to the population that needs them most” said Criminal Justice Council Executive Director, Christian Kervick. “Making victims of crime whole and assisting in their recovery is of paramount importance to the Council” Kervick added.

The CJC distributes the funding in the form of subgrants to support services provided by the State, local units of government, and non-profit victims service agencies.

The Victims Services Advisory Committee of the CJC, Chaired by Department of Correction Commissioner Robert Coupe, will be developing a strategy to ensure the funds are distributed in accordance with the federal guidelines, and to ensure the response to all victims and survivors of crime have access to services when, and where, they are most in need.

“We understand better than ever how the destructive impact of crime on victims and their families can last for years beyond the investigation and prosecution of a case” said Commissioner Coupe. “That’s why the Victims Services Advisory Committee, with representatives from the victim community, advocates, service-providers, members of law enforcement and others, works to ensure that our State supports a full range of services that help victims engage with the justice system and receive the counseling, treatment, and support they need to rebuild and strengthen their lives.”

Created as part of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (VOCA), the Crime Victims Fund is made up entirely of fines and other monetary penalties paid by Federal criminal offenders, not by taxpayers. The money is then distributed to a variety of programs that help victims of all types of crimes, most of which is passed through state agencies to thousands of local programs that assist victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, families of homicide victims, victims of drunk driving crashes and other violent crimes.

Please contact Maureen Monagle at 302-577-8442 for more information about the VOCA-Assistance Grant Program in Delaware.


Criminal Justice Council Postpones Wilmington Public Hearing

WILMINGTON, Del. – Due to downtown Wilmington closures and difficulties with mass transit scheduled for this week pertaining to the arrival of the Pope, the public hearing scheduled for this Thursday night, September 24, 2015 from 6 to 8 pm at the Hilltop Lutheran Neighborhood Center has been postponed.  The Wilmington public hearing will be rescheduled.

A notice will be released once the new date is confirmed.

All other public hearings will take place as scheduled.  We look forward to the public’s participation.

The public hearings give citizens of Delaware the opportunity to discuss criminal justice issues facing our state with members of the CJC. People will have the opportunity to tell the panel what they think are the most important issues facing the state which will allow for their input to be used in developing strategies for improving the criminal justice process in Delaware.

Some of the CJC membership includes the Attorney General, The Public Defender, Chief Judges of all State Courts, Cabinet Secretaries, Chiefs of Police and public members.

The other hearings and locations remain as originally announced. They are:

Thursday, Oct.1st (6-8PM) at the Canaan Baptist Church ( 3011 New Castle Ave., New Castle, DE)

Thursday, Oct. 8th (6-8PM)  at the Dover Police Meeting Room (400 S. Queen St., Dover, DE)

Thursday, Oct. 22nd (6-8PM) at the Georgetown Public Library (123 W. Pine St., Georgetown, DE)


Criminal Justice Council Receives Award to Address Untested Rape Kits

WILMINGTON, Del. – The Delaware Criminal Justice Council is pleased to announce the agency has been awarded a federal grant through the Bureau of Justice Assistance * (BJA) for the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) in the amount of $1,168,662.00.

The SAKI Initiative, was made available through a competitive grant program administered by BJA, supports the comprehensive reform of jurisdictions’ approaches to evidence found in sexual assault kits that have never been submitted to a crime laboratory for testing.

The SAKI project will be strategically implemented in the State, per the conditions laid out by the grant requirements, and the specific benchmarks approved by BJA.

“In addition to the funding that will help test some of the highest priority sexual assault kits, this award will allow the Criminal Justice Council to convene a multidisciplinary team of experts to develop strategies and protocols to ensure that this issue is addressed in a meaningful way moving forward,” said Christian Kervick, Executive Director of The Criminal Justice Council.  “These funds will certainly go to improving the Criminal Justice System and allowing for survivors of sexual assault to begin their process of healing” Kervick added.

The first phase of this project requires a comprehensive inventory of all unsubmitted sexual assault kits in storage to determine the number of kits, identify the kits should take priority and those that may be eligible/qualify for testing. At this point, we do not know how many kits will qualify for testing. The goal of this project is to assist police departments that may have kits in storage that were never ordered for testing.

In addition to the inventory and testing; the CJC will create a Multi-Disciplinary Group that will assist in the development of a victim-centered comprehensive strategy to improve Delaware’s response to sexual assault.

The CJC believed to be in a strong position in submitting our application to address a statewide issue, in large part this was due to the collaborative relationship we have with various agencies; and due to the services already established by the police based advocates in Delaware. The police-based victims’ advocates employ a trauma-informed, victim-centered approach with their work to all victims of violent crimes, statewide. They are trained in providing sensitive information to victims as part of any investigation. That is a critical piece of the work of this project.

It should be noted that victims have a choice whether to participate in the criminal justice process. Not all victims want to move forward with investigations and prosecutions, for a variety of reasons. For that reason, we will continue to be very mindful of developing of victim-centered practices if the State has the ability to test unsubmitted kits.

In the months of researching and developing strategies to address this issue, the CJC pulled from the expertise of our local and national partners. Law enforcement officers and police-based victims’ assistants, representing the Delaware State Police, the New Castle County Police, and Wilmington Police Department were incredibly helpful by providing in-put in the development of the application. The CJC also worked with staff from the Delaware Department of Justice and the Division of Forensic Science, the Victims’ Compensation Assistance Program, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Coordinators, and rape crisis advocates.

No one can do this work alone. The Criminal Justice Council would like to acknowledge the victims, survivors and our professional partners (mentioned above) who have influenced our work. We also want to thank the Delaware Police Chiefs Council for their support in this initiative.

The CJC would also like to make sure everyone is aware of the supportive resources for victims and survivors of sexual violence:

24/7 Rape Crisis Hotlines in Delaware:

New Castle County: The YWCA of Delaware’s Sexual Assault Response Center (SARC): 800-773-8570

Kent & Sussex County: ContactLifeline’s Rape Crisis Line: 800-262-9800

Support for victims/survivors on campus of Colleges/Universities:

UD Sexual Offense Support (SOS) Program: 302-831-2226

DSU’s Rape Crisis line: 302-420-5751

Counseling Services Specializing in Sexual Assault:

Survivors of Abuse in Recovery, Inc. (SOAR): Offers individual and group therapy for victims and survivors Statewide. Please contact the offices at the numbers provided:

New Castle County (302) 655-9049

Kent County: (302) 422-3811

Sussex County: (302) 645-4903

Police Based Victims Services:

Delaware State Police/Delaware Victims Center for other information or referrals: 1-800-VICTIM-1

Wilmington PD Victim Services 302-576-3622

New Castle County Police Victim Services 302-395-8135

Newark Police Victim Services 302-366-7110

Dover Police Victims Services: 302-736-7134

For more information about this project, please contact Maureen Monagle at the Criminal Justice Council.

*The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the United States Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the SMART Office