CCCA & PSA

Since major criminal justice reforms were enacted in 1994, this Section has focused on the continued implementation and development of the Comprehensive Community Corrections Act for Local Responsible Offenders (CCCA) and the Pretrial Services Act (PSA). DCJS distributes about $20 million in state grant funds to 38 community corrections programs serving 126 of Virginia's 135 counties and cities. Sixty-two (62) of these localities have PSA services as well. These Acts were intended to maintain the best elements of prior pretrial, diversion and public inebriate programs. They have grown to include services to the General District Courts and services for adults in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts. They have also expanded and standardized pretrial risk assessment, testing, community-based sanctions and treatment-all at the local level.

Other Activities

The Section administers just over $2 million in state funds to 9 public and private entities for Offender Re-Entry and Transition Services (ORTS). Offender Re-Entry and Transition Services (ORTS) programs are intended to reduce recidivism among offenders released to the community following incarceration by offering such transition services as employability skills training, life skills, and job placement, among others. Offender Re-Entry and Transition Services (ORTS) programs provide these services in a significant number of Virginia's localities but, due to limited funding, they are not available statewide.

Other Section responsibilities include the administration of federal grant funds available from two sources. Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) funds provide for drug treatment services, usually Therapeutic Communities (TCs), in state prisons. For 2000, over $1 million is being provided to the Department of Corrections. Other RSAT funds go to the Department of Juvenile Justice for that agency's first female TC. Almost $4 million in federal funding, from the Edward Byrne Memorial Program, is used to support a variety of services and programs including residential treatment, aftercare services, drug testing, and community-based planning.

The Section is in the latter stages of a project to develop a local Pretrial and Community Corrections Case Management System. It will cover all aspects of pretrial and community corrections operations including pretrial screening, demographic information, pretrial intake and supervision, community corrections intake and supervision, and case tracking. This comprehensive system is being built with state-of-the-art programming and database tools.

Research is under way to develop a pretrial risk assessment instrument to be used by pretrial services agencies to assist in the prediction of success and failure pending trial for defendants in Virginia. Several pretrial services agencies in urban, suburban, and rural areas of the state participated in the Section's Pretrial Services Risk Assessment project. As part of the project, investigations were completed on all defendants arrested for one or more jailable offenses over a one-year period. The information gathered was entered into a risk assessment database and the staff tracked the court dates of these defendants until final disposition. Data analysis has been completed to identify the best predictors of pretrial failure. The predictors will be used to develop a risk assessment instrument that can be used statewide by pretrial services agencies as a part of their pretrial investigation and will perhaps be exportable to other states in the future.

The Correctional Services Section participates in a wide range of other activities including: the review of proposed legislation and budgets; providing training for judges; conducting or participating in legislative (or other) studies (e.g. Drug Offender Assessment and Fees Study - FY99; Drug Court Programs - FY00 & FY 02; Comprehensive Community Corrections Act and Pretrial Services Act: Alternative Funding Methodology Feasibility Report FY01); serving on jail planning teams. Section members also serve as officers, speakers, or conference coordinators for state and national professional associations and work groups.