Transition from Prison to Community Initiative

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Transition from Prison to Community Initiative
MPRI Performance Measurement November 18, 2004
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Information Key to a successful MPRI

• To implement MPRI successfully, officials need
  accurate and timely information about offender
  transition so they can
• Identify problems and needed changes
• Design and implement reforms
• Manage delivery of supervision and services to
  individual offenders under those reforms
• Make more informed decisions about improving
  reforms.

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Why Performance Measures?

• Performance Measures answer
• Big questions
• Is a reform being implemented as intended?
• Are there problems with the reform (or how it is
  being implemented) that require modification?
• Operational questions
• Is program X recruiting the expected number of
  inmates?
• Are staff adequately trained in new procedures?

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How can Performance Measures be Used?

• Example Reading scores for inmates completing
  an in-prison education program declined from
  September to December after rising for the
  previous four quarters.
• Response Manger asks if
• Program changed in a significant way?
• Inmates changed
• Different recruitment procedures?
• Different inmate profile?

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Why Performance Measures?

• Performance Measures
• Let agencies manage to improve performance.
• Improve coordination among agencies
• Increase efficiency so resources can be
  re-deployed
• Let partners better achieve their respective
  missions
• Cement reforms into agencies standard operating
  procedures that survive changes in leadership,
  revenue shortfalls, etc.

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A Performance Measure

• Is an indicator of the extent to which a desired
  result is being achieved
• Is calculated using two or more objective pieces
  of data
• Usually is reported at specific intervals over
  time

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Four Kinds of Performance Measures

• Process Measures
• Intermediate outcomes
• Outcomes
• Impacts

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Four Kinds of Performance Measures

• Process Measures -- measurements of actions and
  procedures by which reforms are implemented.
• Example Number of high-risk inmates per month
  who enter into a prison-based vocational training
  program.

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Four Kinds of Performance Measures

• Intermediate Outcomes changes produced by
  reforms that are expected to alter outcomes.
• Example Percent of inmates with employment
  objectives in their TAPs who complete
  prison-based vocational training programs before
  release.

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Four Kinds of Performance Measures

• Outcomes the long-term goal(s) of reforms.
• Example Percent of released offenders who get
  jobs within 30 days of release, and who retain
  those jobs for at least 180 days.

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Four Kinds of Performance Measures

• Impacts are the broad desired effects of changes
  in outcomes.
• Example Percent of offenders released under
  MPRI who are convicted of new crimes within 3
  years of their release.

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Performance Measure Uses

• Performance Measures are used to
• Improve planning
• Inform policy choices
• Manage MPRI reforms more effectively

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Example Improve Planning

• Executive Management Team asks
• What percent of TAPs include treatments or
  interventions aimed at offenders top 4 dynamic
  risk factors?
• Are there adequate resources in a pilot site to
  fully deliver services specified in offenders
  TAPs who are released to that site?

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Example Inform Policy Choices

• Governor wants to know if MPRI has
• Improved public safety
• Reduced costs by avoiding the need to build more
  prisons
• Improved
• Offender employment
• Public health

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Example Manage MPRI reforms

• A field services supervisor wants to know if
• TAP completion rates vary in different parole
  offices within a region.
• Revocation rates have changed as expected.

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Performance-based Management

• Benefits far exceed costs
• Use of objective performance measures breaks down
  staff resistance to change
• More fair way to assess staff accomplishments
• Gives staff tangible sense of achievement
• Motives staff by presenting clear and attainable
  objectives.

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Abts Information Specialist will

• Provide assistance to an information sharing and
  performance measurement work group re
• Assessing existing data sharing capacity
• System mapping
• Developing offender profiles
• Defining performance measures
• data elements needed
• sources of data
• Designing TAP
• Developing an information management strategy to
  support
• TAP
• Performance Measurement
• Feedback for planning and policy choices

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Abts Information Specialist will

• Provide technical assistance to designated
  performance measures work group
• Build capacity of Michigan officials to share
  information and to implement and use performance
  measurement
• Provide information, examples, and linkages to
  other sites and projects dealing with similar
  problems

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Abts Information Specialist will

• Work with Michigan officials to build their
  capacity
• On site
• Mentoring
• Coaching
• facilitating
• Off site
• Video and audio conferences
• Materials and linkages
• Give priority to sites (such as Michigan) that
  are actively working on performance measurement
  and information sharing.

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Abts Information Specialist will

• Work with and through the Michigan Site
  Coordinator (PPA) to
• Provide technical assistance on information
  sharing and performance measures
• Coach Michigan officials to manage existing
  information resources so as to improve
• Planning for improved reentry
• Transition case management,
• Use of performance measurement

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Ideal Vision

• An automated information sharing capacity that
  embeds information sharing within partnering
  agencies standard operating procedures.
• Protects MPRI from threats
• Revenue shortfalls
• Turnover (especially at the top)
• Over the long haul, automated information sharing
  is
• Cheaper
• More accurate and complete
• Most up-to-date

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Integrated Information Flow

• Electronic data generates TAP report on-demand.
• Case managers/parole officers update TAP by
  entering data on-line.
• Data Entry immediately updates the appropriate
  data base in a partnering agency
• Subsequent TAP report pulls updated data from
  agencies MIS into MPRI Knowledge Base
• Updated information in Knowledge Base is used to
  compute appropriate Performance Measures
• Updated Knowledge Base is used as input for
  future prison assessments, if offender returns to
  prison.

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Reality Check

• The automated information flow may take time to
  achieve.
• Need an interim information sharing strategy to
  get reforms up and going.
• Need a plan to move from the interim system to
  the automated information flow.