A Crisis within DJJ

The Department of Juvenile Justice is in a crisis never witnessed before. Recent reports demonstrate a lack of leadership within DJJ that allows a toxic loss of morale to manifest itself. Meanwhile, executive branch officials are ignoring the needs of front-line workers who have repeatedly tried to communicate directly with them.

For two years, your legislature has received no communication from our Governor on any policy changes or additional resources needed to help him manage the DJJ. In fact, the Governor’s own recent budget proposal did not reflect the request from the Department of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet. There are reports of assault, rioting, and even a gang rape of a minor in the state's custody. We find these reports reprehensible, and unforgivable, and the inaction from the executive branch intolerable.

“The Commonwealth needs a juvenile system that provides for our most troubled youth’s well-being and the Governor is missing the opportunity to change the path these children will travel. ”

The most immediate priority is ensuring the safety of staff members and the youth. Responsibly deploying defensive measures such as Tasers and pepper spray are but two measures to remedy the situation. Those defensive measures are appropriate only if used judiciously by properly trained adults.

Elected officials met during the interim period because of what’s at stake and are appalled at what we've uncovered.  Kids are locked away 24 hours a day and are not allowed access to basic recreation or a shower. The excuse is understaffing and that it’s simply a more convenient way to maintain order. Workforce issues are challenging but when children are denied food, water and basic self-care, we have a real problem.  We do not cast blame on overstressed and overworked facility staff, who are doing all they can with what they have.  The buck stops with facility administration, the department, the cabinet, and ultimately the Governor himself. After having discussions with those working closest with the children in the Commonwealth’s care, it seems upper management is where the problem resides.

You can't have an effective organization without effective leadership. The lack of leadership at the cabinet level and with our executive branch demonstrates that until now no one there was paying attention.  They are ignoring the problem hitting them squarely in the face and failing to fulfill their basic responsibilities. Adding security measures and a new chief of safety is an admission that no one in the DJJ chain of command is actually doing their job. At best, the Beshear administration is moving the deck chairs around on the Titanic.

From our workgroup discussions, it seems the front-line workers cry out to DJJ leadership but their pleas fall on deaf ears.

Lack of communication is apparent inside and outside the executive branch. The workgroup, with representatives from both parties and chambers, has provided immediate recommendations to quell the rioting, and still, the Governor refuses to engage directly with General Assembly leadership.  He has not even acknowledged our recommendations to mitigate the crisis.  Since the delivery of our letter to the Governor last week, there has already been another riot in Bowling Green.

“Better to send them to restore order in detention facilities than at churches on Easter Sunday.”

The Governor has finally taken a positive step many months too late in deploying Kentucky State Police troopers as a stopgap measure. Before someone gets hurt, assaulted, or killed, we implore the Governor to step out of damage control mode and communicate directly with his co-equal branches of government.  Better to send them to restore order in detention facilities than at churches on Easter Sunday.

Absent leadership, an issue becomes a crisis.  The executive branch has taken a shortsighted view of a volatile crisis and ignored the most vulnerable youth who need their support. Security aside, this administration has also ignored the mental health needs of both DJJ staff and the youth in their care as these riots, assaults and security failures have occurred. The Commonwealth needs a juvenile system that provides for our most troubled youth's well-being and the Governor is missing the opportunity to change the path these children will travel.  Rest assured, if the kids in DJJ detention are neglected long enough, they will eventually become residents of the Department of Corrections as adults.

Senator Whitney Westerfield, R-Crofton, represents the 3rd Senate District, is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a member of the DJJ Workgroup.

Passed the Halfway Mark

We kicked off week nine of the 2020 Regular Session with a visit from two special guests in the Senate chamber, Save the Children Action Network President, Mark Shriver and award-winning actress, Jennifer Garner. Many might not know that Jennifer Garner grew up in West Virginia where she witnessed the effects of generational poverty on children, similar to those we see in rural Kentucky. With the help of local advocates, Ms. Garner and Mr. Shriver are working to preserve funding for Save the Children’s early childhood education and literacy programs, which serve more than 12,000 children throughout the Commonwealth. It was an honor to welcome them to Frankfort. 

The Kentucky General Assembly crossed another mile marker this week by reaching the deadline to file new bills. Slightly less than 1,000 bills were filed — 286 Senate bills and 647 House bills. With the bill filing deadline behind us, we now have a more complete view of the issues lawmakers will take up this year. There are sure to be tough decisions and compromises made in the final weeks ahead.

Senate Bill (SB) 2, the proposed voter ID requirement, passed in the House on Tuesday with various amendments to find a compromise among House members.  However, the Senate voted to “not concur” with these changes, and is therefore asking the House to recede from its changes to the bill.  If the House does not “recede,” SB 2 may then move to a conference committee, made up of both House and Senate members, for further discussion.  If a compromise between chambers can be hammered out, the Conference Committee issues a new draft that then gets a vote in each chamber.

The medical marijuana bill, HB 136, was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee this week and I’m continuing to read through the proposal, marking it up with questions and comments. I plan to meet with the bill sponsor next week to work through those concerns. Separately, House Resolution 5, which urges national drug organizations, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to expedite research into the potential therapeutic benefits and risks of using marijuana for health purposes, passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support.

Today, women make up less than 25 percent of the tech and computer science workforce. SB 193 establishes a goal of increasing participation in computer science courses by underrepresented groups, including females, minorities, students with disabilities, English language learners, and students whose families are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. SB 193 includes the number of computer science courses or programs offered in each school, as well as the nature of those courses or programs, and the number of instructors required. I am proud to support this bill and hope to see an increase in computer science participation upon its passage. 

In the healthcare space, we’ve been active on several bills including a measure which passed this week to rein in “surprise medical billing.” This occurs when patients receive care — often unwittingly — outside of their insurer’s network and subsequently get a bill for inordinate amounts of money that can potentially bankrupt a family. SB 150 seeks to stop the practice by requiring insurers to cover surprise medical billing. SB 150 would require the state insurance commissioner to establish a database of billed health care service charges, and it would provide a dispute resolution program for medical insurers and providers to work out their differences over these out-of-network charges, not the patient.  While the bill isn’t as aggressive as I’d like, we hope it spares families from getting hit with bills that send them over a financial cliff.

Once again, a bill to criminalize the “doxing” of minors, SB 182, passed the Senate. By definition, doxing is the act of publicly identifying or publishing private information about someone, especially as a form of punishment, intimidation, or revenge. This legislation stems from the students in Northern Kentucky who were doxed following the posting last year of an infamous video of a student with a Native American protester in Washington D.C. The students at that school and even their families have been threatened and harassed by strangers seeking to intimidate them. SB 182 is a commonsense step to address the growing problem of cyber harassment in today’s digital-driven era, and would protect the privacy of minors.

As usual, a number of other bills moved through the Senate this week, including these:

SB 21 allows veterinarians to report the abuse of animals under their care. Currently, veterinarians are prohibited by law from reporting abuse of animals under their care unless they have the permission of the owner or are under a court order. 

SB 80 is the statutory companion to the Marsy’s Law constitutional amendment (SB15), and is identical to the process from 2018 when it last passed. SB 80 lays out various implementation details for Marsy’s Law including expanding the definition of victim to include all felony offenses and the most serious misdemeanors, what happens when there are multiple victims, or who has the power to assert the victim’s rights if a victim is deceased.  These statutory changes are contingent on the ratification of Marsy’s Law by the voters.

SJR 35 directs the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to establish the Task Force on Services for Persons with Brain Injuries.

SB 115 amends the statute regarding the tuition waiver for Kentucky foster or adopted children to include graduate programs and extends the eligibility time period to 10 consecutive or non-consecutive semesters up to age 28.

SB 136 requires home health aides who have not provided services to clients who have Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia to complete four hours of approved dementia training. 

SB 148 Requires individuals applying to claim certain agriculture exceptions to first apply for an agriculture exemption number from the Kentucky Department of Revenue (DOR). The bill further requires that DOR develop a searchable agriculture exemption number database for sellers and retailers to use for verification. 

SB 159 sets regulations for the operation and maintenance of splash parks and to establish their separation from facilities with full-blown swimming pool installations.

Thank you for staying engaged in the legislative process. It is an honor to serve you in Frankfort and I welcome your questions and comments about these issues or any other public policy issue, As always, please call me toll-free at 1-800-372-7181, email me at Whitney.Westerfield@LRC.ky.gov.

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Note: Senator Whitney Westerfield (R-Hopkinsville) represents the 3rd District including Christian, Logan, and Todd counties. He is the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Senator Westerfield also serves as a member on the Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee; the Agriculture Committee; the Capital Planning Advisory Board; the Natural Resources and Energy Committee; the Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee; the Program Review and Investigations Committee; the Child Welfare Oversight and Advisory Committee; the Public Assistance Reform Task Force, and as a liaison member of the Budget Review Subcommittee on Justice and Judiciary. For a high-resolution .jpeg of Senator Westerfield, please visit https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators%20Full%20Res%20Images/senate103.jpg

SB200 Rebuttal

I am writing in response to the story “WDRB Investigation: New KY law contributes to rise in Louisville juvenile crime,” done by Mr. Gil Corsey. I was the sponsor of Senate Bill 200, a major 2014 juvenile justice reform law aimed at holding youth accountable, while getting youth and their families the services and programming they need to get back on track. I serve as chair of the Juvenile Justice Oversight Council monitoring its implementation. Since passage, we’ve meticulously reviewed data from across the juvenile justice system, which show better outcomes for youth and families statewide.

I took issue with a number of the points Mr. Corsey made in this story. In Jefferson County, 42% of youth who were put on diversion in CY 2016 had committed a status offense. Status offenses are behaviors that many kids need to be steered away from at one point in their youth, like truancy or tobacco possession, but they are not considered crimes for adults. The increase in diversion cases in Jefferson County is driven primarily by these status offense cases, not crimes. 

This is exactly what we want to see. Research is clear that for low-level youth, such as those committing status offenses, pulling them deeper into the system can actually produce the opposite of the desired outcome. The youth’s behavior often gets worse, not better. Instead of fixing the problem, the government ends up pulling the youth away from their family and isolating them more.

I also want to point out a problem with how Mr. Corsey categorized “serious violent offenses” in his recidivism definition. In that definition he included four different types of assault in the 4th degree, a misdemeanor crime that results in either no visible injury or only minor injury. These crimes are not included in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting category of violent offenses, and as a former prosecutor I personally do not believe they should be considered “serious, violent offenses” in the same category as crimes like robbery, rape and murder.

This recidivism definition is important to clarify because more than one-third of diverted youth who Mr. Corsey categorized as serious, violent re-offenders were charged with some form of assault in the 4th degree as their subsequent offense. If you exclude those youth from his recidivism definition, less than 4% of youth who were diverted in CY 2016 have subsequently committed a serious, violent offense. This is an extremely low recidivism rate.

I believe these data are important to clarify because examining data related to Senate Bill 200 implementation is a core component of the Juvenile Justice Oversight Council’s responsibility. We have defined performance measures to routinely track the implementation of the legislation, and we regularly receive data reports from the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Department of Juvenile Justice, and other relevant agencies charged with policy implementation. 

In examining statewide data, we have seen many positive results from Senate Bill 200 implementation. Statewide, public offense complaints (offenses that would be considered crimes if committed by an adult) have continued to decline in the years following the reforms. While we have seen an increase in diversions, we have also seen that more than 90% of youth successfully complete diversion and are kept out of the court system, and the vast majority of youth who successfully complete diversion do not reoffend. When youth are successful in diversion, it frees up time for the juvenile court to handle more serious cases and for judges to use their resources on the cases that truly pose a risk to public safety.

Finally, I want to make a critical point about Senate Bill 200: this legislation did not change any statute related to how the most serious crimes can be handled in juvenile court, or impact any juveniles who commit such serious offenses that they end up being sent to criminal court. Senate Bill 200 was designed to curb unnecessary, ineffective and costly detention for the lowest level offenders, and provide more effective community-based programs to address problem behavior. This allows the state to prioritize  scarce resources in court and in the Department of Juvenile Justice to better address the needs of youth who commit serious offenses and have significant prior history. This can improve public safety and improve outcomes for youth, which should be the ultimate purpose of Kentucky’s juvenile justice system.

Sen. Westerfield Named Co-Chair

Earlier this year, the National Conference of State Legislatures named me, along with a colleague from the Nebraska Senate, as Co-Chair of a newly formed Juvenile Justice Principles Working Group.  My Co-Chair and I have been working with NCSL staff over the last few months to prepare for the group's upcoming meetings this year.  We aim to produce a report, or white paper of sorts, to guide states looking at reforming their juvenile justice systems.  Here's my release about the news:

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For Immediate Release
Contact: John Cox
859-492-2963
John.Cox@LRC.KY.GOV

SENATOR WHITNEY WESTERFIELD APPOINTED AS CO-CHAIRMAN OF NCSL JUVENILE JUSTICE PRINCIPLES WORK GROUP

FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 5, 2017) – State Senator Whitney Westerfield was recently appointed as co-chairman to the newly-established Juvenile Justice Principles Working Group, a subset of the National Conference of State Legislature’s (NCSL) Law, Criminal Justice And Public Safety Committee.

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

— Frederick Douglass

According to NCSL, the purpose of the juvenile justice work group is to discuss and develop a set of principles of effective juvenile justice state policy that NCSL will publish as a report to guide policy review and reform in the states. The report is intended to identify policy-making strategies that are rooted in research, reflect bipartisan/nonpartisan values, and help states invest in proven methods to put justice-involved youth back on the right track, while also keeping communities safe.  The principles and report will be an important tool that state lawmakers can apply both now and well into the future.

Senator Westerfield, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a member of both the Juvenile Justice Oversight Council and Governor Matt Bevin’s Criminal Justice Policy Assessment Council, thanked NCSL for the appointment. “Our work in the juvenile justice system here in Kentucky has set a national standard, giving a template for several other states to follow, yet we still have so much to do to improve outcomes for youth and improve public safety,” said Senator Westerfield. “I thank NCSL for this opportunity and I look forward to bringing my experience to the table, working with many dedicated men and women from across the United States to shape policy that will help our children in Kentucky and across the country.”

The Juvenile Justice Principles Working Group’s first meeting is June 6-8. Senator Westerfield championed Kentucky's comprehensive juvenile justice reform in 2014, and the Commonwealth's 2017 criminal justice reform law, Senate Bill 120, and will be presiding at two of the conference’s meetings. Those meetings will focus on juvenile justice research and data and juvenile justice reform, both for which Senator Westerfield has been an advocate in Kentucky.
 

The National Conference of State Legislatures was established in 1975 and is a bipartisan, non-governmental organization dedicated to the success of state legislatures. NCSL has three main objectives: improve the quality and effectiveness of state legislatures; promote policy innovation and communication among state legislatures; and ensure state legislatures have a strong, cohesive voice in the federal system.

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CJPAC Update

As was announced in this space a couple of months ago the Bevin administration and legislative leaders from both parties and chambers were joined to create the Governor's Criminal Justice Policy Advisory Committee.  Since the creation of "CJPAC" we've heard a steady stream of data and policy testimony to provide legislative food for thought as we look ahead to the 2017 session.

Last month the CJPAC divided into several subgroups to study specific issues in greater detail:

• Penal Code
• Reentry
• Recidivism Reduction
• Probation and Parole reforms
• Drug Policy
• Prevention
• Jail reform

I've been assigned to the Penal Code group, tasked with examining any changes to the entire criminal code.  In case you wanted to take a look at every single criminal offense on the books (in the penal code and outside of it) I hope you have some free time on your hands.

Our small group has met once by phone and once in person so far, and we have another meeting scheduled in just under two weeks when we'll discuss continued changes to some of the biggest pain points in the criminal code.  Should some offenses be reclassified to carry more serious penalties?  Lower penalties?  Where are the inconsistencies (possession of child porn carries the same penalty as possession a stolen license plate, for example)?

Last month during the Judiciary committee meeting we heard from prosecutors about the need to eliminate the "violent offense" label in the code.  Especially for everyone outside the court system the suggestion that some crimes are deemed "violent" and others are not is frustrating.  It is also a bit of a misnomer.  There isn't actually a "violent offense" statute, but rather a handful of crimes that carry a "violent" level of parole eligibility.  For these few crimes a convicted individual must serve a full 85% of their imposed sentence before becoming merely eligible for parole.  You can find that statute and the list of applicable crimes right here if you're interested.  It's a short read.  But the bottom line is that there are a great many crimes that anyone of us would deem "violent" that aren't included in that statute.  There's a growing opinion (that I share) that we should remove that label.

We'll take a look at parole eligibility across a number of crimes.  Should the eligibility threshold move up; drop down; stay put?  We have crimes at 15%, 20%, 50% and 85% (50% is a relatively new group, containing a specific high-level theft, certain cases of heroin trafficking).

At the CJPAC meeting last week we heard from the Department of Corrections and from Pew Charitable Trusts (examining Kentucky's own DOC data) and we can identify a number of trends that demand further attention.  For example, the rate of women being incarcerated has increased 25% compared to only 5% for men since 2007.  Property offenses in prison admissions have climbed by nearly 50%.  Two-thirds of prison admissions are for violations of supervision conditions (probation & parole).  I strongly encourage you to take a look at the charts and takeaways in that data presentation.

Needless to say, no small task awaits us.

Bookmark this page or visit my Apple News channel to stay up to date on what's happening with the CJPAC and other legislation as we approach the 2017 session in January.  If you have some input or feedback please contact me here or here!