KDOC Strategic Plan |
December 2021 Update |
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Our MissionPartnering to Promote Safety and Responsibility through Best PracticesOur VisionTransforming Lives for the Safety of AllKDOC Guiding Framework (pdf)Strategic Plan Implementation (pdf)We will turn this Vision into reality by:
Our Beliefs
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Under our strategic plan, Pathway for Success, KDOC hasfive Strategic Implementation Teams (SITs) hard at work. The Employee Environment SIT has three sub-teams focusing on various issues, including staff retention and recruitment, staff development and wellness. The Communications SIT has completed a survey and developed a report primarily focusing on staff communication as an initial project. The Population Environment SIT has three sub-teams centered on issues relating to residents within our facilities:
The Resource Deployment SIT has developed and tested a tool at El Dorado for staff to report the condition of computers and chairs and is now working on a plan to launch the tool at all sites. The team also completed a staff survey of the use of CBI (Cognitive Behavior Intervention) techniques, including staff training and effectiveness. This study will help support changes and improvements that will be recommended in the coming year. The final strategic implementation team – Grants and Resource Attainment Literacy SIT – completed a survey of staff and volunteers about how receptive they were to certain tasks being performed by volunteers, residents, parolees or probationers. Based on survey results, the team will develop recommendations on ways to increase efficiency and provide meaningful opportunities for others to become involved in our vision of Transforming Lives for the Safety of All. This is not an all-inclusive list of progress to date! Every team is hard at work gathering data, researching best practices, and more importantly, talking with other staff members on ways we can improve. |
Yet access to a good job and a livable wage, one of the cornerstones of successful reentry, is beyond the reach of many who have paid their debt to society and are ready to rebuild their lives.
Jobs — good jobs with benefits — often require training or certification, or in many cases an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.
Thanks to the ongoing leadership of Gov. Laura Kelly and the support of policy makers and other advocates, one of the biggest barriers to success after release from prison continues to crumble.
In 2020, KDOC partnered with Kansas colleges and the Kansas Board of Regents to form the Kansas Consortium on Correctional Higher Education. The partnership coordinates and guides higher education programs in all Kansas correctional facilities. It is through this partnership that seven Kansas Colleges were named Second Chance Pell Grant sites last spring.
These grants were deemed “experimental” and support beginning programs across the U.S. In Kansas, the $2.2 million grant means access to technical education, associate and four-year degree opportunities for 700 KDOC residents. A great start, though this transformative opportunity benefits less than 10% of the Kansas total prison population today.
This is all about to change. Full access to federally funded Pell Grants has been restored for incarcerated individuals. These same individuals have been denied access to life-changing Pell grants through a 1994 federal crime. Funding to reinstate the program was included in the stimulus bill signed into law just before Christmas.
That means incarcerated Kansans can once again apply for federal Pell Grants to pay for college courses and career technical education programs.
There will be those who object to the use of public funds in this way. But the connection to education attainment and reduced recidivism is well-documented. And the truth is a small fraction of all new Pell Grant funds will support prison programs.
It’s a wise investment for our society and state. A recent study by the Rand Corporation indicates for every $1 invested in higher education for incarcerated students, taxpayers save — on average — between $4 and $5 in three-year reincarceration costs.
Many individuals in our prisons have become disenfranchised through the criminal justice system and the educational system. Pell grants alone aren’t the answer, but with wider access and availability to training and education, hundreds of individuals who will one day return to Kansas communities will no longer lack the training to fill good jobs that provide a livable wage.
In turn this directly benefits local and state economies and improves the quality of life for all involved.
The decision to pursue higher education is a defining moment for anyone. For incarcerated individuals, the positive impact of successfully completing a certification or attaining a degree are immense.
The end results of removing this one barrier to successful reentry will ripple through their lives, the lives of their families and ultimately benefit all Kansans.
]]>That beginning was followed by different waves of change in the U.S., bringing new mechanisms such as parole, probation and indeterminate sentencing into mainstream penal practice. Equally rooted in our history is the American favor of the concept of reform and rehabilitation of offenders to become law-abiding citizens. This dates to the post-colonial days of our nation.
In more recent history, in 1973 the Kansas Legislature re-codified our purpose, which in part says “… apply this act and acts of which it is amendatory or supplemental liberally to rehabilitate, train, treat, educate and prepare persons convicted of felony in this state for entry or reentry into the social and economic system of the community….” This law remains in effect to this day. In addition, we now benefit from over four decades of scientific research defining the key principles to reducing crime, principles that align with this statutory purpose.
]]>The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a federal tax credit available to employers for hiring individuals from certain target groups who have consistently faced significant barriers to employment. This allows the individual to move from economic dependency into self-sufficiency as they earn a steady income and become contributing taxpayers.
The WOTC target groups include:
Learn more at https://www.kansascommerce.gov/program/taxes-and-financing/wotc/
]]>The report is the result of work undertaken by KDOC Juvenile Services and other stakeholders to address issues identified by the Juvenile Justice Workgroup in 2015 and in the Kansas Juvenile Justice Reform Act (SB367). The 2016 legislation cited the need to improve the quality of juvenile defense statewide.
]]>TOPEKA-Nov. 30, 2020 KDOC Secretary Jeff Zmuda met recently with Ron Miller, U.S. Marshall for the State of Kansas, to discuss the relationship between the two organizations and the joint commitment to improving public safety in our communities.
“A portion of that commitment is our participation in the Kansas Fugitive Task Force and the involvement of our EAI Special Agents in the Field,” Zmuda said.
EAI (Enforcement, Apprehension and Investigation) staff partner with U.S. Marshalls to track down and apprehend and/or intervene with individuals engaged in activities that pose a threat to the safety of others in the community.
For the Federal Government Fiscal Year 2020 (October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020), 809 fugitive cases were referred to the task force by KDOC. Zmuda said 763 are now considered closed as a result of arrests.
“That is a 94.31 percent closure rate and is testimony to the commitment and diligence of our staff and others who support this important public safety work.” Zmuda said
In addition to the U.S. Marshalls’ office and KDOC, members of the task force include Kansas City, Kansas, Overland Park, Wichita and Topeka police departments; Wyandotte, Johnson and Shawnee counties sheriff offices; U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
For more information about the U.S. Marshalls Fugitive Task Forces, see U.S. Marshals Service, Investigations, Local Fugitive Task Forces
]]>Oct 26, 2020 TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly today announced that seven Kansas colleges will be receiving $2,229,125 million in Pell funding for incarcerated citizens. The awards were officially announced by the U.S. Department of Education in April 2020, with colleges receiving notice in September of specific amounts.
The colleges awarded Second Chance Pell Experiment status are Barton Community College, Great Bend, KS; Colby Community College, Colby, KS; Donnelly College, Kanas City, KS; Hutchinson Community College, Hutchinson, KS; Kansas City Kansas Community College, Kansas City, KS; University of St. Mary’s, Leavenworth, KS; and Washburn University, Topeka, KS.
“We know that increased access to education reduces rates of recidivism among formerly incarcerated individuals,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “These grants are a great development for our correctional facilities and our criminal justice system as a whole.”
The funding will enable approximately 700 incarcerated citizens to participate in credit-bearing Career Technical Education (CTE) programs in addition to associate and four-year degrees. This was the second round of awards through the U.S. Department of Education, with 67 colleges selected from 180 applicants. Kansas received the highest number of awards in the nation.
“These grants are an important milestone in our commitment to increasing higher education opportunities in Kansas correctional facilities,” said Kansas Department of Corrections Secretary Jeff Zmuda.
The colleges will deliver 25 programs in the eight KDOC correctional facilities. Certifications will be offered in areas such as welding, solar energy and photovoltaic, wind technology and business management. Associate degrees will be offered in general studies, applied science, business, networking and office administration. Bachelor’s degrees will be offered in science health information systems management, computer information systems and integrated studies.
The colleges involved are supported by the Kansas Consortium on Corrections Higher Education, a coalition of eleven Kansas colleges, in partnership with the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) and Kansas Board of Regents. The Consortium works closely with the agencies and colleges to ensure prison programs are of the same quality as those on campus and deliver certifications and degrees in high-demand occupations.
“We greatly appreciate the commitment and support from our partnering colleges and the Kansas Board of Regents,” Zmuda said. “Giving residents the opportunity to gain skills and earn a livable wage is critical to becoming successful, contributing members of their communities.”
Under the Violent Crimes Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, incarcerated citizens lost the ability to access Pell Grants through Federal Financial Aid. In 2015, The Second Chance Experiment program was established, and then expanded in 2020 with now a total of 130 higher education institutions participating, in 42 states and Washington, D.C.
The Second Chance Pell Experiment provides need-based Federal Pell Grants to individuals incarcerated in federal and state prisons. The grants allow incarcerated citizens to receive Federal funding to enroll in postsecondary programs offered by local colleges and universities or distance learning providers. In the first two years of the experiment, institutions were awarded approximately $36.2 million in Federal Pell Grants
In April, the U.S. Department of Education said nearly 5,000 incarcerated citizens received Federal Pell Grants in the 2016–17 award year, and 6,750 incarcerated citizens received Federal Pell Grants in the 2017–2018 award years. A recent study by the Vera Institute of Justice noted that more than 4,000 credentials—including postsecondary certificates, associate degrees, and bachelor’s degrees—have been awarded to Second Chance Pell students over the past three years.
According to data from KDOC, about 75 percent of people entering Kansas prisons have weak education and employment histories, elevating their risk to remain in the KDOC system. The relationship between correctional education programming, quality employment and recidivism has been the subject of numerous national studies. Education programs significantly increase the likelihood of sustained livable wage employment for those who return from prison. When sustained employment is achieved, recidivism decreased by over 30 percent for high risk citizens, and decreased by 22 percent for moderate risk citizens.
Two studies by the Rand Corporation in 2013 and 2018, found that higher education programs can reduce returns to prison by 43 percent. For every $1 invested in higher education for incarcerated students, taxpayers save, on average, between $4 and $5 in three-year reincarceration costs.
]]>“These grants are all about providing incarcerated persons with tools they need to get back on their feet so that they can be productive members of our state,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “Education, job skills, and mental health and substance abuse programs are the keys to reducing recidivism in our criminal justice system.”
The four-year grant partners KDOC with the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute (UCCI) in an intensive adult reentry program called Innovations in Reentry Initiative: Building System Capacity and Testing Strategies to Reduce Recidivism.
“One of our greatest priorities is to help our residents gain the skills they need to remain successful once they leave us,” Kansas Department of Corrections Secretary Jeff Zmuda said.
The grant will also support data collection and evaluation by UCCI on the impact of reentry programs at both facilities.
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