NLC YEF INSTITUTE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: City Roles in Reducing the Overuse of Jails for Young Adults. August 3 5, 2016 October 19 21, 2016

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1 NLC YEF INSTITUTE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: City Roles in Reducing the Overuse of Jails for Young Adults August 3 5, 2016 October 19 21, 2016 Denver, Colorado Chicago, Illinois REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS With this Request for Proposals, the National League of Cities Institute of Youth, Education and Families (YEF Institute) announces a competitive opportunity for cities to send a team to one of two upcoming Leadership Academies. The Academies will assist participating cities to develop strategies to reduce the misuse and overuse of jails for young adults, improve public safety, and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in arrests. WHAT: Leadership Academies will convene teams of city officials and local partners for intensive, two day sessions to learn from experts about emerging strategies for cities to reduce the overuse of jails for young adults, develop local plans and teams to pursue those strategies, and engage in cross city learning and sharing with peers. The Academies will feature in depth discussions of topics such as the following: Implementing alternatives to arrest at the first point of contact with local law enforcement Reducing racial and ethnic disparities in arrest and jail decisions through use of tools such as risk assessments Developing or strengthening a robust continuum of community based alternatives to jail, including mental and behavioral health services Applying recent trends emerging from local data regarding use of jails to reforms Selected city teams will benefit from the following: Tools and support to analyze local data regarding young adults in jail, before and during the Academy Sessions led by experts and pioneers in the field Peer learning opportunities with fellow city leaders Workshops for drafting action plans Networking with peers and thought leaders 1

2 BACKGROUND The YEF Institute will also invite leadership academy participants to join a new peer learning network, which will provide ongoing opportunities for city leaders to learn and receive support from nationally recognized experts in the field and city peers. Jail misuse and overuse constitutes a critical, yet still neglected cause of America s incarceration crisis, centered in America s cities. The national discussion on justice reform has, to date, primarily focused on sentencing and prison reform. New national initiatives have raised the issue of the current scale and range of uses of local jails, especially pre trial detention, as a major contributor to America s mass incarceration crisis. Current practices in the use of jail take an outsized toll on communities of color, lowincome communities, and young people. In addition, the nation s cities bear the burden of significant costs, both direct and indirect, caused by jail overuse. Many factors contribute to jail misuse, ranging from explicit and implicit bias in arrest practices, to jailing for non violent offenses, to lack of community based services. Whereas African Americans and Latinos make up 30 percent of Americans, they constitute 51 percent of the U.S. jail population. This racial and ethnic disproportionality holds true among the young adult population ages Rates of arrest for African American and Latino young people outpace, often significantly so, rates of arrest for white youth in communities across the country. Another possible contributor: rules recommending or mandating jailing of persons unable to pay bail, fines, and fees. Heavy use of jail related fees and assessments can interfere with progress toward financial independence; at worst, cumulative fees may trap young people in jail in a manner similar to unconstitutional debtor s prisons. In addition, nationwide, the share of young adults in the jail population exceeds the percentage of young adults in the general population. Recent research confirms the common sense notion that adolescents, up to age 24, are especially prone to risky behaviors including breaking local laws, even though adults commit more crimes overall. In addition, the onset of behavioral health issues that put people at increased risk of going to jail most frequently occurs during adolescence and young adulthood. For young people, jail stays can interrupt efforts to find or sustain employment, pursue education or training, co parent young children, and build the strong community connections that support positive development. And for the significant percentage of young people whose contact with the law stems from mental health and behavioral health needs or homelessness (or all three), jail offers little hope for ensuring 2

3 connections to treatment and services. Lack of community services and a strong stigma against people with criminal records also stymies young people hoping to move forward after a jail stay. What s more, the problem of overuse of jails comes at great costs to taxpayers and communities and provides little benefit to public safety. Indeed, some cities bear the direct costs of stays in the local jail, and all cities face the burden of long term negative impacts on public safety and resources. National Initiatives Momentum has begun building around local justice reform to create fairer and more effective systems that streamline and change the use of jails, so as to achieve better safety, social, and economic outcomes. Efforts on the part of communities across the country have the potential to drive widespread progress in America s over incarceration problem. NLC and the YEF Institute connect to these efforts by serving as a strategic ally of the Safety and Justice Challenge. The Challenge is a major criminal justice reform initiative supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to end the misuse of America s jails. The Foundation recently invested in twenty sites expected to generate promising practices and lessons learned, as well as constitute an idea generating peer learning network. The YEF Institute will focus in on city solutions for reducing jail involvement of young adults, ages 16 to 24. The Opportunity for Cities Cities can lead the way in finding better alternatives to jails as the front door of mass incarceration, so as to improve outcomes for young adults and public safety. Cities that analyze and act upon local data, strengthen collaboration with county agencies and community service providers, and institute policy and program level solutions can reduce the misuse and overuse of jails. Likely city level interventions will include: 1) Reforms to police policies, procedures, and training to enhance officer discretion with risk assessment tools and reduce the impact of implicit bias. 2) Vocal municipal leadership for jail policy reform and jail population reduction; and 3) Realigning or assembling new resources for services and other alternatives to jail. City leaders who take on this challenge stand to see concrete benefits in the form of direct or indirect savings from reversal of current jail use trends, and longer term benefits in reduced individual and family effects from jail stays. 3

4 WHEN & Aug. 3 Aug. 5, 2016 Oct. 19 Oct. 21, 2016 WHERE Denver, Colorado OR Chicago, Illinois The YEF Institute invites city teams to apply to attend one of the two upcoming events. Each Academy will include similar content, with possible changes in the national experts in attendance. When applying, please indicate a preference between the two locations and sets of dates. Both Academies will commence with an opening dinner and conclude before lunch on the final day. WHO: City elected officials, senior city staff, and other community, jail, or justice system stakeholders apply in teams of three persons. The YEF Institute will select teams from up to 10 cities to attend each Academy, for a total of up to 20 cities. Please propose one team member from each of the following categories; A. City Leadership o The mayor or city manager o A city council member o A senior representative of the mayor or city manager s office. B. Criminal Justice o City police department o Sheriff and Jail administrators o Prosecutors and defenders C. Service Providers/Community Members o Representatives of city or county providers of housing, employment or health/behavioral health services for young adults o Community based service providers or advocates with a successful record of working with young adult reentry or young adult populations at a high risk of justice involvement The YEF Institute will select, on a competitive basis, a diverse set of cities of various sizes from different regions of the country to participate in the leadership academies. Preference will go to cities that are members in good standing of the National League of Cities. LOGISTICS/TRAVEL COSTS: The YEF Institute will reimburse participants for airline travel (up to a maximum of $600) as well as two nights accommodation at the meeting hotel and other travel related costs in accordance with to NLC s travel reimbursement policies. Meeting participants will receive reimbursements promptly upon submission of travel receipts following the convening. 4

5 TIMELINE: Thursday, April 28, 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM Eastern or Tuesday, May 3, 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern City Roles in Reducing the Overuse of Jails for Young Adults Launch Webinar This informational webinar will introduce the opportunities for cities to reduce the misuse and overuse of jails for young adults and answer questions about applying to participate in the Leadership Academies. Please register for the webinar using the dates above. Thursday, May 26 Leadership Academy applications due Please complete and the following application materials to Heidi Cooper at by May 26, Please type your responses. We encourage early applications and can also review and discuss drafts. City Team Application Form (fillable PDF) City Team Application Questions (no more than four pages) Monday, June 13 Notification to Selected Cities Tuesday, June 22, 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern Get the Facts: Criminal Justice Data Tools for City Leaders This webinar will introduce a set of questions and online resources useful for analyzing local jail and law enforcement data. The YEF Institute will advertise the webinar to its full constituency, and requests that at least one member of each selected team participate. The webinar will directly support completion of the Jail Reform Data Collection Tool. Friday, June 24 Registration closes for Denver Leadership Academy Late June through July NLC will provide ongoing support throughout this period for cities preparing for the Denver Leadership Academy, particularly for filling out the Data Collection Tool. This will include at least one conference call with each city team. August 3 5 Denver Leadership Academy August September Ongoing support for cities preparing for the Chicago Leadership Academy. Monday, September 19 Registration closes for Chicago Leadership Academy October Chicago Leadership Academy 5

6 Please send questions to Heidi Cooper, Associate for Justice Reform, at (202) or NLC YEF INSTITUTE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: City Roles in Reducing the Overuse of Jails for Young Adults CITY TEAM APPLICATION FORM City: Population: Please indicate your first and second choice: Denver (8/3 8/5) Chicago (10/19 10/21) Team Member One (City Lead Representative and Primary Point of Contact): Name: Title: Office/Agency: Street Address: City, State, and Zip Code: Phone: Team Member Two: Name: Title: Office/Agency: Street Address: City, State, and Zip Code: Phone: Team Member Three: Name: Title: Office/Agency: Street Address: City, State, and Zip Code: Phone: Please tell us how you heard about the Leadership Academy: 6

7 NLC YEF INSTITUTE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: City Roles in Reducing the Overuse of Jails for Young Adults CITY TEAM APPLICATION QUESTIONS Responses to the questions below will help NLC assess your community s capacity and commitment to addressing overuse of jail for young adults. NLC s selection criteria will include: evidence of high level municipal leadership and commitment to reducing the overuse of jail; evidence of collaboration among relevant city, county and state agencies; capacity to gather, analyze, and apply local data to undertake reforms; and a clear indication of how participating in the Leadership Academy will catalyze local efforts. Only one application is required per city. Please answer questions in a separate document and do not exceed four pages for the narrative portion. 1. Please describe in brief the mission, structure, accomplishments to date, and planned future trajectory of any existing city or county government led initiatives to reform the use of jail(s), including policing. Note the role of applicant team members in those initiatives. Also describe how community input has contributed to these initiatives. 2. Identify any grassroots or community led efforts regarding overuse/misuse of jail currently underway in your city. Describe the degree of involvement of young adults in these efforts. 3. What trends in the use of jail in your city most concern you? 4. What is your city s current capacity to collect, analyze and act on data on young adults (up to age 24) who have been arrested and detained in jail? 5. What agencies and nonprofit or community organizations constitute current or potential collaborators for city efforts to reduce the number of young adults who spend time in jail? These could include entities such as the police, health and human services agencies, or service providers. If applicable, please indicate connections to city, county, or state government. 6. How will participation in this leadership academy strengthen local efforts to implement or expand jail reforms in your city? Please identify one or two specific goals that your city would like to accomplish and specific jail use reduction strategies you would like to learn more about at the Leadership Academy. 7. How will your city s participation enrich the Leadership Academy experience for fellow participants? What experiences or resources in the area of jail reform and improving outcomes for young adults can you share with your network of peers? 7