Safety + Justice Challenge Plan
Allegheny County
Allegheny County received additional funding in 2021 to continue its Safety + Justice Challenge (SJC) project for another two years. The strategies listed below will build on the work of the first two years of the project.
- Crisis Response.
A Crisis Response Stakeholder Group made up of treatment providers, emergency services, law enforcement, and community advocates including people with lived experience are generating and carrying out strategies to prevent unnecessary and arrest and incarceration of people in crisis due to substance use, mental illness, or homelessness.
- Reduce bookings at first appearance.
The Office of the Public Defender will continue providing representation at first appearance and Pretrial Services will implement a revalidated Pretrial assessment with a new supervision matrix.
- Expedite court processing.
Allegheny County will reduce length of stay in the jail for individuals awaiting resolution of new charges by implementing a new court process to combine multiple hearings into one date and allow for earlier resolution of charges.
- Reduce the number and length of probation detainers.
Adult Probation will monitor the probation detainer population through use of a detainer policy and detainer working group and will expand eligibility for the process that resolves probation violations and new charges at the same hearing to increase its impact.
- Jail redesign.
Allegheny County will complete a community-informed process for a redesign of the jail that improves safety within the facility, enables effective service provision to reduce recidivism, determines an appropriate amount of jail beds for a significantly smaller jail population, and proposes uses for space that can be repurposed with fewer jail beds.
- Engage community in solutions.
The Allegheny County SJC partners will engage community members in developing additional solutions for jail population and racial disparity reduction. A community advisory committee will be created to generate recommendations, serve as liaisons with community, and help to determine the distribution of funds to community-based projects.
- Reduce racial and ethnic disparities.
The SJC partners will work with the University of Pittsburgh's Institute of Politics on a research project to identify drivers of racial and ethnic disparities throughout the criminal justice system and implement solutions. The partners will also continue work with a technical assistance provider to develop internal policy and practice changes that reduce disparities.
The implementation progress of the original Safety + Justice Challenge plan is listed below.
- Provide representation at bail hearing. Fully implemented.
Individuals who are represented by the Office of the Public Defenders have had a lower booking rate than those who did not receive representation.
- Expedite court processing. Partially implemented.
With additional staffing, the District Attorney’s Office lowered the continuance rate at formal arraignment hearings. A multi-agency workgroup developed a plan to combine two separate court hearings into one to reduce the time it takes to resolve court cases. Implementation of the plan was delayed due to COVID-19.
- Resolve probation violations and new charges with one hearing. Fully implemented.
An early probation violation policy, which allows for scheduling of a new charge hearing and probation violation hearing on the same day was implemented in year one of the grant. A project with the Office of the Public Defender to request early termination of probation for people who are successful on supervision was implemented in year one of the project, and the District Attorney's office joined the efforts in November 2019 with expanded eligibility criteria.
- Reduce the number and length of probation detainers. Fully implemented.
Adult Probation developed guidelines to limit the use of detention for probation violations and to plan for release if someone is detained. The policy went into effect in December 2019 and a multi-agency detainer workgroup meets biweekly to review people who are detained and put together release plans.
- Expedite jail transfers. Fully implemented.
The jail and the Sheriff's office use a dashboard to monitor individuals with resolved legal matters in Allegheny County who are awaiting transfer to another institution and ensure that individuals are transferred as quickly as possible.
- Expedite transfers for behavioral health population. Partially implemented.
The Department of Human Services, the jail, and the provider community have collaborated to review current practices and implement new practices that will result in decreasing the time of transfer to treatment placements.
- Reduce racial and ethnic disparities. In progress.
The SJC partners coordinated with additional county agencies to develop a racial equity training strategy, started monitoring the impact of all strategies by race, and began engaging with a technical assistance provider to develop an internal structure to lead racial equity work.