The NCJA Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 12: Video Court and Language Impairments with Lisa Vavonese and Michele LaVigne Mar 07, 2022

Show notes

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many jurisdictions to create or expand the use of video court proceedings. The practice has many benefits, particularly in minimizing person-to-person contact. It also poses some fundamental challenges that must be considered before or during implementation. People with language impairments—estimated to be at least 35% of adults and 50% of youth that enter the criminal and juvenile legal systems—are already at a disadvantage in court and may fare even worse when proceedings are virtual.

In this episode, NCJA Executive Director Chris Asplen speaks with Lisa Vavonese, director of Research-Practice Strategies at the Center for Court Innovation and Michele LaVigne, emeritus distinguished clinical professor of law and former director of the Public Defender Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. These two subject matter experts discuss the pros and cons of video court and how it poses critical challenges for people with language impairments.

Learn more about Lisa Vavonese’s work at: courtinnovation.org/sixth-amendment.

Learn more about Michele LaVigne’s work at: https://secure.law.wisc.edu/profiles/michele.lavigne@wisc.edu.

Episode 11: SAA and SAC Partnership in Strategic Planning with Mike Fargen and Kellie Rabenhorst Feb 09, 2022

Show notes

States’ Statistical Analysis Centers (SAC) can be valuable resources for State Administering Agencies (SAA) for incorporating data into their Byrne JAG strategic planning efforts. While the SAA understands the state and national criminal justice landscape, the SAC is an expert on data. In this episode, Matt Wade, a program manager at NCJA, talks with Mike Fargen (former SAC director in Nebraska) and Kellie Rabenhorst (former SAA in Nebraska) about how these two key positions can and should work in partnership. Both Mike and Kellie have recently joined the OVC VOCA Center at NCJA.

Episode 10: Local CJ Planning Board Engagement Strategies in Oregon and Virginia Dec 06, 2021

Show notes

As State Administering Agencies across the nation look for effective approaches to include diverse stakeholder groups into their planning processes, many have found success engaging their state’s local criminal justice planning boards. In this podcast, we speak with Tom Fitzpatrick (Division Director for Programs and Services for the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services) and Ian Davidson (Justice Reinvestment Manager for the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission) about each state’s history in supporting local criminal justice planning boards, the benefits of engaging such boards and advice for other states looking to provide support.

To learn more about Oregon's Local Public Safety Coordinating Councils, click here. For more about the work of the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, click here.

Episode 09: Adverse Childhood Effects (ACEs) in Maryland with Glenn Fueston Nov 05, 2021

Show notes

This podcast episode highlights Maryland Governor Hogan’s New Executive Order to tackle the impacts of Adverse Childhood Effects (ACEs). Glenn Fueston, executive director of the Governor's Office of Crime Prevention, Youth and Victim Services, provides a general overview of ACEs, the impacts on young people and the community at large, and the importance of addressing these impacts head on. This episode specifically reviews the Handle with Care program, launched by the Governor’s Office in 2018, one of the first programs in the nation to specifically address ACEs. Also discussed is how the data from this program has assisted Governor Hogan to support additional initiatives such as Project Bounce Back.

Finally, this episode discusses how the Governor’s Office has used Byrne JAG funding to launch these programs and how they plan to ensure this work is sustainable and institutionalized through exciting new initiatives.

Episode 08: Byrne JAG Penalties with Elizabeth Pyke Oct 04, 2021

Show notes

This podcast episode was produced thanks to the contributions of NCJA members. To learn more about becoming an NCJA member, visit ncja.org/membership.

On this episode, NCJA’s director of communications, Bethany Broida, continues her conversation about the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, with Byrne JAG expert and NCJA’s director of government affairs, Elizabeth Pyke. Elizabeth explains the scale, intent and impact of Byrne JAG penalties that are tied to the program. The topic is widely discussed and often misunderstood.

Episode 07: Community Violence Interventions with Gillian Caplan Sep 09, 2021

Show notes

In April 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration announced historic investments in Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programming to combat the gun violence epidemic. In an effort to support communities seeking to implement or expand programs in this area, NCJA has released ‘An Overview: Community Violence Intervention Strategies,’ a fact sheet with tangible examples of four of the main types of CVI strategies. This resource provides Byrne JAG State Administering Agencies and other partners a foundation of understanding for supporting existing or new CVI programs. Gillian Caplan, the author of the fact sheet, discusses the four types of CVIs and how they fit into the current justice landscape.

Episode 06: Diverting Justice-Involved Youth with San Joaquin County’s Project Navigate Constructive Change Aug 09, 2021

Show notes

San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office’s Project Navigate Constructive Change (PNCC) diverts justice-involved youth away from deeper system involvement and promotes thoughtful life choices with participants engaging in education, counseling, employment assistance and life skills coaching. PNCC was started in 2015 using Byrne Justice Assistance Grant funds and has since relied on Byrne JAG funding to grow the program.

In this episode, NCJA’s Gillian Caplan interviews Deputy Director Ricardo Goodridge from California’s Board of State and Community Corrections and San Joaquin County Chief Deputy District Attorneys Jeff Derman and Ken Puckett about how the program works, the importance of justice system and community partners and the upcoming introduction of a restorative justice component.

Episode 05: Connecticut’s WORTH Female Correctional Unit—a Promising Practice in Reentry Jul 02, 2021

Show notes

In June 2018, the WORTH (Women Overcoming Recidivism Through Hard Work) unit was founded in the York Correctional Institution, Connecticut’s sole female-only prison. NCJA’s Gillian Caplan interviews Under Secretary Marc Pelka, Warden Trina Sexton and Captain Anna Lussier as they discuss the history, approach and successes of the innovative unit.

Funded initially with Byrne JAG dollars, WORTH is a specialized housing unit within the facility that serves an adult female population with approaching release dates. The progressive curriculum was largely developed by the program’s founding members and is designed to help women acquire and maintain the necessary skills to become successful following their release. The women participating in the WORTH Unit are aged 18 to 25 and live with older incarcerated mentors. Together, they are given wide latitude to implement the program themselves.

This podcast was created with the support of Grant No. 2016-YA-BX-K002, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the SMART Office, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Episode 03: Key Elements for Creating an Effective Byrne JAG Strategic Plan with Allison Badger Jun 25, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Allison Badger, NCJA’s Byrne JAG Training and Technical Assistance Program Director, discusses the importance of creating a strategic plan to guide each state’s Byrne JAG investments. Topics include the essential components of strategic plans, tips for engaging a diverse group of stakeholders in the process, setting targeted and achievable goals and the ways in which NCJA can support state administering agencies (SAAs) in the strategic planning process.

Read the full transcript.

Episode 04: Pennsylvania's Virtual Strategic Planning Success with Mike Pennington and Samantha Koch Jun 07, 2021

Show notes

In May 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) undertook a virtual strategic planning process to create the agency's 2021-2025 Strategic Framework. The effort was a great success. In this episode, NCJA's Allison Badger interviews PCCD's Mike Pennington and Samantha Koch as they discuss the virtual strategic planning process, including the steps and components of the work, the tools they used, obstacles they encountered and the important roles that leadership played. They also discuss the aspects of virtual planning that may endure beyond the pandemic.

Read the full transcript.

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