2016 -- S 2936

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LC005568

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO CORRECTIONS - BATTERERS INTERVENTION PROGRAMS AND

PROBATION SUPERVISION

     Introduced By: Senators McCaffrey, Nesselbush, Coyne, Metts, and Goodwin

     Date Introduced: May 03, 2016

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 12-29-5.2 of the General Laws in Chapter 12-29 entitled "Domestic

Violence Prevention Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     12-29-5.2. Duties and responsibilities of committee. -- (a) The committee shall have the

duties and responsibilities to:

      (1) Establish and promulgate minimum standards for batterers intervention programs

serving persons mandated pursuant to § 12-29-5, revise the standards as is deemed necessary,

ensure the standards comport with evidence-informed practices designed to reduce risk, and make

the standards available to the public, provided that the standards shall include, but not be limited

to, the following:

      (i) Batterers intervention programs shall be conducted using evidence-informed

programming and dosage levels designed to reduce the risk of future violent behavior in the

context of psycho-educational groups, i.e., groups of domestic violence perpetrators led by one or

more professional group leaders trained and experienced in batterers intervention programming

and conducted for the purposes of learning and enacting non-abusive behaviors through didactic

instruction, interaction among participants and leaders, and teaching of skills within the groups;

      (ii) The duration of batterers intervention programs shall be a minimum of forty (40)

contact hours over the course of twenty (20) weeks;

      (iii) Batterers intervention programs shall require that all mandated batterers pay fees for

the programs in accordance with the provisions of § 12-29-5; provided, that programs shall

accommodate varying levels of ability to pay by means of sliding fee scales and may elect to

offer alternatives to payment in the form of community restitution and/or deferred payment for a

portion of the fees; and

      (iv) Provisions shall be established defining the circumstances under which defendants

who have attended a batterers program while incarcerated, and/or a batterers program in another

jurisdiction which is certified under that jurisdiction's standards or not subject to standards in that

jurisdiction, may request that their documented participation in such program be accepted in

satisfaction of some portion of their obligation to attend forty (40) hours of a certified batterers

intervention program as described in subdivision 12-29-5.2(a)(1)(ii).

      (2) Monitor and review batterers intervention programs seeking certification with respect

to compliance with the standards, including periodic on-site review;

      (3) Certify those batterers intervention programs which are in compliance with the

standards established pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection; and

      (4) Investigate and decide appeals, complaints, requests for variances, and post-

enrollment certification applications.

      (b) For purposes of this chapter, "post-enrollment certification applications" means those

applications made to the committee by a batterer mandated to attend a certified batterers

intervention program in accordance with § 12-29-5 who has, prior to adjudication, enrolled in a

program not certified by the committee. The application shall include supporting documentation

from the batterers intervention program and a request that participation in the batterers

intervention program be accepted in lieu of the equivalent number of hours of a certified batterers

intervention program. The committee shall act upon a post-enrollment certification application

within thirty (30) days of receipt of the application.

     (c) There is hereby created a batterer's intervention program fund to be administered by

the State Public Safety Grant Administration Office. The fund shall consist of monies

appropriated for the purposes of providing access to, and expansion and improvement of,

community-based batterers' intervention programs. The batterer's intervention standards oversight

committee shall make recommendations to the Public Safety Grant Administration Policy Board

regarding the distribution of the monies in the fund in the form of grants to programs to cover the

costs of delivering quality services to indigent offenders, and to assist community providers and

their staffs to utilize outcome-based best practices and effective programming methods.

     SECTION 2. Sections 42-56-1 and 42-56-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-56

entitled "Corrections Department" are hereby amended to read as follows:

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     42-56-1. Declaration of policy. -- (a) The legislature finds and declares that:

      (1) The state has a basic obligation to protect the public by providing institutional

confinement and care of offenders and, evidence-based probation and parole supervision and

where appropriate, treatment in the community;

      (2) Efforts to rehabilitate and restore criminal offenders as law-abiding and productive

members of society are essential to the reduction of crime;

      (3) Upgrading of Maintaining the quality and effectiveness of correctional institutions

and rehabilitative services, both inside and outside correctional institutions, deserves priority

consideration as a means of lowering crime rates and of preventing offenders, particularly youths,

first-offenders, and misdemeanants, from becoming trapped in careers of crime; and

      (4) Correctional institutions, supervision and services should be so diversified in

program and personnel as to facilitate individualized treatment.

      (b) The purpose of this chapter is to establish a department of state government to

provide for the, supervision, custody, care, discipline, training, and treatment, and study of

persons committed to state correctional institutions or on probation or parole, so that those

persons may be prepared for release, aftercare, and supervision in the community.

     42-56-7. Parole and probation. -- (a) Authority. The division of rehabilitative services,

subject to the authority of the director, shall perform the functions relating to the parole and

probation of adults as prescribed by this chapter and chapters 18 and 19 of title 12, and under

those rules and regulations adopted by the director of corrections with the approval of the

governor and the parole board in the executive department.

     (b) Assessments. The division of rehabilitative services shall adopt risk and needs screens

and assessments and behavioral health assessments that are validated at least once every five (5)

years for the purpose of informing the following decisions:

     (1) Probation supervision intensity, case management, and treatment objectives, adopted

in collaboration with the superior courts;

     (2) Correctional treatment and classification; and

     (3) Parole supervision intensity, case management, and treatment objectives, adopted in

collaboration with the parole board, and parole release decisions, adopted in collaboration with,

and for implementation by, the parole board.

     (c) Special conditions. The assessment implemented under §42-56-7(b)(1) should be

performed prior to placement on probation, whenever possible, to support judicial decisions

affecting conditions of supervision under §12-19-8.1.

     (d) Supervision. The division of rehabilitative services shall:

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     (1) Provide limited supervision for probationers who qualify based on offense level, time

under supervision without a violation, and the results from a validated risk and needs assessment;

     (2) Provide high-intensity supervision and treatment for probationers who, based on

screening and assessments, are high risk to re-offend and present high needs for behavioral health

services;

     (3) Collaborate with the executive office of health and human services to implement

Medicaid payment incentives designed to ensure timely access to quality behavioral health

treatment and cognitive-behavioral programs for probationers; and

     (4) Require that program providers serving probationers pursuant to a contract with the

department use cognitive-behavioral programs to reduce criminal thinking.

     (e) Behavioral change guidelines. The division of rehabilitative services shall adopt

guidelines for probation and parole officers, governing:

     (1) Incentives for compliance and pro-social behaviors; and

     (2) Swift, certain and proportionate non-confinement sanctions in response to

corresponding violations of probation conditions.

     (f) Training. The division of rehabilitative services shall organize and conduct evidence-

based training programs for probation and parole officers. The training shall include:

     (1) Scoring and use of validated risk and needs assessments under subsection (b) of this

section;

     (2) Risk-based supervision strategies;

     (3) Cognitive behavioral interventions;

     (4) Targeting criminal risk factors to reduce recidivism;

     (5) Use of incentives for compliance and pro-social behaviors;

     (6) Use of and swift, certain and proportionate non-confinement sanctions in response to

corresponding violations of probation conditions pursuant to subsection (d)(2) of this section;

     (7) Recognizing symptoms of substance use and mental health needs and making

treatment referrals; and

     (8) De-escalating erratic criminal behavior.

     (g) All probation and parole officers employed on or after the effective date of this act

shall complete the training requirements set forth in this section. Selected probation and parole

officers shall become trainers to ensure sustainability of these training requirements.

     (h) Information. The division of rehabilitative services shall develop or adopt an

automated case management and reporting system for probation and parole officers.

     (i) Implementation. Deadlines for implementation of this section by the department of

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corrections shall be as follows: subsection (b) (initial assessment validation), subsection (c)

(special condition recommendations), subsection (d) (supervision intensity), and subsection (f)

(for training of existing probation and parole officers); one year from the effective date of this

section; subsection (e) (behavior change guidelines); six (6) months from the effective date;

subsection (f) (for training of new probation and parole officers) and subsection (g) (case

management system); two (2) years from the effective date.

     SECTION 3. Chapter 42-18 of the General Laws entitled "Department of Health," is

hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

     42-18-7. Cooperation with the department of corrections. -- The director of the

department of health shall coordinate and cooperate with the director of the department of

corrections to ensure collaboration around existing department of health programs and initiatives,

with regard to people under the care of the department of corrections, on probation, during

incarceration, and upon release to the community.

     SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO CORRECTIONS - BATTERERS INTERVENTION PROGRAMS AND

PROBATION SUPERVISION

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     This act would create a batterer's intervention program fund. The act would also adopt

evidence-based probation and parole supervision systems.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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