The Council of State Governments Justice Center recently released a national report entitled "Repaying Debts" which is described as a "publication about how policymakers can increase accountability among people who commit crimes, improve rates of child support collection and victim restitution, and make people's transition from prisons and jails to the community safe and successful." The report highlighted Texas as having developed some key policies in this area. The Justice Center seeks to test the implementation of policies recommended in the national report and to use specific state sites experiences to further understand opportunities and barriers in this area.
Dr. Tony Fabelo, on behalf of the Justice Center, approached Carl Reynolds to determine if he was interested in further developing policies in this area and become a "learning site" for the Justice Center national initiative. The Office of Court Administration has developed a Collection Improvement Program that has set a structure for improving collections in Texas. OCA continues to have an interest in improving policies regarding the collection and management of offenders' debts, particularly while on probation and parole, and managing the impact of new proposals to increase fees and other charges impacting offenders.
The goals of the project are to:
- Identify gaps in policy impacting collection;
- Identify coordination and prioritization issues among policies and agencies;
- Identify operational/administrative changes within OCA or other participating agencies that can improve the administration of policies in this area;
- Acquire data to create a "financial obligation" profile for offenders on probation and parole that includes court, probation fees and child support obligations;
- Create a model, following private sector credit rating model experience, to understand "financial risk factors" that may relate to "default" and recidivism risks; and
- Provide impact analysis to the legislature.
Project Publications
- Repaying Debts Report - Justice Center Report
- The Financial Load of Parolees [pdf]
- Texas Financial Obligations Project - Goals & Strategies for Idaho to Consider [ppt]
- Texas Repaying Debts Project - American Probation & Parole Association [ppt]
- Texas Draft Report October 2008 [pdf]
- Interim Report March 2009 [pdf]
Project Steering Committee
- Office of Court Administration
- Carl Reynolds, Administrative Director, OCA
Mary Cowherd, Deputy Director, OCA
Jim Lehman, Collections Program Manager, OCA
Russ Duncan, Assistant Collections Specialist, OCA
Ted Wood, Assistant General Counsel, OCA
Andy Barbee, Research Specialist, OCA - Office of Attorney General, Child Support Enforcement Division
- Michael Hayes
Thomas Cruz - Texas Department of Criminal Justice
- Pam Thielke, Director-Specialized Programs, Parole Division
- Justice Center, Council of State Governments
- Dr. Tony Fabelo
Jamie Yoon
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Updated: 03-Mar-2009
