Mandates
Pursuant to 24-33.5-535 CRS (established in Senate Bill 2024-029), the Colorado Department of Public Safety (CDPS), Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) shall convene a working group to make recommendations to the Colorado General Assembly regarding metrics other than recidivism to assess criminal justice system outcomes.
Additional general mandates include:
- Members shall be appointed no later than November 30, 2024.
- The first meeting shall occur by February 1, 2025.
- Meeting shall allow for remote participation.
- The working group shall consult with stakeholders and provide opportunities for participation in working group meetings.
- Submit a report:
- by July 1, 2025 to the CO House of Representatives Public and Behavioral Health and Human Services Committee and to the House Judiciary Committee and to the CO Senate Health and Human Services Committee and to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
- that summarizes the efforts of the working group and any recommendations about the development and implementation of methods and metrics, other than measuring recidivism, to evaluate the effectiveness of the criminal justice system.
Tasks
The specific tasks assigned to the working group include:
- Study metrics and methods, other than recidivism, to:
- Supplement current measures including those related to desistance (severity and timing) and risk reduction.
- Comprehensively measure successful outcomes that consider various aspect of life (e.g. employment, housing, education, mental health, personal well-being, social supports, and civic and community engagement).
- Enhance measures of criminal justice system performance and adherence to best practices in supervision program design and implementation.
- Identify methods to obtain information from those involved or recently involved in the system regarding supervision experiences.
- Identify gaps or barriers in data collection, measurement and data matching, and recommendations on addressing these gaps or barriers.
- Create an implementation timeline for these metrics and methods that addresses any data limitations and necessary resources.
- Identify customization of measures to account for age, gender, race, ethnicity, or risk of a cohort.
NOTE: This Working Group follows the efforts of the Recidivism Definition Working Group that were completed in September 2024.
Meetings & Calendar
All Alternative Metrics Working Group meetings will be held in a hybrid format, with both in-person and virtual options. Guests and members of the general public are welcome to attend the meetings and will be given an opportunity to provide public comment. The Division of Criminal Justice is responsible for staffing the working group. If you have questions or would like more information, contact Erin Crites.
Meetings
- UPCOMING MEETINGS
NEXT MEETING
November 2024 (to be determined)In-Person Location: TBD
Virtual Option: TBD
FUTURE MEETINGS
To be determinedSee all previous meeting materials in PREVIOUS MEETINGS below.
- PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Previous meetings are listed in reverse chronological order (most recent meeting is listed first). Note that audio files are only available for 180 days following the meeting date; expiration dates ("exp.") are included below.
November 2024 (To be determined)
Agenda (11/xx/24; pdf) | Minutes (11/xx/24; pdf)
Audio (11/xx/24; Mp3; exp. 5/xx/2025) & Transcript (11/xx/24; pdf)
Members
Pursuant to 24-33.5-536 (2) (a), C.R.S., the working group comprises the following eight members:
(I) A representative of the division of youth services within the department of human services, appointed by the executive director of the department of human services;
Kelli Burmeister, DYS/CDHS
(II) A representative of the department of corrections, appointed by the executive director of the department of corrections;
To be appointed, CDOC
(III) A representative of the judicial department, appointed by the state court administrator;
Aaron Stewart, Colorado State Judicial Branch
(IV) A representative of the department of public safety, appointed by the executive director of the department of public safety;
Jack Reed, DCJ/CDPS
(V) Two members from an institution of higher education with expertise in the criminal legal system who have conducted relevant research regarding the effectiveness of the criminal legal system, appointed by the executive director of the department of public safety; and
Jonathan "Jon" Caudill, Ph.D., University of Colorado-Colorado Springs
Kate LeMasters, Ph.D., University of Colorado-Anschutz
(VI) Two members who are each a representative of a community-based organization that works for criminal legal reform, appointed by the president of the senate.
Christie Donner, CO Criminal Justice Reform Coalition (ccjrc.org)
Whitney Leeds, Growing Home (growinghome.org)
WORKING GROUP STAFF
Erin Crites, Division of Criminal Justice/CDPS
Linda Harrison, Division of Criminal Justice/CDPS
Kaylynn Duncan, Division of Criminal Justice/CDPS