2023 Conference
Collaborative Courts - In Time of Transition: Opportunities & Challenges
Session Descriptions
Monday, February 27, 2023
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM
Arise This Morning Through Yoga
Presenter:
Anna Proctor
Room:
Los Angeles Room
Materials:
No materials available for this session
Overview:
Join Yoga instructor Anna Proctor and your fellow attendees for an easy, relaxing yet awakening series of gentle movement and breath exercises to start your day and help you access your parasympathetic nervous system.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Coming Soon
Biography:
Anna Proctor
Anna Proctor is the Executive Director of Yoga Dana Foundation, an organization that supports yoga in under-served communities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She founded Yoga Bridge which offers trauma-informed yoga, including teacher training, for men incarcerated at California State Prison - Solano. She is a facilitator for Prison Yoga Project, a nonprofit with a healing-centered approach to addressing crime, addiction, and mental illness through yoga and embodied mindfulness.
Plenary 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM
New Directions in Treatment Court Participation: Accepting and Serving Participants with More Serious Cases (MCLE Session)
Presenters and Panelists:
Hon. Stephen Manley, Hon. David Rosenberg, Hon. Charles Smiley, Shin-Mee Chang, Douglas Marlowe, and Jonathan Raven
Room:
Ballroom (San Carlos 3 and 4)
Materials:
Overview:
This session will engage attendees in considering the need for Collaborative Court programs to accept more serious cases in order to adapt to criminal justice reform in California. Research will be presented showing the impact that collaborative courts can have on program participants with serious charges. A panel of current programs that have succeeded in making the change will discuss concerns that court teams and partners had and how they were addressed.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to identify more serious case types that might be included in treatment court.
Participants will be able to identify changes in court team practices to address needs of participants with more serious charges.
Biography:
Hon. Stephen Manley
Judge Manley founded the Santa Clara County, CA Drug Court in 1994. Under his leadership, Santa Clara’s Drug Court became a national model, and helped spur the implementation of similar programs throughout California. In 1999, Judge Manley launched Santa Clara’s Mental Health Court, which is now the largest in the United States. When he noticed an increase in the number of veterans appearing on his dockets addicted and seriously mentally ill, he once again took action. In late 2008, he launched one of the first Veterans Treatment Courts in the United States. Today, Judge Manley personally presides over a number of Collaborative Justice programs and calendars that include more than 2,300 offenders who participate in treatment and rehabilitation services while on probation or parole.
Judge Manley’s efforts to promote treatment and recovery for the addicted and mentally ill do not end in his courtroom. He has been a tireless advocate for policies that expand these opportunities to every citizen in need. In California, Judge Manley has participated in the drafting of legislation that expanded and funded treatment courts, created and funded pilot reentry courts for parolees, and greater opportunities for veterans to receive treatment as a part of probation. In Washington, DC, he is no stranger to Members of Congress as he is a vigorous and effective advocate for the drug-addicted and mentally-ill in the criminal justice system.
An innovator, visionary, and advocate, Judge Stephen Manley has saved countless lives and impacted criminal justice policy throughout the nation.
Hon. David Rosenberg
Judge David Rosenberg was appointed to the bench by Governor Gray Davis in 2003. He has served as a judge of the Yolo court ever since and was elected for three terms as presiding judge. He currently serves as the 91st President of the California Judges Association.
Before joining the Yolo court, Judge Rosenberg was a supervisor in Yolo County, worked in private practice, and served as a senior advisor to Governor Jerry Brown and Governor Gray Davis. He was also mayor of the City of Davis from 1986 to 1988 and 1994 to 1996. Judge Rosenberg has authored five books, including three non-fiction, one fiction, and one autobiography. He is the author of a widely used treatise on parliamentary procedure, “Rosenberg’s Rules of Order.”
Hon. Charles Smiley
Judge Charles Smiley was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2012. He has served as presiding judge of the juvenile courts and as a supervising judge of the collaborative and treatment courts. Currently, he serves as presiding judge of the Alameda County Superior Court. Prior to his appointment, he worked as a court commissioner. Smiley graduated from UC Hastings College of the Law worked as a public defender in Alameda County before joining the bench.
Judge Smiley has taught at both UC Hastings and Berkeley Law. He has been a presenter and
panelist at numerous CLE events. Smiley is a past president of the Earl Warren American Inn of Court and a former director of the Charles Houston Bar Association, the California Association of Black Lawyers, and the Wiley Manuel Law Foundation, Inc.
Shin-Mee Chang
Shin-Mee Chang has been a prosecutor with the San Mateo District Attorney’s Office for over 20 years. She is an Assistant District Attorney who oversees the Sexual Assault, General Felony and Insurance Fraud Units.
Douglas Marlowe
Douglas B. Marlowe, J.D., Ph.D. is a Senior Scientist at the Treatment Research Institute, an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, and the Chief of Science, Policy & Law for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) with proficiency certification in the treatment of psychoactive substance use disorders from the APA College of Professional Psychology. Dr. Marlowe has published over 125 professional articles and chapters on the topics of crime and substance abuse. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Drug Court Review and is on the editorial board of Criminal Justice & Behavior. Dr. Marlowe has received numerous state and federal research grants to study coercion in drug abuse treatment, the effects of drug courts and other diversion programs for drug abusers involved in the criminal justice system, and behavioral treatments for drug abusers and criminal offenders.
Jonathan Raven
Jonathan is the Chief Deputy at the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, an office with approximately 40 prosecutors. He received his law degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles in 1991 after graduating with honors from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1986. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer appointed Raven Director of the Office of Victims’ Services (OVS) in September 2002. OVS advocates on behalf of crime victims, interfaces and works with law enforcement, and works on policy and legislative issues pertaining to crime victims’ issues.
In November 2010, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig appointed Raven to the Chief Deputy position, the number two position in the office. Raven manages a number of divisions. Due to his interest in mental illness and substance abuse issues, he is the District Attorney’s representative on the Mental Health Court and Addiction Intervention Court teams. In March, 2019, Raven to appointed by Yolo County Supervisor Jim Provenza to be a member of the Local Mental Health Board.
Raven is an adjunct professor at UC Davis King Hall School of Law teaching trial advocacy since 2005. He is also an instructor at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles where he trains officers on the POST-mandated racial profiling course. He teaches a segment on the “Criminalization of the Mentally Ill” for the regional Crisis Intervention Training (CIT).
CARE Court and Funding Sources
Presenter:
Stephanie Welch
Room:
Ballroom (San Carlos 3 and 4)
Materials:
Overview:
Deputy Secretary Stephanie Welch will be presenting on recent State priorities and investments in behavioral health programs, including implementation of the CARE Act. The CARE Act creates a new pathway to deliver critical behavioral health services, housing, and other support for Californians with schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorders.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Coming Soon
Biography:
Stephanie Welch
Stephanie Welch is the Deputy Secretary of Behavioral Health for the California Health and Human Services (CalHHS) Agency. Secretary Welch has over two decades of experience in behavioral health policy, program administration, evaluation, and advocacy at both the state and county level, working at organizations such as the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA), the County Behavioral Health Directors Association (CBHDA) and the California Council of Community Behavioral Health Agencies (CBHA). She holds an MSW from the University of Southern California and a BA in Sociology from the University of California, Davis.
1:00 PM - 2:15 PM Block A Sessions
10 Key Components (MCLE Session)
Nuts and Bolts Track
Presenter:
Aaron Arnold
Room:
San Carlos 4
Materials:
Overview:
Established in 1997, the Ten Key Components define the drug court model and remains a blueprint for implementing successful programs. This session will provide an in depth discussion of the Ten Key Components as the foundation of drug courts and the applicability of the components to other types of treatment courts based on research.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Identify and discuss the Ten Key Components and best practice standards for treatment courts.
Identify ways to apply the Ten Key Components and best practice standards to effectively plan and implement a treatment court.
Biography:
Aaron Arnold
Aaron Arnold previously served as director of technical assistance at the Center for Court Innovation, overseeing the Center’s national training and technical assistance work in the areas of treatment courts, mental health initiatives, community justice, prosecutor-led diversion, procedural justice, tribal justice, and more. In this capacity, Aaron managed several federally-funded initiatives, including the BJA Problem-Solving Courts Training and Technical Assistance Program and the BJA State-Based Adult Drug Court Technical Assistance Program.
Aaron previously served as the Center’s director of treatment court programs and as director of the Center’s Tribal Justice Exchange. Before joining the Center, Aaron was a prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in Phoenix, Arizona, where he gained first-hand experience working in several problem-solving courts. Aaron is now the Chief Development Officer for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. Aaron is graduate of Cornell University and the University of Arizona College of Law.
Grief 101: An Overview of Loss, Its Impacts, & Its Remedies (CE Session)
Presenter:
Julie Stroud
Room:
Los Angeles Room
Materials:
Overview:
When someone experiences a loss, their strong and potentially conflicting responses to loss can overwhelm them. Some may feel drowned in sorrow while others feel numb and removed from daily life. Others may find it difficult to carry on with day-to-day tasks or relate to others.
Grief, in its simplest terms, is the response to loss. While many think of grief only over the death of a loved one, people can experience grief over any significant loss – the loss of a relationship, home, job, custody, hope, identity, community, etc.
In this 75-minute session, learn about the multiple dimensions of loss and grief. Discover how people commonly experience grief and ways you can foster coping and resilience in individuals, groups, and populations you encounter a collaborative court setting. Explore how to identify and address your risk for vicarious trauma.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Differentiate potential loss events occurring throughout the lifespan, including non-death situations.
Distinguish types of loss and grief including acute grief, anticipatory grief, disenfranchised grief, prolonged grief, traumatic loss
Recognize common behavioral, cognitive, emotional, physical, and spiritual indications of grief in individuals.
Appraise the factors that influence individual responses to loss.
Define vicarious trauma, explain its causes, and identify strategies to address or prevent vicarious trauma.
Biography:
Julie Stroud
Julie Stroud is an Associate Clinical Social Worker specializing in grief and loss. She is currently a Bereavement Counselor at Mission Hospice in San Mateo and a Staff Therapist at The Psychotherapy Institute in Berkeley. While earning her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University, she was also been trained by Columbia University’s Center for Prolonged Grief and certified as a Certified Grief Educator by grief expert David Kessler.
Planning for Safe Care- How Your Family Preservation Court Can Be Part of the Solution to Keep Children Safe and Families Together (CE Session / MCLE Session)
Presenters:
Will Blakeley and Mary Hale
Room:
San Carlos 2
Materials:
Overview:
The Comprehensive Addiction Act of 2016 (P.L. 114-198) amended the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) related to infants affected by prenatal substance exposure and their families. Requirements were added to emphasize that Plans of Safe Care (POSC) address the health needs of “infants born with and identified as being affected by substance abuse or withdrawal symptoms resulting from prenatal drug exposure, or a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and the substance use disorder (SUD) treatment needs of the family or caregiver”. Understanding of the CARA amendments to CAPTA is fundamental for family treatment courts (FTCs) their role in implementing POSC, supporting mothers and families during pregnancy, preventing family separation and child welfare involvement, and improving cross-system collaboration in their communities. This session will discuss strategies and best practices for serving pregnant and parenting people with SUDs, expanding services within the FPC to serve the needs of mothers, families and their infants, and developing a family-centered POSC to improve the well-being and safety of infants with prenatal exposure and their families. Presenters will also share exciting work underway across the state of California and highlight the unique role that FPCs can play in engaging the community in these system change initiatives that keep children safe and families together.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Understand best practices in serving parenting and pregnant persons with SUDs and their infants and important initiatives across the state of California
Identify strategies to expand the FPC collaborative approach to effectively work with parenting and pregnant women affected by SUDs and their families
Learn how your collaborative team can be part of the approach to implement comprehensive and effective CAPTA Plans of Safe Care
Biographies:
Will Blakeley
Mr. Blakeley currently serves as a Program Associate for the Family Treatment Court Training and Technical Assistance Team for the Center for Children and Family Futures. He coordinates grant projects and program responsibilities and provides various training and technical assistance to Family Treatment Courts and teams around the United States.
Mr. Blakeley has nine years of experience in the child welfare system, including the role of court coordinator for Yellowstone Family Recovery Court, grant management in father engagement, child protection worker, and forensic interviewer. He has also taught at the high school and middle school levels.
Mr. Blakeley has experience training at the national, regional, statewide, and local levels. He is a certified trainer in How Being Trauma-Informed Improves Criminal Justice System Responses. He received a Master of Arts of Teaching from Christian Brothers University and a Bachelor of Arts in Human Rights Studies with minors in Political Science and Marianist Social Transformation from the University of Dayton.
Mary Hale
Ms. Hale provides technical assistance (TA), expertise, and support on collaborative practice, capacity building, continuous quality improvement, and assurance. She helps sites implement trauma-informed evidence and research-based practices for children and families with substance use disorders who are also involved with child welfare and family courts.
Ms. Hale, who has 30 years of direct and administrative experience with behavioral health services and cross-system collaboration, previously served as Orange County (CA)Behavioral Health Director. During that time she developed, implemented, managed, and monitored more than 200 substance use and mental health prevention and treatment programs. Key components included collaboration with child welfare, courts and community service providers.
Ms. Hale holds both a BS Psychology and an MS Clinical/Community Psychology from California State University, Fullerton. She is also certified in Health Care Compliance.
Overview of the CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiative
Presenter:
Autumn Boyle and Sydney Armendariz
Room:
San Carlos 1
Materials:
Overview:
People who are now, or have spent time, in jails, youth correctional facilities, or prisons are at higher risk for injury and death than the general public and the point of release from a correctional facility is an especially vulnerable time for these individuals. California is taking significant steps to address poor health outcomes among justice-involved individuals through its California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) Justice-Involved Initiative, which includes establishing a pre-release Medi-Cal enrollment processes, providing targeted Medi-Cal services to individuals while they are incarcerated immediately prior to their release, and ensuring continuity of coverage and services after incarceration as part of re-entry planning. This workshop will provide an overview of the following CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiative components:
Pre-release Medi-Cal application mandate and unlimited suspension policy;
Pre-release services, including reentry planning; and
Providing Access and Transforming Health Initiative (PATH) funding opportunity for pre-release Medi-Cal application process and pre-release services.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Educate CalSheriff members on CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiative policy, including the pre-release Medi-Cal application mandate and pre-release Medi-Cal services
Provide CalSheriff members an opportunity to ask questions and clarify policy and implementation requirements with DHCS CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiative Leadership Team
Provide CalSheriff members update on PATH Round 2 funding opportunity and application requirements
Biography:
Autumn Boylan
Autumn Boylan (she/her/hers), M.P.H., is the Deputy Director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships at the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). In this role, Ms. Boylan serves as a key contributor in the formulation of policy to achieve the mission of DHCS. She provides strategic direction to and leads department-wide initiatives, such as the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) and the CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiatives.
Ms. Boylan has over 15 years of experience working in the public behavioral health system, including over 12 years with the State of California. She has been with DHCS since 2015 and has extensive expertise in Medi-Cal's health care delivery systems, services, and programs, including Medi-Cal Managed Care, California Children's Services, the Home and Community-Based Services waiver programs, Specialty Mental Health Services and the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System.
Ms. Boylan earned a Master of Public Health degree from Drexel University and a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies from San Francisco State University.
Sydney Armendariz
Sydney Armendariz is the Chief of the Justice Initiatives Branch at the Department of Health Care Services, where she is responsible for leading the expansion of Medi-Cal services to justice-involved individuals. Ms. Armendariz has more than 10 years serving in the public sector, including policy work in health administration, mental health, and social services. Previously, she served as the Corrections-Workforce Partnership Manager at the California Workforce Development Board, and as a policy advisory for Medi-Cal benefits at the Department of Health Care Services. She has a Masters in Organizational Leadership from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychobiology, including a minor in African/African-American Studies, from the University of California, Davis.
Reentry Simulation (MCLE Session)
This session begins at 12:45 PM
Presenters:
Shanda Breed and Bobby Jones-Hanley
Room:
San Carlos 3
Materials:
Overview:
People often think that when a person is released from prison/jail they get their freedom back. But for many, they simply go from one type of incarceration to another: from being locked-up to being locked out. This highly interactive simulation will help you to better understand the challenges that over 600,000 people face every year and learn what you can do to have a positive impact in helping these individuals successfully reintegrate back into the community. This workshop is organized by PURE 1, a national reentry service provider committed to building communities, changing narratives, and transforming lives.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Help increase empathy and change the lens that some administrators see through: Increase participant’s awareness of the numerous challenges and barriers that people face when reentering society and when trying to navigate the various rules and requirements imposed.
Help increase the tools that court administrators and staff can draw from: Through better understanding the myriad of issues clients face, officials may learn that their role can be much more broad in terms of what they can do to help clients in a more comprehensive way, thus ensuring long-term success.
Help Increase understanding about the value of working with Peer Specialists: Through proximity and changing narratives, help administrators better see how effective collaboration with peer specialists can assist in increasing successful outcomes.
Help facilitate alternative approaches when dealing with sanctions and program violations: For some administrators it may help them to better understand the complexity of a person and to look at the bigger picture of what is going on rather than just simply responding to a specific violation.
Biographies:
Shanda Breed
Shanda Breed is the Director of Adult Probation Services of the AOC under the Arizona Supreme Court. Her team strives for continual quality improvements and providing relevant and evidenced based trainings to Adult County Probation Departments, community partners, and local courts on topics such as sex offender supervision, reentry services and responses, mental health intervention, access to treatment, effective specialty courts, GPS monitoring, transferred youth, EBP assessment and case plans, EPICS-II rollout, state funds, domestic violence, tribal and rural supervision, AmeriCorps memberships and more.
Bobby Jones-Hanley
Bobby Jones-Hanley is a social justice change agent dedicated to improving the lives and economic standing of people impacted by the criminal legal system. His passion for positive change is fueled by his personal life experiences. As a system impacted individual with over 30 years within the criminal justice system, he's devoted himself to changing narratives and creating opportunities for people who are justice involved. As such, he's developed Pure1.org, a national reentry support network and connection platform that helps people, both pre and post-release, get connected to the resources and connections they need to positively transform their lives.
2:30 PM - 3:45 PM Block B Sessions
County Learning Collaboratives to Support Implementation of MAT in Jails (CE Session / MCLE Session)
Presenter:
Bren Manaugh
Room:
San Carlos 1
Materials:
Overview:
More than ever before Collaborative Courts are positioned to have positive impact on some of the most marginalized and vulnerable persons in our country - those with opioid use disorder and justice system involvement. However, despite California county progress in establishing drug courts - and the promise of improved outcomes they bring, including reduction in recidivism - and billions of dollars in state and federal funding - the national and state death rate due to opioid overdose continues to rise. Health Management Associates (HMA) is contracted with California Department of Health Care Services for the MAT in Jails and Drug Courts Learning Collaborative, funded by the CA state legislature. For the past three-plus years HMA has been leading a learning collaborative with 37 California counties supporting implementation of MAT in county jails, drug courts and the county service delivery system. To date almost 32,000 people have accessed MAT while incarcerated in participating county jails from an initial baseline of 25. This session will describe the evidence-base and promising practices for successful implementation of MAT in county justice systems and provide information about how Collaborative Courts and their partners can participate in the continuing county learning collaborative.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Participants will describe a model for effectively supporting implementation of MAT in county drug courts and jails
Participants will understand how to participate in supporting MAT implementation for justice-involved individuals in their counties and communities through a state-funded county learning collaborative
Biography:
Bren Manaugh
Bren Manaugh, LCSW-S, CPHQ, CCTS, is a clinician, healthcare leader, and specialist in organizational and systems transformation with more than twenty-five years of experience in clinical services and operations. As a Principal at Health Management Associates (HMA) she directs HMA's MAT in Jails and Drug Courts project under contract with California DHCS as well as projects in Illinois and Alaska supporting implementation of MAT in county jails and prisons. To date at HMA she has supported more than 50 jails and counties in 16 states with MAT implementation.
Prior to joining HMA Bren was vice president of adult services at a large public BH agency in San Antonio Texas where she developed and administered programs in the nationally recognized Bexar County diversion model. In this leadership role she partnered with multiple hospitals, city and county leadership, and the criminal justice system. She oversaw operations across a full continuum of mental health and substance use disorder services, and in partnership with the Sheriff, Police Department, Courts and County across the entire sequential intercept map.
Bren's approach engages multiple stakeholders and decision makers to generate innovative strategies to develop and drive person-centered, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed care to optimize outcomes and reduce costs. She is a licensed clinical social worker and certified clinical supervisor, certified professional in healthcare quality, and a certified clinical trauma specialist.
Good News on the Effectiveness of JDTCs: Findings from the JDTC Guidelines Study (CE Session / MCLE Session)
Presenter:
Dr. Martha-Elin Blomquist
Room:
San Carlos 2
Materials:
Overview:
This module provides an overview of the recently completely multi-site study of juvenile drug treatment courts (JDTCs) that implement the recommended practices set forth in the JDTC Guidelines. The speaker will review the study's key findings on the impact of JDTCs, particularly with high-risk high-need youth with substance use disorders (SUD). Compared to traditional juvenile courts (TJCs), JDTCs are more effective in reducing substance use – especially cannabis - reducing recidivism, increasing access to behavioral health services, and reducing self-reported mental health symptoms. The speaker will also address opportunities - that the research findings suggest – for JDTCs to increase youth access to and engagement in behavioral health services.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Describe the JDTC Guidelines as the current set of research-based recommended practices that make JDTCs effective at reducing substance use, decreasing recidivism, and increasing pro-social activities of youth with SUDs
Understand the key findings of the most recent research evaluating the JDTC Guidelines
Identify key practices in JDTCs relating to the behavioral health services cascade that are pivotal to making SUD treatment beneficial for JDTC youth participants
Biography:
Dr. Martha-Elin Blomquist
Dr. Martha-Elin Blomquist is a Senior Site Manager for the Juvenile Law Programs at the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ). She has more than a decade of experience in site management work with the NCJFCJ and over 35 years of experience related to child welfare, juvenile justice, and court systems. Dr. Blomquist provides training and technical assistance to juvenile drug treatment courts to assist them with implementing recommended practice. She has provided on-site training and technical assistance to courts involved in NCJFCJ’s Model Courts and Project ONE projects to plan and carry out systems change in both child welfare and juvenile justice.
As the NCJFCJ’s liaison with the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF), Dr. Blomquist works with members of the AECF Juvenile Justice Strategy Group to involve judges in collaboration with state juvenile correctional administrators, probation departments, and community-based organizations to promote therapeutic interventions, adolescent-appropriate services, and community connections for youths involved in serious delinquency. Her projects focus on developing and providing training and technical assistance to court and child-serving system stakeholders to help them address pressing issues.
Dr. Blomquist holds a master’s and Ph.D. in Jurisprudence and Social Policy from the University of California Berkeley School of Law where she specialized in juvenile and criminal justice studies and research. She has taught in women’s studies and criminal justice programs at several universities, has been an author or co-author of various publications issued by the NCJFCJ as well as by peer-reviewed journals, and has been a speaker at several national conferences.
Law School 101 for Treatment Court Professionals (MCLE Session)
Nuts and Bolts Track
Presenter:
Aaron Arnold
Room:
San Carlos 4
Materials:
Overview:
Treatment courts have become a central feature of many state justice systems, as they offer an effective, evidence-based approach for addressing the underlying challenges—like substance use disorders and mental health issues—that often drive people into the justice system. Decades of research shows that these courts save lives, reduce recidivism, strengthen families, and improve public trust in justice. One of the major critiques of treatment courts, however, is that they raise legal concerns related to due process, right to counsel, access to appropriate treatment, confidentiality of information, and other issues. It is critically important that treatment court judges and teams understand these legal issues and ensure that their courts are conforming to the law and protecting the rights of participants.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Identify the key legal issues implicated by treatment courts
Cite the major legal underpinnings of the treatment court model
Improve courts by applying the information and recommendations offered in this presentation
Biography:
Aaron Arnold
Aaron Arnold previously served as director of technical assistance at the Center for Court Innovation, overseeing the Center’s national training and technical assistance work in the areas of treatment courts, mental health initiatives, community justice, prosecutor-led diversion, procedural justice, tribal justice, and more. In this capacity, Aaron managed several federally-funded initiatives, including the BJA Problem-Solving Courts Training and Technical Assistance Program and the BJA State-Based Adult Drug Court Technical Assistance Program.
Aaron previously served as the Center’s director of treatment court programs and as director of the Center’s Tribal Justice Exchange. Before joining the Center, Aaron was a prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in Phoenix, Arizona, where he gained first-hand experience working in several problem-solving courts. Aaron is now the Chief Development Officer for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. Aaron is graduate of Cornell University and the University of Arizona College of Law.
Legislative Session: Making Your Voices Heard
Presenter:
Sharon Reilly
Room:
Los Angeles Room
Materials:
Coming soon
Overview:
Provides a high level overview of the legislative process and how your organizations can weigh in on legislation that is important to you. Provides a summary of high profile pending legislation impacting Collaborative Justice Courts, including the importance of using remote technology in court proceedings for all those involved in making Collaborative Justice Courts successful.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Understanding the legislative process and how and who to contact about legislation important to your organization that’s on the horizon for 2023
Biography:
Sharon Reilly
Sharon Reilly has been with the Judicial Council since January 2013 as an Attorney for legislation relating to criminal law and procedure, collaborative justice courts, mental health, juries, and redistricting and judicial elections. Among other issues relating to forensic mental health, she has communicated the council’s views to the legislature and the administration on Mental Health Diversion and the reform of laws relating to individuals found incompetent to stand trial. Ms. Reilly previously served as chief counsel for the California Bureau of State Audits (BSA) for 13 years, and served as a deputy legislative counsel in the California Office of Legislative Counsel for 9 years. As chief counsel with BSA, Ms. Reilly was the executive responsible for the implementation of the State Auditor’s role in the formation of the first California Redistricting Commission, and oversaw all legal issues relating to audits and investigations, including those involving the criminal justice system. While working at the Legislative Counsel Bureau she served as counsel to several legislative committees, including the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, and the Constitutional Revision Commission. A University of California, Berkeley graduate, Ms. Reilly earned her juris doctorate degree from the University of California at Davis.
Reentry Simulation (MCLE Session)
This session ends at 4:00 PM
Presenters:
Shanda Breed and Bobby Jones-Hanley
Room: TBA
San Carlos 3
Materials:
Overview:
People often think that when a person is released from prison/jail they get their freedom back. But for many, they simply go from one type of incarceration to another: from being locked-up to being locked out. This highly interactive simulation will help you to better understand the challenges that over 600,000 people face every year and learn what you can do to have a positive impact in helping these individuals successfully reintegrate back into the community. This workshop is organized by PURE 1, a national reentry service provider committed to building communities, changing narratives, and transforming lives.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Help increase empathy and change the lens that some administrators see through: Increase participant’s awareness of the numerous challenges and barriers that people face when reentering society and when trying to navigate the various rules and requirements imposed.
Help increase the tools that court administrators and staff can draw from: Through better understanding the myriad of issues clients face, officials may learn that their role can be much more broad in terms of what they can do to help clients in a more comprehensive way, thus ensuring long-term success.
Help Increase understanding about the value of working with Peer Specialists: Through proximity and changing narratives, help administrators better see how effective collaboration with peer specialists can assist in increasing successful outcomes.
Help facilitate alternative approaches when dealing with sanctions and program violations: For some administrators it may help them to better understand the complexity of a person and to look at the bigger picture of what is going on rather than just simply responding to a specific violation.
Biographies:
Shanda Breed
Shanda Breed is the Director of Adult Probation Services of the AOC under the Arizona Supreme Court. Her team strives for continual quality improvements and providing relevant and evidenced based trainings to Adult County Probation Departments, community partners, and local courts on topics such as sex offender supervision, reentry services and responses, mental health intervention, access to treatment, effective specialty courts, GPS monitoring, transferred youth, EBP assessment and case plans, EPICS-II rollout, state funds, domestic violence, tribal and rural supervision, AmeriCorps memberships and more.
Bobby Jones-Hanley
Bobby Jones-Hanley is a social justice change agent dedicated to improving the lives and economic standing of people impacted by the criminal legal system. His passion for positive change is fueled by his personal life experiences. As a system impacted individual with over 30 years within the criminal justice system, he's devoted himself to changing narratives and creating opportunities for people who are justice involved. As such, he's developed Pure1.org, a national reentry support network and connection platform that helps people, both pre and post-release, get connected to the resources and connections they need to positively transform their lives.
4:00 PM - 5:15 PM Block C Sessions
Aligning the Stars: Using Individualized Case Planning to Promote JDTC Participant Success (CE Session / MCLE Session)
Presenter:
Dr. Martha-Elin Blomquist
Room:
San Carlos 2
Materials: TBA
Overview:
This workshop introduces participants to tools - risk need assessments - and processes - case planning and family engagement - for JDTC teams to work with to maximize youth engagement and success. The speaker will review criminogenic risk and need assessments and the risk/needs/responsivity model (RNR) as tools to effectively identify youth who will benefit the most from participation in a JDTC. The tools pinpoint youth mindsets and behaviors that JDTCs are uniquely designed to address and treat. Key to implementing the RNR model is creating individualized case plans that include SMART goals that youth and family members help to set and work toward achieving in the JDTC. The speaker will also identify aspects of a youth’s supervision in the JDTC – probation conditions, JDTC program phases and requirements – that also need to be aligned with and connected to the youth’s case plan and goals in order to maximize youth success.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Describe the risk/needs/responsivity (RNR) model and how JDTCs can implement this model to guide supervision and services provided to youth for positive program outcomes
Understand how to use risk/need tools to determine JDTC eligibility and to identify youth mindsets and behaviors to be addressed through JDTC-related services, supports, and supervision
Learn how to develop case and treatment plans that best meet the needs of youth and families.
Biography:
Dr. Martha-Elin Blomquist
Dr. Martha-Elin Blomquist is a Senior Site Manager for the Juvenile Law Programs at the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ). She has more than a decade of experience in site management work with the NCJFCJ and over 35 years of experience related to child welfare, juvenile justice, and court systems. Dr. Blomquist provides training and technical assistance to juvenile drug treatment courts to assist them with implementing recommended practice. She has provided on-site training and technical assistance to courts involved in NCJFCJ’s Model Courts and Project ONE projects to plan and carry out systems change in both child welfare and juvenile justice.
As the NCJFCJ’s liaison with the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF), Dr. Blomquist works with members of the AECF Juvenile Justice Strategy Group to involve judges in collaboration with state juvenile correctional administrators, probation departments, and community-based organizations to promote therapeutic interventions, adolescent-appropriate services, and community connections for youths involved in serious delinquency. Her projects focus on developing and providing training and technical assistance to court and child-serving system stakeholders to help them address pressing issues.
Dr. Blomquist holds a master’s and Ph.D. in Jurisprudence and Social Policy from the University of California Berkeley School of Law where she specialized in juvenile and criminal justice studies and research. She has taught in women’s studies and criminal justice programs at several universities, has been an author or co-author of various publications issued by the NCJFCJ as well as by peer-reviewed journals, and has been a speaker at several national conferences.
Breath Movement and Mind: Tools for Enhanced Recovery, Treatment and Self-Care
Presenters:
Hon. Dan Healy and Chanda Williams
Room:
San Carlos 3
Materials:
TBA
Overview:
There is a growing body of research establishing that mindfulness practices, including meditation, Yoga, and other contemplative practices can significantly improve outcomes for our collaborative court participants and also help ourselves improve resilience. In this session, attendees will gain a brief introduction to the practices, discuss the research and evidence detailing the benefits of these practices, then guided through introductory exercises exploring breath, movement and the mind.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Learn research that supports the benefits of mindfulness practices for collaborative court participants
Learn introductory breath, movement, and mind exercises
Biography:
Hon. Dan Healy
Judge Dan Healy has been a judge in Solano County since 2011and presides over a felony criminal calendar as well as Mental Health and Veterans Court calendars; he previously presided over Drug and Reentry Court calendars for 8 years. He is a board member of the California Association of Collaborative Courts and several judicial committees involved with efforts to improve justice system responses for persons struggling with substance use, mental health, and other health challenges. He is a proponent of integrating wellness practices into treatment court and criminal justice practices. He regularly teaches on these topics.
Prior to joining the bench in 2010, Judge Healy was an attorney in private practice in Solano County for 24 years where he enjoyed a successful trial practice in criminal, juvenile, civil and real estate / land use areas, having tried nearly 100 cases to verdict. He was named a Northern California “Superlawyer” in criminal law from 2004-2009 and was honored as “Attorney of the Year” by the Solano County Bar Assn. in 2005. He was certified by the State Bar of California as a criminal law specialist. He earned his Juris Doctor in June 1986 from UOP McGeorge School of Law and his B.A. from UC Davis in 1982. He was born and raised in Vallejo
Chanda Williams
Chanda Williams has facilitated yoga classes inside San Quentin State Prison since 2015 as part of the Prison Yoga Project. She has a B.S. in mechanical engineering and MAs in integrative health and depth somatic psychology. She is a UCSF predoctoral fellow and doctoral candidate in somatic depth psychology researching the long-term impact of trauma-informed, mindfulness-based yoga therapy for incarcerated populations. She is also a research specialist for a clinical research study sponsored by UCSF and the VA, evaluating the effects of mindfulness-based movement for veterans with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD).
A yoga practitioner since 1996, certified teacher since 2005, and yoga therapist in private practice, she is dedicated to applying Mind-Body approaches to improve the well-being of marginalized, under-served, and under-resourced populations.
Intimate (IPV) Partner Violence in Veterans (CE Session)
Veterans Treatment Court Track
Presenter:
Casey Taft
Room:
San Carlos 1
Materials:
Overview:
This session will focus on the problem of intimate partner violence (IPV) in a subsect of the justice-involved veteran population. The speaker will discuss the etiology of IPV, focusing on how trauma and related problems such as posttraumatic stress disorder may influence how veterans interpret and respond to others in conflict situations. The discussion then shifts to a description of the Strength at Home program, including how motivational strategies facilitate accountability for abusive behavior. The session concludes with a review of the scientific evidence for the intervention.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Review social information processing model for intimate partner violence.
Discuss strategies for motivating those who use intimate partner violence to increase their engagement in the therapy process.
Describe suggested programmatic modifications that can enhance participant outcomes.
Biography:
Casey T. Taft
Casey T. Taft, Ph.D., is a staff psychologist at the National Center for PTSD in the VA Boston Healthcare System, and Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Taft was the 2009 Linda Saltzman Memorial Intimate Partner Violence Researcher Award winner from the Institute on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma. He has served as Principal Investigator on funded grants focusing on understanding and preventing partner violence through the National Institute of Mental Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of Defense, the Blue Shield Foundation of California, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, and the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation. He was the primary developer of the Strength at Home program to prevent intimate partner violence, with current grants to implement the program within the VA and in military settings as well as a pilot grant to adapt and evaluate the program for civilians. Dr. Taft is on the Editorial Boards of five journals and has published over 110 peer-reviewed academic articles and a book on trauma-informed partner violence intervention, published by the American Psychological Association.
Overview of the CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiative
Presenter:
Autumn Boyle and Sydney Armendariz
Room:
San Carlos 4
Materials:
Overview:
People who are now, or have spent time, in jails, youth correctional facilities, or prisons are at higher risk for injury and death than the general public and the point of release from a correctional facility is an especially vulnerable time for these individuals. California is taking significant steps to address poor health outcomes among justice-involved individuals through its California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) Justice-Involved Initiative, which includes establishing a pre-release Medi-Cal enrollment processes, providing targeted Medi-Cal services to individuals while they are incarcerated immediately prior to their release, and ensuring continuity of coverage and services after incarceration as part of re-entry planning. This workshop will provide an overview of the following CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiative components:
Pre-release Medi-Cal application mandate and unlimited suspension policy;
Pre-release services, including reentry planning; and
Providing Access and Transforming Health Initiative (PATH) funding opportunity for pre-release Medi-Cal application process and pre-release services.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
Educate CalSheriff members on CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiative policy, including the pre-release Medi-Cal application mandate and pre-release Medi-Cal services
Provide CalSheriff members an opportunity to ask questions and clarify policy and implementation requirements with DHCS CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiative Leadership Team
Provide CalSheriff members update on PATH Round 2 funding opportunity and application requirements
Biography:
Autumn Boylan
Autumn Boylan (she/her/hers), M.P.H., is the Deputy Director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships at the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). In this role, Ms. Boylan serves as a key contributor in the formulation of policy to achieve the mission of DHCS. She provides strategic direction to and leads department-wide initiatives, such as the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) and the CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiatives.
Ms. Boylan has over 15 years of experience working in the public behavioral health system, including over 12 years with the State of California. She has been with DHCS since 2015 and has extensive expertise in Medi-Cal's health care delivery systems, services, and programs, including Medi-Cal Managed Care, California Children's Services, the Home and Community-Based Services waiver programs, Specialty Mental Health Services and the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System.
Ms. Boylan earned a Master of Public Health degree from Drexel University and a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies from San Francisco State University.
Sydney Armendariz
Sydney Armendariz is the Chief of the Justice Initiatives Branch at the Department of Health Care Services, where she is responsible for leading the expansion of Medi-Cal services to justice-involved individuals. Ms. Armendariz has more than 10 years serving in the public sector, including policy work in health administration, mental health, and social services. Previously, she served as the Corrections-Workforce Partnership Manager at the California Workforce Development Board, and as a policy advisory for Medi-Cal benefits at the Department of Health Care Services. She has a Masters in Organizational Leadership from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychobiology, including a minor in African/African-American Studies, from the University of California, Davis.
The Role of Law Enforcement in Treatment Courts
Presenter:
Vanessa Price
Room:
Los Angeles Room
Materials:
Overview:
This session is designed to educate law enforcement officers on treatment court programs and the role law enforcement plays on the treatment court team. Law enforcement officers will gain a better understanding of treatment courts, collaborations, and interacting with team members/participants. Law enforcement officers will learn the core knowledge, skills and information necessary to be an effective part of the treatment court team. We have course modules to educate you on developing your role as a member of a treatment court team or your capacity to support safer communities through community engagement with the treatment court program in your jurisdiction.
Workshop Goals/Learning Objectives:
To increase understanding of law enforcement's role in identifying target populations to refer to local treatment court programs
To identify decision points along the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) where law enforcement plays a vital role in identification, referral services, diversionary resources, recovery capital needs, and treatment court referral
To build collaborations between law enforcement and the local treatment court program
Biography:
Vanessa Price
Vanessa Price is a division director for the National Drug Court Institute (NDCI), a division of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP). She was employed as a police officer with Oklahoma City from 1990 to 2012, working with the Oklahoma County drug court from May 1998 to September 2009. She was instrumental in the development of the drug court program, including policy manual development, budgeting, and staff training. Her training presentations and curriculum development include recognizing the signs of mental illness, identifying a subject under the influence of drugs, effectively communicating with consumers, strengths‐based interviewing, team building, drug testing, program planning and development, grant writing, community supervision, cultural proficiency for consumers served, ethics and confidentiality in treatment programs, psychopharmacology of drugs for first responders, and community resource identification and development.
In 2014, Ms. Price was appointed by the governor of Oklahoma to serve on the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. In 2015 she was reappointed to a four‐year term and elected chair of the organization. She joined the staff of NADCP in 2016 to serve as the director of NDCI. Ms. Price has an associate degree from Oklahoma State University in applied police science and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Oklahoma in criminal justice. In July 2020, Ms. Price was elected to serve as a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Board of Directors.
