Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA) State Implementation Plans

- [Jimmy Steyee] First of all, I would like to, offer my apologies for the June 1st meeting cancellation. Unfortunately, we did have some technical difficulties with Webex that were beyond our control. So, I do sincerely apologize, and thank you all for your flexibility and for joining this training. We sincerely appreciate your efforts to move toward a complete and accurate accounting of arrest-related death and deaths in custody as required under the Death in Custody Reporting Act. So, today we will just do a quick welcome and introduction. So, if you can put your name and what state you represent into the chat. That way we all know who is on, and you guys can communicate back and forth and collaborate with each other. So, feel free to do that now as we go through the agenda. Then, I'll move into a quick overview of DCRA. I know we have a few people that are new to DCRA reporting in state. So, we'll do some overview, discuss the requirements, and then I'll talk about some new compliance factors that we're considering. And then we'll get into the DCRA State Implementation Plan, and you're going to hear from our new DCRA State TTA provider and they'll talk about the Implementation Plan Elements and Expectations. And then you'll hear from our program's office, Tarasa, and she'll talk about plan submission and review as part of your JAG application. We have allowed plenty of time, I hope, for Q&A. So, if you have questions as we move throughout, again, please pop them into chat. We'll be monitoring that, we'll try to get to those at the end. So, my name is Jimmy Steyee. I am the BJA Program Specialist. So, I oversee performance measurement and DCRA reporting for BJA. Actually, pinch-hitting for Director Karhlton Moore is going to be Michelle Garcia. And then after that you will see and hear from Mr. Roger Przybylski who is with JRSA, and he's the Research Director there. And then, finally, Tarasa Napolitano. She is the JAG lead for BJA. With that, I'll turn it over to Michelle.

- [Michelle Garcia] Thank you, Jimmy. Hello, everyone. Good afternoon or good morning, depending where you're at. I am Michelle Garcia, I'm the Deputy Director for Programs at BJA, and I'm also currently serving as the acting Principal Deputy Director. Director Moore is apologetic that he could not be with us today, but he did ask me to share a few thoughts around DCRA. As you've heard us talk about many times, DCRA is a top priority for the Department of Justice. The goal of the DCRA program is to have a national source that is complete and consistent, so that we can understand the scope and nature of death occurring in jails, prisons, and arrest-related death. And perhaps more importantly, we want to be able to use this information as well as the ongoing studies, to identify factors that can help prevent and reduce these incidents wherever possible. State Administrating Agencies are critical partners in collecting and reporting this data, and I speak from experience as the former SAA for the District of Columbia. We appreciate all of your efforts since states began reporting to BJA, and we are committed to providing support and assistance and resources to enhance DCRA reporting. The DCRA State Implementation Plans that you'll be submitting with your FY23 JAG applications will not only serve as your roadmap for data collection or reporting, but will also allow us to identify opportunities to enhance our support, to you, both from BJA, as well as from JRSA, who you'll hear more from as we go through today's presentation. Thank you, again, for taking the time to be here with us today. This is a very important topic, and we look forward to continuing to partner with you on enhancing our different data collection and reports. I will turn it back over to Jimmy. Thank you.

- [Jimmy Steyee] Thank you, Michelle. So, we have a poll question to get us started. So, you should see a dialogue box pop up with that poll question, here, and it is: What progress have you made in developing your state's DCRA Implementation Plan? And we'll give it 30 seconds, 45 seconds or so for you to get your responses in, and then we'll take a quick look. Alright, we'll go ahead and close and end the poll right now. Yeah, this is great to see. We have about 38 percent, so a little less than half. Although, counting states, 25, looks like we're probably getting multiple responses per state, but that's okay, that are in progress and another roughly 23 percent that are not started. Five, out of you all, are complete, which is very encouraging, so, we appreciate that. Hopefully, today's presentation will, for those of you that are in progress, not started, not sure, it will give you a good place to start and/or continue your progress toward your Implementation Plan. I'm going to go ahead and close that poll. Alright, now let's get into some of the main parts of this webinar. So, I'll begin with a brief history of the DCRA. So, for those of you who are new to DCRA reporting, it originally was passed into law in 2000. The DCRA requires the attorney general to collect from states information regarding the death of any person who was under arrest, in the process of being arrested, en route to be incarcerated, or is in a municipal or county jail, state prison, or other local or state correctional facility, including juvenile correctional facilities. BJS initially collected DCRA data, even as the law elapsed, through 2006 up until 2019. DCRA of 2013 was reauthorized in 2014, it expanded and changed the law in a couple of important ways: it expanded the requirement to federal agencies to report DCRA data, and that is maintained by BJS; and it also authorized the attorney general to withhold a 10 percent penalty of JAG funds to use, at his discretion, for non-compliance. In 2019, BJA took over administration of the data collection from BJS due to that penalty issue. BJS cannot use statistical data for policy reasons. And so, beginning in 2019, at the beginning of fiscal year 2020, states began reporting, as a requirement of JAG, in the PMT. So, now, starting with fiscal year 2023, we're adding this new wrinkle, and that is to require a State Implementation Plan to be submitted with your JAG application. And again, this is FY 2023 JAG application. Now, to back up a little bit, let's take a look at the requirements as written in the law. It requires that states report to the attorney general, via the DOJ, the death of any person who is either: one, detained; two, under arrest or, and I want to emphasize this point, in the process of being arrested; three, is en route to a jail, prison, or holding facility; four, is incarcerated. As you can see, the law is very broad and does include many scenarios, especially when you consider the language, "in the process of being arrested." In those reports, these elements must be included: we require the name, gender, race, ethnicity, and age of the deceased; the date, time, and location; the law enforcement agency that detained, arrested, or was in the process of arresting the deceased; and, lastly, a brief description of the circumstances surrounding the death. So, for many of you, you may be getting some email fatigue recently from all of our verification and outreach emails; but these requirements, here, on the screen are why we are reviewing your data so closely, and we sincerely appreciate your follow up on those issues. Now, I want to switch gears a little bit. BJA has began working to establish criteria for assessing state reporting compliance. While the compliance plan is not yet finalized, and we will share it with you as soon as we can when it is finalized, I can share with you the factors that we will be looking at. First, you must submit DCRA State Implementation Plan that meets minimum criteria, which we will discuss more today. You must submit quarterly reports, as required, by law and these reports should demonstrate that you are collecting and reporting all type of reportable deaths. For example, arrest-related death, jail-based deaths, and prison or correctional facility deaths. Your submissions should be complete and accurate as possible. You can ensure this by carefully reviewing and responding to our quarterly outreach when we do verifications. As part of the JAG application, as noted already, we are going to be requiring a State Implementation Plan. We'll get into this more today with JRSA, but, very quickly, the plan should detail state level procedures for collecting and reporting BJA data. It should touch on where you are at now and where you plan to move in the future. And finally, DCRA requires that states submit quarterly reports, and that states should demonstrate consistent reporting of all types of reportable deaths, including arrest-related deaths; jail-based deaths, including lock-up and holding facilities; and prison-based deaths, including contract facilities as well as juvenile facilities. Now, we also want to ensure data quality, which means taking steps to make sure that data that you report is as complete and accurate as possible. Now we're not saying right now that you should absolutely have the full universe or 100 percent reporting, but what we're trying to get at is: what you do report is complete and accurate and that you're moving toward 100 percent reporting of the universe, so we're looking for continuous quality improvement. Will that, I'll turn it over to Roger Przybylski, who will discuss the State Implementation Plans and expectations. Thank you.

- [Roger Przybylski] Thank you, Jimmy. And hello, everybody. So, as Jimmy introduced me, I'm Roger Przybylski. I'm the Research Director for the Justice Research and Statistics Association. We are a TTA provider for the DCRA program, coming on board in that capacity in February of this year. I am going to walk through, in a little bit of detail, what some of the requirements are, what should be included in the DCRA Implementation Plan. I think probably that most of you that are in the audience today are aware of JRSA and also our SAC network across the country. But, I'm going to take just a brief moment to mention what our background is so that you are aware of JRSA and who we are. We're a national nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. We serve really as a resource for researchers, research consumers, policy makers, practitioners across the country in the criminal justice space. We provide and conduct research. We develop and provide training programs and engage in a number of different technical assistance initiatives for a variety of stakeholders nationwide. We were actually created all the way back in 1974 by the predecessor agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Over the years, we expanded, sort of, our reach and portfolio, and we work very closely with a network of entities or organizations called Statistical Analysis Centers across the country. There is one of these entities in 51 states and territories across the country right now. They engage in data analysis, statistical analysis, and other types of information exchange work to be able to support policy and practice in criminal justice at the state level. We work these entities very closely to be able to support them, build their capacity, and ensure that there's a strong exchange of information between the states and the federal government. I want to just, kind of, make those comments and make everyone aware of the SAC network, because I'm going to mention the SACs a little bit later in the presentation this morning about the State DCRA Implementation Plans. JRSA is ready and available to be able to meet every one of the states that needs assistance, really where you are, and as Jimmy and Michelle are alluding to, to be able to actually move the needle forward in terms of getting more complete data reporting and eventual complete compliance on the DCRA reporting nationwide. Keep in mind that we do have a great deal of expertise, I'm going to say, in terms of data collection work. The SACs have this expertise as well. And I'll allude back to some of this when I get through a couple of the slides that relate to what the expectations are for the DCRA Implementation Plans. But what I wanted to just, basically, try to express to everybody is that we've got a great deal of experience, expertise, and a strong network of entities, many of which are co-located within the SAAs that can assist with data collection and come up with creative approaches to be able to move the needle forward on DCRA reporting. So, I'm going to stop there about our background and the SACs, but I'll come back to the SACs momentarily. Basically, what I want to do today, I'm not going to try be redundant to what anything Jimmy has already said or that Michelle alluded to. Obviously, with the beginning this year's JAG application, there needs to be a DCRA Implementation Plan that's included within that JAG application. What really, kind of, been driven at, here, is that that plan must demonstrate the state's, the SAA's, awareness of DCRA reporting requirements, and it must. specify, if you will, what your plan, what your method, your approach, your blueprint is for collecting and reporting DCRA program data. What's really important again, and I'll underscore this many times as I talk this morning, is, regardless of where you are today, what is really being driven at here is moving the needle forward, improvement over time, meeting everybody where they are today, and making improvements, incremental as they may be, to be able to eventually get to complete accurate data reporting under the DCRA program. While the requirement that there's an Implementation Plan for DCRA in the JAG application is new, be aware that, in any subsequent year, in which the state's DCRA Implementation Plan is not fully updated, you're going to have to submit, with your JAG application, a brief description of any Implementation Plan changes, modifications. I think also the notion of being able to demonstrate progress over time, an improvement in data, complete reporting, and so forth. What's, again, most important to recognize, here, also is that there's a great deal of assistance that is available through BJA and through JRSA. I think also from the notion of looking at what your peers in other states are doing, that there probably is going to be a great deal of expertise, experience, and progress that can be drawn upon peer-to-peer that can help every one of you move forward and move the needle on this. Let's go ahead and change the slide. Go to the next one, here, and what my intent is today is to be able to simplify, in some detail, what needs to be included in the DCRA Implementation Plan that is part of your JAG application. Now, Jimmy already alluded to the notion of being able to understand, kind of, document, identify, what the universe of reporting is in your state, and that's absolutely something that's going to be expected to be seen in the DCRA Implementation Plan that's part of your JAG application. You'll need to identify, define what the complete universe is, what these agencies are that are prospectively supposed to be reporting DCRA data to the SAA, and then forwarding this to BJA. What's the number of entities in law enforcement? We're talking, again, about any agency, any entity, organization that has arrest powers, anybody that has a lockup facility, extending it out to areas of county jails, and correctional institutions, and so forth; but you should be able to identify and define exactly what that universe, what that number of potential reporting agencies is, and you should be able to identify what the current situation is on reporting of that universe, of that entire frame, which agencies are currently reporting, which agencies are not. What types of outreach strategies, approaches have been undertaken to engage agencies that are not reporting or what you have in terms of plans for moving forward in terms of outreach recruiting from these agencies, so that eventually you're able to get everybody on board and get them submitting the right data and getting complete information? Identifying the universe can be difficult. I'm going to suggest that might be particularly the case when we look at law enforcement agencies. There may be tools that we can use and work together to be able to ensure that the frame in the universe is properly identified. There may be things that can be used such as a FBI ORI reporting number, but what I want to specify and just, basically, make sure that everyone is aware of is that JRSA and our SAC network can work with you and collaborate with you to help you identify and define that universe of reporting agencies, and also to be able to develop the right outreach and successful, sort of, recruitment strategies to help engage those agencies and make sure that they are on board with reporting. Now, in addition to be able to specify what the universe is for reporting, what that frame is. You should also be able to, in your DCRA plan, in the JAG application, specify what your procedures are for reporting deaths to the SAA, what those procedures are, what the form manner of that reporting looks like for every situation, whether we're talking about reporting arrest-related deaths, jail-based deaths, prison-based, community corrections, so on and so forth. This can be a very, sort of, challenging and difficult area to be, really, specifying. And what I want to really, kind of, mention, here, as we talk about this notion of what are we really driving at, here, in terms of documenting procedures and so forth. I want to basically throw out a couple of, probably, examples or what I might put on the table as being possibilities to include in this area of your DCRA Implementation Plan. And that is looking at things about, like, what are the policies and procedures that you've established, in terms of how reporting agencies are supposed to get this information to you, deliver this information. Are there specific tools that you put into place? Are there spreadsheets that are being used? Are there record systems that are being used? What is exactly the infrastructure or the type of mechanisms that are going to be used for these agencies to be able to extract this information and get it to the SAA, so that you can then report this upwards to BJA. When we think about what we're talking about in terms of infrastructure for reporting, what exactly are the data elements that you're asking these agencies to report in these different areas? What's the frequency of reporting? We know that the standard is right now that there should be quarterly reporting here. What's the procedure or what's the policy that you have in place if no deaths had occurred during the reporting period? Do you have a process for reviewing and cleaning the information, the data, the records, that are being reported to you? Is there a process for tracking and updating the status of records? Are you able to engage in some kind of investigation with any information that's being reported to you? Does it look like it's, I mean, passing the giggle test or that it is indeed accurate and appropriate? Do you have staff that's dedicated to these processes, to the outreach, and to the recruitment process? To the data review and verification process? Things of that nature. So, identifying and specifying, in detail, what this process looks like today, and what your blueprint or plans are for engaging in this going forward, is indeed also what needs to be a part of this plan that is going into the JAG application. I can go into more detail, there's an awful lot that we could talk about in terms of specifications in here, but I hope that some of the examples that I've given, here, at least provide some insight into what we're talking about in terms of what those procedures need to entail and what needs to be actually written down and included in that plan that's in your JAG application. This entire, sort of, process, of being able to document what your procedures are and what your blueprints are, really also need to be, sort of, I'm going to say, organized and thought about from the perspective you want to be able to build and develop your capacity to be able to understand where your challenges lie and where the problems lie, so that you can develop, actually, really credible, targeted strategies and tactics to try and address those challenges. So, why don't we go ahead and go to the next slide, here. And, what we're really wanting to understand, here, in the DCRA Implementation Plan is, again, understanding where you are today in terms of your knowledge of what the situation is and what the serious challenges are and complexities are of those challenges, so that you're able to develop a credible plan that can be put into place over time, executed soundly to move the needle forward and get to the place where everyone needs to be in terms of full reporting and compliance, here. We recognize that there are a lot of difficulties and challenges that are associated with DCRA reporting. It's not a matter of flipping the switch to be able to get everybody at the state and local level to report what's required under DCRA. We understand the challenges that are there across, I'm going to say, the arrest-related deaths spectrum, with law enforcement, lockup, and some of the challenges and definitions and so forth. But key is, here, to be able to do all that you possibly can to adequately understand the extent and nature of your challenges, to be able to document those challenges for BJA, so that a credible solution and approach can be developed and executed to move the needle forward. And JRSA is ready to be able to work with you to be able to identify, if you will, I'm going to just say, creative solutions to getting at data reporting. There are, maybe, many different approaches that could be used, and there may be examples that SAAs in other states have been successful with. Rather than going directly to every single state and local potential reporting agency that's in, again, that universe of potential reporters, but I want to encourage all of you, and I was saying this earlier about the SAC network, to consider outreach and working with your state SACs. Again, they have expertise and experience in data collection methods and data verification processes and so forth. I'm going to say that roughly three-quarters of the states across the country have a State Statistical Analysis Center, co-located, embedded within the same organization as the SAA, and I would encourage you to reach out and work with the state SACs to be able to help with, not only identifying, as I said earlier, the universe for reporting, but to understand the nature and extent of your challenges and how to develop a blueprint to address them. JRSA is out here to be able to work with you as well, but this notion of identifying what those challenges are, documenting them and explaining what your blueprint or plans for moving forward are, this needs to be addressed in the DCRA Implementation Plan that's in the JAG application. You'll see a link that's on the screen, here, that refers back to guidance that BJA has already created for what needs to be in the DCRA Implementation Plan, the key elements. I would just want to also, sort of, acknowledge that that's out there. I recommend that you take a look at that, and I recommend that you draw upon the expertise of your peers and other SAAs and BJA and JRSA and the SACs that are out there to be able to assist as well. I'm going to stop on this aspect of it, I'm going to ask us to go ahead and change the slide, here, because there are additional items that need to be covered in the DCRA Implementation Plan that I do want to touch on. One of these relates to the notion of, again, sort of, how you've approached any, kind of, training and technical assistance. Whether your state, the SAA, has requested any from BJA. If you've engaged JRSA in any way in the early months of our availability for supporting this program. Have you done anything in terms of conducting trainings or outreach that's in some formal capacity been put in place to be able to make state and local agencies aware of DCRA reporting requirements, and being able to support and, sort of, their recruitment and cooperation in this. Part of what needs to be in the DCRA Implementation Plan is an acknowledgement or any kind of explanation about whether your state currently has a statute of law in place that addresses DCRA reporting and the information that needs to be collected. If there is a state law that exists in your state, please identify it and take a look at it, and, in your DCRA Implementation Plan, specify or talk about any differences that exist between your state DCRA statute and the federal law. And, if there are differences, tell BJA in your plan, how any of those differences get in the way of your ability to comply with the federal DCRA law. So, we're interested in very, or, sort of, want to know in detail: number one, if there is a state statute, sort of, what it describes or what it entails in terms of reporting and if there are any differences or discrepancies, if you will, between that state statute and federal law, particularly any differences that might get in the way of DCRA reporting compliance. Make sure that's addressed in your DCRA Implementation Plan. Do you have a dedicated website about DCRA? What else do you have in place that, as I said earlier, relates to any specialized trainings for state or local agencies or outreach, any publicly facing, sort of, information about DCRA, if anything is out there, document it. Make sure BJA is aware of it, because you put it into this DCRA Implementation Plan in the JAG application. If you provided any kind of specialized trainings or engaged in special outreach to state and local agencies, describe what was done, specify what that audience was, tell us when this was done, how frequently you've done it, anything of that nature that can help us understand how you've pursued outreach to date, anything that's been targeted in terms of trying to bring people on board and improve the situation on reporting. Let's go ahead and go to the next slide. So, it is extremely important, and I'm sure that you're all aware of it, but I just want to, kind of, underscore it once again, that you engage in very proactive, dedicated, purposeful outreach to not only the universe of reporting agencies that are out there, but with any entities at the state, local, county level can help move the needle forward on DCRA reporting. So, in my experience in working in multiple states across the country, I had a long career professionally in Illinois with the SAA and the SAC. I have lived in Colorado for many years and I have, well, sort of, associated with the SAA and the SAC in Colorado. There are often entities within a state where there are associations or organizations representing, if you will, potentially some of those agencies or a great number of those agencies that fall into your reporting universe. So, we're talking about things like police chief associations, sheriff or jail associations, anything that's related to correctional associations and so forth. Take a look at any of those entities that exist within your states and conduct outreach and try to bring them on board as entities that can help get the state and local agencies to engage and report. Bring them to the table, bring them on your side, get them to work with you, if you can, to be able to improve the situation and eventually make progress on reporting at the state and local levels. Be proactive and do everything that you can in a very purposeful, outreach, sort of, way to be able to ensure that agencies come on board, they're aware of the importance and value of doing this, and eventually, they are involved in doing the right thing in terms of reporting in a complete and accurate manner. I just can't underscore the importance of being able to engage all of the assets that exist within a given state to be able to get everybody on board in a forward motion, to move the needle forward on this, explaining the importance and value of it, and not having people just look at it as, sort of, a burden that has to be a hoop someone needs to jump through or something of that nature. Because ultimately there's a benefit that everyone is trying to achieve, here. And getting the associations and representation of organizations that can bring state and local leaders from these organizations together. I think it's an investment that is well worth pursuing and will make, really, I'm going to say, help move the needle forward on this over time, hopefully sooner rather than later. So, again, keep this in mind. Not only reach out to entities that can help like the SACs, JRSA as a TTA provider, BJA, but work with those entities that know the situation and the reporters in your state to bring them on board, recruit them and so forth. I alluded to this earlier, but we recognize some of the challenges that are out there, and it's specifically in the area of getting complete and accurate information from law enforcement where there are many, many agencies and the very, sort of, small agencies that have lockups and so forth and the challenges that can exist in getting accurate complete reporting, here. But, again, consider alternative strategies. Consider being creative, here. I want to say that JRSA can potentially be a help in trying to identify some of the alternative data sources that might work in your state. We don't have, I don't think, anybody has, sort of, the perfect plan and the silver bullet that says here's what you must do or what you should do to be able to get complete compliance eventually in place. But there is a lot of different sources that are, let's say, publicly available and some that have been engaged by other states that we want to be able to, at least, explore and talk about, and just see how we can deal with the challenges that you might be facing in a creative manner. JRSA is ready to be able to engage with you and help in any way to bring some creative solutions to this, and there's no silver bullet, but given the complexities and the challenges that we know exist out there, there may be, sort of, creative solutions to it, and we want to explore those with you if that's something that you want to engage in. BJA offers a great deal of no-cost training and TA to all of you in the development of your DCRA Implementation Plans. JRSA is ready to be able to assist you. I'm going to talk just in a second, here, on the next slide about some of the things that we can be able to do, but, please, if you're experiencing challenges, if there are any questions, if there are any situations in where you're trying to put this together and you're not certain where to go with it or you're not certain about what the right thing to do is, in terms of really making progress in developing a blueprint for addressing challenges, reach out and engage and we'll work with you, BJA will work with you, and we'll do everything we can to meet you where you are to get this improved, and get complete and accurate reporting in place over time. Let me go ahead to the next slide, here. I think we are, kind of, coming back on to what I wanted to talk about, and I want to make people aware, and then I'm going to just mention a few of what JRSA has available in terms of resources. But, keep in mind that if you do not submit a DCRA Implementation Plan as part of the JAG application, or the plan that you do submit clearly fails to discuss the required, you know, sort of, elements that needs to be in there, that, that Implementation Plan that you submit is really not adequate, BJA is going to potentially withhold funds, and I'm going to leave that to Jimmy, Michelle, others to talk about, but it's highly likely that the state and the SAA will be referred for technical assistance to JRSA or to BJA in collaboration with JRSA to be able to get the Implementation Plan to an adequate place, so that we do have an understanding of where you're headed and that there is a good plan in place to be able to move this forward. So, this has to be taken seriously. Again, I just want to touch on very briefly, here, what the situation will be if a plan is not submitted in the JAG application or if that plan is not adequate when it's reviewed by staff at BJA. So, let's go to the next slide, and I think I'm at the very end, here. Oh good, we've got a poll here. So, again, I'm trying to, again, make the case for, there's a lot of help that's out there. There's help that we're ready to engage in with you and so this poll question is out here. What additional resources do you need or think you'll need to complete your State Implementation Plan? I'm going to be quiet for about 30 seconds, 45 seconds, here. Let you go ahead and plug in your answer, here, and then I think I've got one more slide I wanted to talk about, just very briefly. What strikes me is, I'm just looking at the responses on the poll, here, and the notion that "no other resources are necessary" is a very small percentage. I'm going to take that as, sort of, let's see what we can do in collaboration and working together. Again, JRSA is here, BJA is here. We want to be able to work with everybody, meet you at where you are to be able to move the needle forward, and we'll make sure that we're available and provide you the type of help that's needed, both in terms of developing this plan, making sure it does meet BJA's needs and is adequate, but more importantly just moving this forward over time, as Jimmy alluded to, looking at continuous improvement to get to where this needs to be. Thanks for filling out the poll, and let me come back to one slide, here, and then I think I'm going to be finished with what I wanted to address in terms of the DCRA plan requirements and in touching on some of the TA assistance that's available. Again, JRAS has come on board, really in late February, to be able to engage all of you, anyone that needs TA with the DCRA Implementation Plan and DCRA reporting more long term. We have web-based resources that are going to be really expanded and available to all of you, so that you can really access help and information when, I'm going to say, at your own leisure, asynchronously and hopefully some of the tools and resources that are there will be of value to you. But, we also are available to provide both virtual and onsite technical assistance. So, there is a process and mechanism where you see some of the contact information, here, that's, sort of, in the middle of the slide, for reaching out to JRSA and engaging us either in a virtual manner, we'll work with you, again, where you are to be able to address any of the challenges, to address any of the questions that you have about what needs to go into the DCRA Implementation Plan, how to specify what your reporting universe is, how to specify what your procedures and blueprint for moving forward with reporting is, and how to address your challenges. We're also able to provide expert assistance, on site, in your state by sending people out who have been working with DCRA, who have experience working with SAAs, and have, really, expertise and experience in data collection and alternative, sort of, strategies, when you're running into challenges with getting data, to be able help on the ground. And, I want to specify, again, that we're able to do this, and meet you and provide the help in any way that you think is going to be most valuable. Let us know, reach out to BJA, and we'll make sure that we're there and do everything that we possibly can to assist with this JAG application element and with reporting more long term. I'm aware that all of the SAAs have a relationship with the National Criminal Justice Association. JRSA has worked with them, and we have over the years very closely as well. Please also recognize that you can reach us through a referral from BJA or through NCJA, because I know that all of you tend to work with, and have really close connections with NCJA, almost on a daily basis sometimes. You can get a referral to us through either one of those organizations. Now, the last thing I want to mention, here, and then I'll be quiet and turn things back over to BJA staff, is that many of you who are in SAAs may already know that in July of this year NCJA, JRSA, and SEARCH are having a jointly sponsored conference or symposium that will be held in Long Beach, California, in late July. It actually is going to run from Monday, July 24th, through Wednesday, July 26th, and on Tuesday the 25th of July, there is a special session that has been set up within that conference dedicated to DCRA reporting, and we are hoping that whoever is at the conference in-person, whoever is virtually attending from your home states, that you'll attend that session from 4 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25th, to talk about the DCRA requirements, to talk about your DCRA Implementation Plans within JAG, and then, also, to engage in a conversation amongst your peers, with JRSA, with BJA, about challenges and what states have done to address them in a creative way, in the hopes that, through a real peer-to-peer exchange, that we can really make progress, not only on this element of the JAG application, but as I've been saying throughout my conversation, just DCRA reporting compliance long-term, and really moving the needle forward on this. So, please keep on your calendars that this session is occurring on that Tuesday during the conference. We've actually worked with SEARCH and everybody, NCJA and JRSA and the conference planning, to ensure that there are not competing sessions during that time period, so you all can attend this particular one on DCRA. And I'm going to say also, I know folks will want to leave at five o'clock, but if we need to go longer, we're prepared to do that to be able to engage in the conversation and dialogue that's necessary to being able to ensure that you have what you need. So, I'm going to stop, here. I believe I've got through what I needed to. I hope I didn't go way too over what the allotted time is, but I'll stop and turn things over back to Jimmy or Michelle, whoever's going to take over from here.

- [Jimmy Steyee] Thanks, Roger. So, I'm going to turn it over to Tarasa, here, in just one second, but just wanted to make note of a couple things. Answered a few questions in the chat already that are just, kind of, quick hitters; but, again, after Tarasa's done, we'll cover all of your questions that's in the chat. So, if you put something in there, haven't forgot about you. We will get to it. And with that, I will turn it over to Tarasa. Thank you.

- [Tarasa Napolitano] Thanks, Jimmy. As Jimmy had mentioned earlier, I'm Tarasa Napolitano. I'm the JAG lead and work in the programs office, and I partner and work with Jimmy and partner with JRSA on their TTA efforts. And I am just going, now that you, kind of, know what's expected, I'm going to cover the actual process in conjunction with your JAG application. So, let me start off by saying we do anticipate the release in the next few weeks, fingers crossed, and we do anticipate it being open for 60 days. So, that's what we know so far, but when you submit your JAG application, this will be a separate document, the state plan. The State Implementation Plan should be attached, similar to how you submit your strategic plan as an attachment. This will be a separate attachment that will be reviewed by the JAG team upon submission. So, when we get all the applications, the JAG team will review, and we will be checking for minimally sufficient plans. So, if a plan seems to meet that criteria then it will actually go forward. All the plans will eventually end up with JRSA, but there will be some that they do not meet that minimum criteria, will have special conditions, as Roger had mentioned earlier. We'll add a withholding special condition. We'll recommend training and technical assistance through JRSA, who will work with you to get the plan submitted and then we will release the hold once we have the plan. So, if a plan to send any plans that are minimally sufficient. We will also note any that are missing. So, plan isn't submitted with the JAG application, we will also note that and withholding special condition will be added as well. All plans will go for a more in-depth review to JRSA, focusing more on those that are not meeting the initial criteria initially. And once those plans are sent over to JRSA, there will be a feedback loop. So, you will be getting calls, or emails, or outreach from Roger and his team, and they will work with you to develop that state plan. And, I think that is pretty much it. As I said, if there's anything that's missing or any insufficient plans, the withhold condition will be added, but this is very similar to the strategic planning process. So, if you do not have a plan submitted, the withholding will be added, but it will be removed once we have the plan. And with that, I will pass it back to you, Jimmy.

- [Jimmy Steyee] Alright. Thank you, Tarasa. Let's, go ahead and go to the next slide. So, I think that concludes the formal presentation. We'll now go over questions, but before I do that, I just want to note a few things. So, there is quite a bit of discussion internally about these plans. Of course, they're big, as you can tell, they're a huge priority for this administration. We just wanted to make you all aware that these plans may eventually be made public. So, if you're not already making them public on your own state websites, they would be made public on a website that we would be putting up on the BJA site. So, keep that in mind, as you write them, keep them very succinct. Address the points that we've talked about with the eye toward these potentially being made public. So, that's something I thought we'd better mention at the outset. I've noticed a few of you said that your plans are complete or at least nearing completion. I'm not going to speak necessarily for JRSA, but I'm sure they'd be amenable to taking a cursory look at those, if they're ready for a review before you have to submit those with your JAG application. So, feel free to reach out if that's something that is of interest to you; but, I guess, selfishly it also allows JRSA and us to potentially look for some examples that could be shared. So, with that said, network. Network amongst yourselves. Not every state is going to be in the same boat, but certainly there are going to be different strategies or ways of going about this that can be shared. Not everybody is going to be doing it the same way, but certainly there's going to be some commonalities amongst you all. Last thing I wanted to mention, we are working toward adding more and more resources to the BJA website, resources for you all to use, including some additional definitions, a revised FAQ, things of that nature. So, keep an eye out for those. We're getting those out as soon as we possibly can, keeping in mind they do have to go through a fairly lengthy review process, here. So, with that, I'm going to start going through questions, and anything I can't address, I will call on the panelists, too. So, the first question, here, is, "Will BJA also be providing an overarching comprehensive DCRA document to inform states on what is necessary to implement DCRA requirements?" The short answer to that is, no. The long answer to that is, what we're trying to do is get various different resources out as quickly and as soon as possible, so it's not going to be large, lengthy document. It's going to be series of trainings like this. It's going to be a definitions document, it's going to be revised FAQs, things of that nature. So, the only other thing I want to add about that is, as we've kind of been alluding to and, kind of, getting at, is that there is no one way of collecting and reporting all reportable deaths for DCRA. So, the way, you know, one state does it may not work for another state, and so for us to say that you have to do this, this, and this, it may not work for you. And that's why we're putting so much emphasis on the state plans. It really allows you to really take stock of where you're at and what needs be done within your own state, kind of, within your own parameters. So, apologize for not having one, kind of, overarching way of doing this and, you know, kind of, providing that to you; but, unfortunately, I think that's, kind of, where we're at right now. Let me get to the next question. I already mentioned the FY application will be announced, here, within the next couple of weeks. You'll have 60 days. That's already been answered in the chat. "Will there be any examples of plans that we can use for guidance?" So, as I alluded to earlier, we're working toward that. If there's any states that want to, kind of, raise their hand, say, hey we're close, we think ours is pretty good. If you want to send that to JRSA for a cursory review, we can discuss that, and network amongst yourselves. So, if you know your neighbor state is doing a good job with this, and you want to reach out to them and say, "Hey, how is your plan coming along? "Is that something you can share with me?" Please do so, and also get in touch with JRSA. We may not have an example to provide, but we certainly have the resources in place that can help you move towards getting the plan written. Next question, here, "Does DCRA apply to children in the state's custody, like foster children, or is criminal justice related?" So, I'll go back to the law, as written, and it would only apply to state correctional institutions, jails and prisons. So, like the Department of Public Health, if that's where your foster care is, would not apply. So, generally speaking, and I'm not a lawyer, we certainly could get our OGC to take a look at that question, but I'm 99.9 percent sure that they would not be included. "Will the plan be a standalone document or part of the JAG application narratives?" Tarasa responded in the chat that it will be an attachment to the JAG application. For those of you familiar with the JAG-required strategic plan, it's very similar to that process. So, it says here, "In order to have a successful Implementation Plan, states need the definitions and examples of arrest-related deaths to provide to local law enforcement agencies." So, we hear you with that. We are working on additional definitions. So, that is a resource coming out relatively soon, and I would encourage you to go look at our current FAQs that also have plenty of examples of arrest-related deaths, and I know, kind of, the in process of arrests language can get very fuzzy, but know that it is relatively broad and has been interpreted relatively broad. "When do we plan to have those definitions readily available?" As soon as our OGC says it's okay for us to put them on our website. A question that, we received recently, "How do we identify agencies involved in ankle monitoring?" So, individuals who are under correctional control, but might be out in the community via an ankle monitor. That is a question that we've put forward to our OGC to see if those are reportable, and we're waiting on a legal interpretation of how those apply under DCRA. "Is ethnicity always known for death in custody reporting? Sometimes it isn't possible to have the ethnicity as 'unknown.'" It's certainly possible to have "unknown." What we look for is large percentages of your submissions as "ethnicity unknown." So, if all of them, or 100 percent are unknown, that's just an indicator to us that either you're not collecting that information, don't know how to define it, don't have a field for it. There's something going on. So, you know we're looking for that. "How do we define ethnicity?" Right now it's just Hispanic/Non-Hispanic origin is how we're defining it. So, yes, "Unknown" is a valid response, but if it is collected, any you do know that it's part of, you know, whatever data collection, then it should be submitted. "What type of word/page count is expected on the Implementation Plan? I know this is probably a difficult question to answer, but are we thinking one page or 20?" That's a great question. I don't know that we have an expectation. I think the expectation is simply that you know, you, kind of, go through the elements that we've identified, address those as best as you can. You may not be able to address all of them, but so long as you can say, hey this is where we're at, these are our challenges, this is how we're going to overcome those challenges, this is what we're doing well at, then your plan will likely suffice. JAG funding will only be held, so long as, or excuse me, I should say JAG funding will not be held as long as it meets, kind of, minimum requirements. And that's what I was saying. So long as you are upfront about the elements, address as many of them as you can, about where you are at now, where you're planning to move forward, then you should be okay. "How detailed are we expected to get with deaths that are suicide or natural causes?" So, you're talking about there's a description of the circumstances field that is required and, you know, it's always hard to know. I think what we are looking for is something more than just the word "suicide" or more than just the word "natural causes." So, if it's natural causes and the person was taken to a hospital that would be important information to know. Or if they died alone in their cell, or things of that nature. Suicide, again, what are the circumstances? Were they alone in their cell? Was this in a, kind of, a local jail? Were they under the influence of anything? That would be the type of information we would expect to see, and we are working on some additional examples around some of those issues that we are planning to share. "What type of verification processes are expected? Do you have examples?" So, you have likely received many emails from us every quarter that has different things that we're asking you to verify. And so, you know, kind of, what we are looking for is, are there unknown or values that are left blank that we would expect you to know? I understand the issue around ethnicity. Was there not enough details provided in the circumstances field? Do you have cases that are still under investigation that need to be updated because the investigation is closed? Those are the types of things that you should be looking for. And as I mentioned before, we do have some examples of descriptions of circumstances that we're going to be providing, here. "Are there definitions/examples of each detained? Not sure what you by "each," but our FAQ has some examples what we mean by "detained," but essentially, if you're within a jail or correctional facility, or that also applies, too, if they were previously in a correctional facility and still under legal control of that correctional facility, but were taken to a hospital or something like that and pass away, that is still considered detained. I know that's a question that we get a lot. "Is it acceptable for us to report 'unknown,' if that is the case? Why are we receiving reports back indicated 'unknown?'" Again, we are going to continue to check that information is "unknown." Are there reasons for you inability to collect that information? Are you moving toward being able to collect that information from your local reporters? If the correctional facility does not fill in their intake form, those would be the types of things we would be looking for. "Does the DCRA plan have to be board-approved at the time of the submission?" No, it does not. "If not, can we submit a draft and resubmit it if changes are recommended by the board upon the review?" Yes, absolutely. That is the TA that would be provided. So, if you get it to where, you know, it addresses as many of the elements as you can, and you need to submit, please do so with your application. Don't let this hold up your application. And then it may be sent to JRSA for their review and they would get back to you if there was anything else. "Would detained include stopped on the street? Or police are present for an incident where they are not under arrest that escalates and they are killed?" Again, it's going to depend on the circumstances, but general speaking, yes. If there was circumstances that lead to the death that would have led to their arrest, then that is considered in the process of arrest, then yes, that becomes reportable. If a person cannot leave at their will, then they're technically considered detained by law enforcement, then yes, it becomes reportable. And, we can get into that in more detail later if you like, but I sincerely understand the gray area around the wording, "in the process of arrest," and there's a lot of scenarios, more than we could possibly cover; but it's what I've told other states, and what I'll say now, is, if you're not sure, if the local agency is not sure, send us the scenario, and we can take a look at it and get back to you with a response. I think that is all of the questions. Is there anything else that anybody else has? You can feel free to take yourself off mute, put it in the chat. Anything from any of the other panelists that they would like to add? Someone said, "Would you post all scenarios that you have received so far?" So, sorry Roger, I'll let you go, I'll answer this and then I'll let you go. That is included in the revised FAQ that we're trying to get viewed and approved to be posted. So, yes, those additional scenarios are planning to be posted.

- [Roger Przybylski] The only comment I was going to make is you alluded to earlier, if there were completed Implementation Plans, sort of, in draft, but they're ready to go, whether JRSA would be amenable to taking a look at those. I think of course we would, if something would fall into that category. So, I don't have any other additions or comments to make right now.

- [Jimmy Steyee] Thank you, Roger. Anything else from the panelists? We will leave it open for another couple minutes or so, just in case there's any other questions that you all come up with; but if not, we appreciate your time, we appreciate your attention to this matter. It's certainly very important, and just want to highlight that we certainly understand that this is a very difficult data collection for you all to implement, and we're there to assist as much as we can.