Key Performance Indicators

Department of Corrections

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Mission

We provide secure confinement, reformative programs, and a process of supervised community reintegration to enhance the safety of our communities. AS 44.28.020

Key Performance Indicators

• Target: Increase the percent of probationers and parolees who satisfy their court ordered conditions of release.

• Target: Reduce criminal recidivism.

• Target: Increase the number of individuals who complete an institutional or community-based substance abuse treatment program.

• Target: Increase the number of offenders who receive a General Education Development (GED) diploma while incarcerated.

• Target: Increase the number of sex offender probationers who complete both a sex offender management program and who receive polygraph testing while on probation.

Performance Detail

Target #1: Maintain zero prison escapes. Methodology: Information reported through Alaska Corrections Offender Management System (ACOMS) Escape 1 and 2 Convictions Where the Offender was Located at a Correctional Facility Prior to Escaping Fiscal Year Convictions Average Daily Population Percentage of Population FY 2021 1.0 4,503 0.0222% FY 2020 0 4,485 00000% FY 2019 0 4,879 0.0000% FY 2018 2.0 4,343 0.0461% FY 2017 0 4,376 0.0000% Analysis of results and challenges: Escape 1 (AS 11.56.300) is defined as: One commits the crime of escape in the first degree if, without lawful authority, one removes oneself from official detention by means of a deadly weapon or a defensive weapon. Escape 2 (AS 11.56.310) is defined as: "One commits the crime of escape in the second degree if, without lawful authority, one removes oneself from a correctional facility while under detention for a misdemeanor; or from official detention for a felony or for extradition; or from official detention and, during the escape or at any time before being restored to official detention, or possesses on or about oneself a firearm." The counts provided are for those offenders convicted of escaping from a Department of Corrections (DOC) facility and may not be reflective of the actual year the escape occurred. If an offender has not been convicted of escape the offender is not counted in the data. - Two inmates briefly escaped from Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center in 2017 but were not convicted until 2018. - An inmate escaped from Point Mackenzie Correctional Farm in 2019 but was not convicted until 2021. - An inmate was in the legal custody of his lawyer and occurred in 2019 when he failed to return to the prison. While this is technically an escape, he was not in the custody of DOC at the time.

Target #1: Increase the percent of probationers and parolees who satisfy their court ordered conditions of release. Methodology: Information reported through Alaska Corrections Offender Management System (ACOMS) Percentage of Probationers and Parolees Who Successfully Satisfy Court Ordered Conditions of Release Fiscal Year Offenders Discharged Successful Discharges Percentage Successful FY 2021 767 627 81.75% FY 2020 821 687 83.68% FY 2019 1,465 1,286 87.78% FY 2018 2.094 1,846 88.16% FY 2017 1,699 1,408 82.87% Analysis of results and challenges: Probationers and parolees who are unsuccessful in satisfying their court or parole ordered conditions of release are returned to incarceration, increasing the offender population and the cost of incarceration. A successful discharge improves recidivism rates, allowing for increased public safety while decreasing victimization and costs to the state. Proactively supervising probationers and parolees will enhance their successful re-entry in their community, increasing the number of successful discharges. Proactive supervision targets proven supervision methods that are known to decrease the likelihood of failure in the community or causing future harm through assessing risk to reoffend, employing motivational interviewing techniques and tailoring supervision strategies to address criminogenic needs (i.e., housing, treatment, criminal attitudes, pro-social activities, etc.). However, identifying available or limited community resources for probationers and parolees create significant challenges in areas such as housing, employment, substance abuse treatment, mental health counseling, etc.

Target #2: Reduce criminal recidivism. Methodology: Information reported through Alaska Corrections Offender Management System (ACOMS). For this purpose recidivism is defined under AS 44.19.647 (3)(A) and (3)(B) as a convicted felon who is incarcerated as a result of a new sentence, including parole or probation adjudications within three years of release. Offenders Returning to Incarceration Within 3 Years of Release Fiscal Year Offenders Discharged Offenders Returned Percentage Returning FY 2018 2,780 1,712 61.58% FY 2017 2,973 1,802 60.61% FY 2016 3,686 2,213 60.04% FY 2015 3,899 2,463 63.17% FY 2014 4,135 2,752 66.55% Analysis of results and challenges: The department recorded the lowest recidivism rate ever calculated using current definitions in FY2019. This rate is based on the number of convicted felony offenders released back into the community and have been re-incarcerated as a result of a new sentence, or had parole, probation revocation within three years of release. The department continues its efforts for successful prisoner re-entry in order to reduce criminal recidivism and will report new information accordingly.

Target #1: Increase the number of individuals who complete an institutional or community-based substance abuse treatment program. Methodology: Information tracked and reported through the Criminal Justice Planner for Substance Abuse Services. Number of Offenders Completing an Institutional or Community-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Program Fiscal Year Assessment / Referrals IOP RSAT YTD Total FY 2021 1,071 8 32 1,111 FY 2020 1,127 337 88 1,552 FY 2019 1,106 196 76 1,378 FY 2018 913 71 34 1,018 FY 2017 851 283 151 1,285 Analysis of results and challenges: Analysis of results and challenges: Assessment: A substance use disorder assessment is the basis for all care offered to offenders within the Alaska Department of Corrections (ADOC). Offenders receive a substance use disorder assessment to assess their addiction related issues and determine the most appropriate level of care and intensity of service to best address their needs. Each assessment includes the nature and extent of an offender's drug problems; establishes whether problems exist in other areas that may affect recovery, helps form an appropriate treatment plan; and uses American Society of Addictions Medicine (ASAM) criteria and DSM 5 to determine the level of care placement. In FY2020, the department initiated a standardized, computer-based Substance Use Disorder (SUD) interview tool called the ASAM Continuum and Continuum Triage (Co-Triage) that allows for a more uniform and objective assessment process to ensure inmates are being properly placed in the correct level of treatment care. This tool has also shown a significant reduction in the amount of time it takes to complete an SUD assessment allowing SUD staff to spend more time providing direct care to the inmate population. During FY2021, Medication Assisted Treatment- Reentry (MATR) services continued at Anchorage Correctional Complex (Anchorage), Hiland Mountain Correctional (Eagle River), Fairbanks Correctional Center (Fairbanks), Goose Creek Correctional Center (Wasilla), Wildwood Correctional Center (Kenai) and Anvil Mountain Correctional Center (Nome), Lemon Creek Correctional Center (Juneau), and Spring Creek Correctional Center (Seward). The department allows open access to this program to both sentenced and un-sentenced offenders and expanded services to include bridging of MATR services for up to 30 days after remand. Medications Assisted Treatment interventions and treatment options the department offers include: - Screening of all offenders entering a Department of Corrections facility for an Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). - Substance Use Disorders (SUD) assessments as needed to further determine seriousness of OUD needs. - Methadone and buprenorphine bridging for up to 30 days for offenders remanded with a verified community prescription with tapering off medications starting after the initial 30 days. - Continuation of MATR for pregnant offenders as long as therapeutically necessary to ensure the overall health of the mother and child. - Offenders are provided resources both while incarcerated and when returning to the community to include education, counseling, help with housing, connection to benefits and other associated needs. - Extended release naltrexone is available to offenders meeting criteria, prior to releasing back into the community. - Offenders releasing back into the community are offered a Narcan Rescue Kit to help in the event they or someone they know experiences an overdose due to the use of opiates. In FY2021 the program provided services to 408 offenders. This includes services for 16 offenders prescribed Vivitrol, 191 offenders prescribed Suboxone, and 201 individuals prescribed Methadone. In addition to the Vivitrol programs, the department continued its Methadone bridging services with three Opioid Treatment Programs in the Anchorage bowl and Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Fairbanks, and Nome. These services provide bridging of Methadone for up to 30 days to minimize any break in treatment for those individuals incarcerated for short periods of time. These services are available at Anchorage Correctional Complex (Anchorage), Anvil Mountain Correctional Center (Nome), Hiland Mountain Correctional (Eagle River), Matsu Pre-Trial (Palmer), Goose Creek Correctional Center (Wasilla) and Fairbanks Correctional Center (Fairbanks). In FY2022 the department plans to expand these services to Lemon Creek Correctional Center (Juneau), Wildwood Correctional Center (Kenai) and Ketchikan Correctional Center (Ketchikan). Intensive Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment (IOPSAT) Level 2.1: IOPSAT provides a planned regimen of treatment, consisting of regularly scheduled sessions within a structured program that uses evidenced based interventions. Within the AKDOC, IOPSATs are about 15 weeks long and individuals are provided 15 hours of group per week plus individual sessions. The female IOPSAT program uses gender specific curriculum, Criminal Conduct and Substance Abuse Treatment. The male program uses New Directions and Living in Balance. In FY2021 IOPSAT services were provided by contract staff. IOPSAT is provided at Goose Creek Correctional (Wasilla), Fairbanks Correctional Center (Fairbanks), Anvil Mountain Correctional Center (Nome) and Hiland Mountain Correctional (Eagle River). In addition to facility-based services, the department also offers community based IOP services in Anchorage and Fairbanks communities. Institutional Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Level 3.5: Residential treatment services use a modified therapeutic community (MTC) model of treatment. MTC's use a combination of counseling, group therapy, and peer activities to promote multi-dimensional change of the whole person including drug abstinence, elimination of antisocial behavior, and the development of prosocial behavior, attitudes, and values. Studies find that MTC participants show improvements in substance use, criminal behavior, and mental health symptoms. Additionally, they provide a cost-effective way to decrease substance use and improve public safety. ADOC has focused on providing two RSATs, one male program and one female program. The treatment programs use New Directions and Living in Balance for their curriculum. The female program adds the Moving On curriculum to assist in addressing gender specific treatment issues. In addition to these treatment programs, during FY2021 the department added Helping Men Recover and Helping Women Recover to address trauma related issues that often are co-occurring with substance use. Both male and female RSATs are about six months long and require 25 hours of group per week plus individual sessions. In FY2021 RSAT services were provided at Hiland Mountain Correctional (Eagle River) and Wildwood Correctional center (Kenai) by contract providers. In FY2022, the department will add an additional 4- bed treatment program at the Palmer Correctional Center. In FY2021 ADOC added several key positions to better assist individuals with a substance use disorder. One program was the addition of a probation-based SUD counselor at the Palmer field office where this person works in conjunction with probation staff to review probationers and parolees needs as it relates to substance use. The department also added a Substance Abuse Reentry Coordinator position that provides individuals returning to the community with assistance in helping individuals with housing, continued SUD care, job referrals and other related services to ensure they are adequately prepared to be successful when returning to the community. Impact of COVID-19: COVID-19 continued to have a substantial impact on the provision of substance abuse services statewide. Some of the challenges resulting from COVID-19 include: - Treatment groups were suspended due to group gathering restrictions and limiting access to institutions in hopes of minimizing offender exposure to COVID. - Community based services were suspended, then restarted with reduced capacity and additional screening requirements. - All in person training was limited due to restrictions on group gatherings. - Limited infrastructure in place to support offsite telehealth services. - Many services transitioned to telehealth-based treatment services. In an attempt to mitigate the challenges resulting from COVID-19 in the Department: - SUD services moved to providing services to telehealth to include: Assessments moved to telehealth with the exception of ACCE which continued to conduct 1:1 in person assessments following the Center of Disease Control (CDC) guidelines. RSAT moved to 1:1 telephonic sessions IOPSAT moved to 1:1 telephonic sessions - In conjunction with ASAM staff, converted the computerized Continuum Co-Triage screening tool to a paper version.

Target #2: Increase the number of offenders who receive a General Education Development (GED) diploma while incarcerated. Methodology: Information tracked and reported through the Offender Program Manager. Number of Offenders Who Receive General Education Development While Incarcerated Fiscal Year Total % Change FY 2021 37 -58% FY 2020 88 -23% FY 2019 114 7% FY 2018 107 -5% FY 2017 112 14% Analysis of results and challenges: The Alaska Department of Corrections (ADOC) experienced a decrease in the number of offenders earning their General Education Development (GED) Diploma while incarcerated during FY2021 primarily due to the continued interruptions associated with the Novel COVID-19 pandemic. For the first half of the fiscal year (July through January) all group classes and classes provided by outside instructors were suspended to contain the virus spread within the facilities. During this time, instruction and testing were limited to one-on-one sessions provided by institutional Education Coordinators; however, some facilities continued a complete suspension of programming. With some Education staff members working remotely, or assigned to other tasks, they were not able to conduct classes or testing. Additionally, the path to a GED credential includes a series of assessments, the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE), GED Ready practice tests, and GED tests. With a reduced capacity to service inmate students in the testing process, one-at-a-time, or later in smaller groups greatly reduced the ability for students to matriculate through the curriculum. Education Coordinators at each institution are tasked with providing the necessary assessments, instruction, and materials to assist offenders with the needed preparation to complete the GED computer testing process. Most of the facilities are equipped to conduct the testing, though, due to the prolonged quarantine related lockdowns, only 6 of the 13 facilities were able to conduct testing during the fiscal year. - During the first two months of the fiscal year, only two facilities were actively testing. - There were three months with three facilities actively testing. - There were six months with four facilities actively testing. - During the last month of the fiscal year in, June 2021, there were five facilities testing. The Spring Creek Correctional Center was the only facility that was able to conduct GED tests throughout the year. As a result, only offenders housed at facilities that were testing had the opportunity to earn a GED. Another factor that impacted the GED program included a change in the computer database application. The new database application, Alaska Jobs Virtual OneStop (VOS), is utilized to track adult education activities. ADOC education staff has expressed difficulties adapting to and utilizing this new system and time spent doing administrative tasks for each participant has increased. Participation in the GED program is voluntary, and some offenders choose not to participate in favor of working institutional jobs. There are incentives afforded to inmates who have attained their GED or High School Diploma; they are permitted to have a television when the credential is verified. If an offender earns a GED while incarcerated, they are often served a special meal. In June 2021, contract instructors were permitted to return to the facilities, yet many of the contracts that had been planned for FY2021, were not executed or had been suspended due to the pandemic. Further, volunteer instructors were nor permitted in the facilities. In many cases, the inmate tutors, who assist in instruction, were limited to teaching those housed in the same unit. In spring 2021, some institutions began conducting classes according to the Center of Disease Control (CDC) recommended social distancing standards, which increased capacity to serve individuals in ADOC's Adult Education Program; however, participations continued to be below pre-pandemic levels. Many of the factors stated in this report negatively impacted student engagement and overall GED credential attainment during the 2021 fiscal year. During the pandemic, the Department has been proactive in broadening the delivery of computer-based training to offenders and expanding training for education staff. As contracts for services were constrained, ADOC reallocated some of this funding to purchase more computers and educational software for four facilities. Essential Education, a computer-directed training for adult education in remedial literacy and GED preparation, was made more widely available as ADOC deployed the software on new inmate education computers. The Department has increased training for Education Coordinators, adding a week of onboarding training with the Criminal Justice Planner, as well as opportunities to shadow Education Coordinators at other facilities. The ADOC Reentry Unit hosted a week-long virtual Education Staff forum for all Education Coordinators, a portion of which was devoted to the training in GED recruitment, instruction, and testing. The Education Coordinators also received the initial training and refresher training on the utilization of the VOS database. In FY2022, more contractor and volunteer instructors are expected to be utilized at the facilities to deliver GED preparation instruction and to assist in the tracking of activities. The Department also expects to see an increase in the number of GED Diplomas earned by inmates in FY2022.

Target #3: Increase the number of sex offender probationers who complete both a sex offender management program and who receive polygraph testing while on probation. Methodology: Information tracked and reported through the Offender Program Manager Number of Polygraphed Sex Offender Probationers Fiscal Year YTD Total FY 2021 691 FY 2020 624 FY 2019 530 FY 2018 526 FY 2017 475 FY 2016 477 Analysis of results and challenges: During FY2021, the use of the polygraph examinations continued statewide in all Probation and Parole offices that supervise sex offenders. Access to treatment was significantly impacted when the department suspended group sessions and contractor access to the facilities was closed due to the Novel COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, as part of the COVID-19 response, many community providers limited groups and polygraphs were temporarily stopped and then restarted with limited access based on risk level. However, during this period, a total of 691 convicted sex offenders on community supervision received polygraph exams. This was a 10.7 percent increase from FY2020. Since FY2015, the department has increased the number of polygraphs conducted statewide by 39.8 percent. This has been accomplished through a collaborative effort between Probation and Parole and Health and Rehabilitation Services Sex Offender Management Programs. In addition to conducting polygraphs on community-based sex offenders, the Department's Sex Offender Management Programs was able to provide treatment to 319 offenders statewide in community and institutional based sex offender treatment programming. Sex offender treatment programs utilize cognitive behavioral treatment interventions to address deviant sexual and antisocial behaviors while seeking to increase prosocial behaviors in sex offenders. The programming is based on the risk, needs and responsivity model. Cognitive behavioral treatment models paired with the Containment model have proven to be the most effective tools in managing the sex offender population. Sex offender treatment continues to be a specialized field that is often difficult to recruit providers. Sex offender treatment programs are available at Anvil Mountain Correctional Center (Nome), Wildwood Correctional Center (Kenai), Hiland Mountain Correctional Center (Eagle River) and Lemon Creek Correctional Center (Juneau). In FY2022 the department will add an additional institutional based program at the Palmer Correctional Center (PCC). The COVID-19 pandemic had the biggest impact on institutional based treatment programs limiting the ability of the department to expand services as previously planned in FY2020.

Current as of December 16, 2021