APPR will host three workshops at the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA) 2022 Annual Conference and Training Institute. The conference is in Atlanta, Georgia, from Sunday, September 18 to Wednesday, September 21. Learn more about this year’s conference.
Register now for your spot at NAPSA and join us at the workshops described below.
APPR Workshops at NAPSA 2022 Conference
Contributing to Pretrial System Improvements
Monday, September 19
3 p.m. to 3:50 p.m. ET
Pretrial services programs are taking center stage as jurisdictions around the country seek to reduce or end their use of financial conditions and revise their pretrial decision making structures. In the past, such changes were often–but inaccurately–described as replacing money with a risk-based system. As such, an actuarial pretrial assessment tool was often held up as the centerpiece of previous improvement efforts.
But improving pretrial practices involves much more than eliminating financial conditions or implementing an assessment tool. It requires a fundamental shift in how those decisions are framed and made. An assessment tool may play a role in that new decision making structure. But it is not designed for and should not be used as the only way to make those decisions. True pretrial advancement involves a system-wide analysis of how pretrial release decisions are made and how they can be improved.
APPR is working with jurisdictions around the country to help them adopt new pretrial decision making structures. This workshop will explain the process APPR uses to facilitate such changes. We will be joined by pretrial practitioners who have successfully implemented pretrial advancements.
Presenter
Alison Shames, director, Center for Effective Public Policy
Moving Beyond Analysis: Shifting Policies and Practices to Advance Racial Equity
Tuesday, September 20
9:50 a.m. to 10:40 a.m.
Race holds a central place in our society’s most profound and persistent patterns of social inequities and divisions. Addressing racial equity is an essential component of pretrial advancement efforts. Creating a continuum of data analysis, community input, and performance measures increases the effectiveness of pretrial improvement efforts. This workshop will help system stakeholders understand the importance of disaggregating data by race and leveraging findings into policies and practices that reduce racial and ethnic disparities. The faculty will discuss how jurisdictions can achieve equitable justice by building collaborative strategies that impact racial equity at critical decision points. Participants will learn how including the community and system-involved individuals builds the capacity, support, and momentum needed to improve pretrial systems and achieve equitable justice.
Presenters
Orleny Rojas, senior manager for Racial Equity and Justice, Center for Effective Public Policy
Tanya Anderson, senior manager, Center for Effective Public Policy
Crisis Communication for Pretrial Systems
Tuesday, September 20
3:10 pm to 4 p.m. ET
By the very nature of their work, criminal legal professionals are in the risk management business. No amount of research, experience, or foresight can consistently and without failure anticipate how others will behave in the future. Crisis communication planning will help proactive professionals plan for unexpected, unfortunate, and potentially tragic events. This workshop will outline a process for cross-agency teams to identify what qualifies as a “critical incident” and prepare guidelines for responding to the media, the general public, and employees of their system agencies. A sample crisis communication plan and a checklist for managing media during a crisis will be shared.
Presenters
Spike Bradford, communications manager, Center for Effective Public Policy
Holly Ziemer, communications director, Center for Effective Public Policy