This training is available again due to popular demand.
Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research is pleased to offer a free virtual training on the development and use of pretrial performance measures. The training will be held over three consecutive weeks in June. The two content sessions will be held on Thursday, June 6 and Thursday, June 20, 2024, from 1 to 3 p.m. ET. An optional office hour is scheduled for Thursday, June 13, from 1 to 2 p.m. ET. The deadline to register is Thursday, May 30.
If you attended a previous Pretrial Performance Measures Training and need a refresher, please review the recording and materials before attending this training. For the upcoming training, we have new guest faculty who will use distributed reports or an online dashboard to discuss the measures they‘ve used to improve their local pretrial systems.
Performance measures allow justice agencies and the communities they serve to understand and evaluate more objectively how well they achieve important pretrial goals such as fairness, effectiveness, and efficiency. Common examples of pretrial performance measures are a jurisdiction’s release rate, arrest-free rate, and court appearance rate. Benefits of using performance measures include the ability to assess the effectiveness of new practices, track changes over time, and communicate with stakeholders, including local media and other community members.
This training uses a learn-by-doing approach to help pretrial practitioners (such as pretrial services directors or managers, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement officials, and detention directors) increase their capacity to use local data to better understand and improve their pretrial system.
First session
Thursday, June 6, 2024, 1 to 3 p.m. ET
Participants will see their peers’ real-life examples of well-developed data presentations and dashboards. Faculty will discuss how key pretrial performance measures are defined and expressed, and will help participants choose some preliminary measures to populate with their own local data.
Optional office hour
Thursday, June 13, 2024, 1 to 2 p.m. ET
Between the two required sessions, participants will populate a few measures with their local data. People may participate in an optional office hour with faculty to seek guidance and troubleshoot challenges.
Second session
Thursday, June 20, 2024, 1 to 3 p.m. ET
Participants have the opportunity to share their data results and experiences with each other.
The trainers for this session are subject matter experts and peer practitioners with extensive experience in using data to gauge how pretrial systems are functioning.
Michael R Jones, PhD, consultant, APPR
Dr. Jones is one of the nation’s top experts in putting pretrial research and law into everyday practice. For over a dozen years, he has helped hundreds of localities and states implement new pretrial practices that lead to more community safety, court appearances, fairness, and efficient use of public resources. He provides training and consulting to a wide variety of local and state policymakers and practitioners across the country. Previously, he served as a criminal justice planning manager in county government. His PhD is in clinical psychology from the University of Missouri–Columbia.
Tammy Meredith, PhD, consultant, APPR
Dr. Meredith helps communities apply science to solving problems. Her social justice projects include preventing environmental violence, promoting pretrial justice, and quantifying racial and gender system disparities. Dr. Meredith cofounded the Atlanta-based public policy research firm Applied Research Services and managed it for nearly 30 years. Her career includes quantitative research to predict violent behavior. She also led numerous U.S. Department of Justice studies and professional research seminars, and published academic and practitioner articles.
Orleny Rojas, JD, senior manager for racial equity and justice, Center for Effective Public Policy
Before joining CEPP, Ms. Rojas oversaw the implementation and operation of New York City’s Supervised Release program in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island as director of criminal court operations. She led a team of social service practitioners who partnered with community organizations to meet the needs of pretrial participants and improve their outcomes. Ms. Rojas has over 12 years of experience working with criminal justice and community stakeholders to center and address the needs of vulnerable populations.
Douglas Coppin, chief, pretrial services, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Mr. Coppin is a skilled practitioner with more than 20 years of experience in pretrial services. He has worked in countless fields within the criminal justice system, including adult probation, juvenile corrections, and juvenile therapeutic treatment. He eventually found his true passion in pretrial services, leading pretrial agencies in Norfolk, VA; Harris County, TX; Camden County, NJ; and Montgomery County, PA. He holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Elizabeth City State University. Mr. Coppin has worked extensively with the judiciary, elected officials, and policymakers to improve justice policies and practices, leading to the expansion of pretrial services and various intervention efforts.
Colleen Clark-Bernhardt, manager, division of policy and practice innovation; coordinator, community justice council, Dane County, Wisconsin
Ms. Clark-Bernhardt is a catalyst for innovation in equity and criminal justice reform as manager of policy and practice innovation for the Dane County Board of Supervisors. She serves on the Dane County Criminal Justice Council, Pretrial Reform Subcommittee, Racial Disparities Sub-Committee, and the Dane County Community Restorative Court Advisory Board. As Community Justice Council coordinator, she provides a necessary link between elected officials, agency directors, and national innovative practices. She has presented nationally on racial equity in criminal justice and county operations and policies, as well as on cross-system collaborations.
Tamarine Cornelius, community justice council research analyst, Dane County, Wisconsin
Ms. Cornelius specializes in leveraging data to highlight the impacts of criminal justice policies. Her mission is to bridge the gap between data insights and decision makers, employing data-driven insights to propel positive change toward a fairer and more equitable justice system. She has extensive experience in public policy, family advocacy, and racial equity, and has master’s degrees in public policy and data science.
If you are interested in participating in the training sessions on June 6 and June 20, 2024 and the optional Office Hour on June 13, please complete the registration application by Thursday, May 30.
Confirmed registrants will receive additional information about the training, including how to prepare for and attend the sessions and how to access related resources.
Please direct any questions to Dr. Michael Jones, APPR consultant, at mike@pinnaclejustice.com.