Inaugural MNSIRR Newsletter

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Inaugural Edition

April 2016

For more than a decade, the Minnesota Department of Corrections (MN-DOC) has been improving correctional practices in an effort to decrease recidivism. The overall goal is to bring down the numbers of formerly incarcerated men and women who commit new crimes once they are released from state correctional facilities. Even with carefully planned efforts for recidivism reduction, the statewide rate has held steady at 34-37% from year to year. In order to drastically effect change outside of correctional facilities, MN-DOC is leading a collaborative effort between state and county systems, community service providers, and other stakeholders. The Minnesota Statewide Initiative to Reduce Recidivism (MNSIRR), when fully implemented, is anticipated to drive the state recidivism rates down by 15%.  
MNSIRR is supported by The Bureau of Justice Assistance Second Chance Grants for Planning and Implementing Statewide Recidivism Reduction. The goals are very clear:

• Use the best in correctional practices (“what works”) throughout all systems and programs which serve released men and women. 
• Determine what’s driving an individual’s criminal behavior and offer opportunities to change through programs, interventions, and community supervision, while supporting and holding them accountable to make those changes.
• Target the people and places where crime and recidivism rates are the highest.

To inform stakeholders, like yourself, about the successes and challenges of implementing MNSIRR’s plan, the collaborative will send out monthly progress updates through this electronic newsletter. We want YOU to know how Minnesota is “Using ‘what works’ to change lives.”

Kicking Off a Case Management Model that WORKS!

On October 16th, DOC held an Integrated Case Management kick-off event to focus on reinforcing the quality and collaborative relationships of this new case planning intervention and to recognize the dedicated facility case managers who are putting this plan into action. Deputy Commissioners Terry Carlson and Ron Solheid and Assistant Commissioner Eddie Miles congratulated each case manager and program director, and awarded them an ICM pin (shown above). The pin identifies staff as specially trained and qualified to practice this important, effective intervention.

You might ask: just what the heck is this ICM?
It is a different way of doing case management; an approach that is more likely to change offender behavior and reduce recidivism. Using our existing workforce, DOC’s initial goal is to implement this model with 10% of the total population. We’re focusing on the people with the highest risk to re-offend. This accounts for about 25% of our high risk offenders. The target group is offenders who score high or very high risk on a risk assessment and will be returning to several counties collaborating for change through MNSIRR:  Stearns, Ramsey, Carlton, Wright, Washington, St. Louis, Anoka, Dakota, Beltrami and Olmsted.

Here is a brief description of the components of the Integrated Case Management Model:

Conduct assessments of offender's risk, needs, strength, and environment.
We conduct assessments to determine the person’s risk to reoffend and then use Level of Service- Case Management Inventory (LS-CMI) assessment to determine what’s driving criminal behavior, including an offender’s specific risks, needs and strengths.

Create, participate in and lead case management teams that work collaboratively.  The case manager and the offender work with others (behavioral health, treatment therapists, transition coordinators, unit staff, educators, work supervisors and community service agencies) to help decide what are the most appropriate interventions and services for the offender, and to help reinforce the individual’s case plan.  Enhance offenders' motivation to change.  Case managers, agents, behavioral health staff and some correctional officers have been trained in motivational interviewing. This includes specific techniques to help the offender realize personal change is necessary, and to keep focused on and stay motivated to make the change.

Develop & implement with offender and partners an overall case plan. 
The case plan is developed with action steps and goals to address those high-risk behaviors and areas that need change – the areas that would bring them right back to prison is change did not occur.  

Directly provide, or provide access to, programmatic interventions that address the highest areas of risk and criminogenic need.
Integrated Case Management is an effective intervention itself.  The case manager will help the offender learn new ways of thinking and behaving by doing one-on-one cognitive restructuring exercises, using worksheets, modeling and role playing. Case managers use Motivational Interviewing to increase offenders’ motivation to change. The DOC provides a number of programmatic interventions such as: chemical dependency and sex offender treatment programs, academic and vocational education, Thinking 4 a Change, Moving On, Parenting, Anger Management, etc.

Develop skills in evidence-based practices and Measure performance and provide feedback.
Case managers (as well as field agents and supervisors) have been trained in Assessments, Motivational Interviewing, Case Planning and Carey Guides.

The department is collecting data about the offenders who are receiving Integrated Case Management services. We will be able to know how closely we are following the model and how well it works to reduce recidivism. Case managers and agents participate in a number of quality assurance processes that help them learn their strengths and which skills they need to improve.

The Statewide T4C Blended Learning Collaborative has coordinated two Thinking for a Change (T4C) Facilitator Trainings for this spring.  T4C is an evidence based, cognitive-behavioral intervention proven to help reduce recidivism in correctional populations.  These populations include women, men and juvenile offenders.  T4C is delivered to small groups of 8-12 people over 25 lessons and is suitable for use in institution or community-based settings.  

T4C helps change thinking and behavior in offenders in three ways.  First, T4C targets irrational or faulty thinking through a process called Cognitive Self-Change.  Cognitive Self-Change helps participants identify internal thoughts and feelings that are risky and replaces them with new thinking in order to avoid trouble.  Second, T4C teaches participants social skills.  These skills help participants create new, pro-social behaviors or abilities to use in situations involving other people.  Finally, T4C teaches participants problem solving skills.  These skills provide participants with a new set of tools to make better choices.  The acquisition of Cognitive Self-Change, social skills and problem solving skills is an active process and is created through modeling, role-playing and coaching with the group facilitator(s) and participants.    

As previously mentioned, T4C has been shown to reduce recidivism in correctional populations. Please visit this link at the National Institute of Corrections for information on outcome studies.  In addition, the entire T4C curriculum may be viewed here when the new version (4.0) is ready for release.        

If your organization is interested in implementing T4C, the deadline for the spring training cohort has passed.  However, the Statewide T4C Blended Learning Collaborative has plans to hold a fall 2016 training session.  If you have any questions about the T4C curriculum or how your organization might implement T4C, please email Chris.L.Busche@state.mn.us with any questions you may have.  

MNSIRR Supports Minnesota’s first Cog Summit

The Minnesota Cognitive-Behavioral Network (CogNet) hosted the 2016 Cog Summit- I Am The Intervention- on February 5th, 2016 at Hennepin Technical College’s auditorium in Brooklyn Park.  With the support of MNSIRR funding and coordination, the summit provided over 280 attendees with an opportunity to learn about a variety of cognitive-behavioral interventions for the corrections population from international, national, and local experts in the field.   The summit was divided into three tracks to provide participants in different positions (line staff, group facilitators, and managers) the best opportunity to support cognitive-behavioral approaches within correctional facilities, community corrections, and community-based services.  Participants were given an opportunity to hear from Dr. Guy Bourgon, a dedicated leader in the development and implementation of empirically validated correctional services, Stefan LoBuglio, Director of Corrections & Reentry for the Council of State Governments Justice Center, David D’Amora, Director of Special Projects for the Council of State Governments Justice Center, Dr. Grant Duwe, Research Director for the Minnesota Department of Corrections, and several local expert practitioners to get a solid understanding of the need for quality cognitive-behavioral interventions, how they can serve as the intervention in their work with clients, and how collectively they can build momentum to support  this work in Minnesota.

Exploring “What Works”

Featured in each newsletter, we’ll explore concepts of “what works.” This first series will focus on Core Correctional Practices and the terms which we’ll expand more upon in each upcoming newsletter. Many of these concepts are the basic stepping stones to guide proven strategies used to change criminal thinking and behavior- and change lives when incorporated into working with criminal justice involved men and women. 

Core Correctional Practice (CCP): A combination of practices that corrections staff can use to more effectively interact with offenders and manage behavior. These practices include anti-criminal modeling, effective reinforcement and disapproval, problem-solving techniques, structured learning procedures for skill building, effective use of authority, cognitive self-change, relationship practices and Motivational Interviewing.   

Cognitive Behavioral Intervention (CBI): Principles of cognitive behavioral therapy (see below) underlie the programs that researchers have shown have the greatest impact on offender change. In a 2010 survey of behavioral therapy, psychologists Michael D. Spiegler and David C. Guevremont identified several defining characteristics of cognitive behavioral therapy: 1) Therapeutic strategies are based on scientific evidence. 2) It also is action-oriented, requiring participants to engage in activities, such as role-playing, during the process. This stands in contrast with many of the talk-therapy approaches for some treatments. 3) The cognitive behavioral therapy approach is focused on the present, changing current risk factors that impact participants’ behavior. 4) The focus is on learning. In a corrections setting, this approach not only explains what not to do but also what to do and how to do it.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Examines the chain of thoughts leading to emotions and how it affects behavior. An article from the National Institute of Justice describes how it helps reduce crime. Researchers have shown that by changing your thoughts or beliefs you are able to affect how you feel. This examination encourages people to identify problem thinking, or thinking that leads to trouble, then test the beliefs and assumptions. During this process, known as Cognitive Restructuring, the belief can be challenged, examined and adjusted or changed, which usually results in a change of accompanying feelings.

Criminogenic needs: Risk factors that, when addressed or changed, affect an offender’s likelihood to commit new crimes. Major risk factors associated with criminal behavior include antisocial personality patterns, attitudes that support criminal behavior, criminal associates, substance abuse, negative family relationships, poor school or work performance and a lack of involvement in positive recreational or leisure activities. 

Evidence-Based Practices: Examination of a body of research focusing on correctional interventions that show how well elements of correctional practice reduce recidivism. A single, new study alone doesn’t show what practices are effective.

Motivational Interviewing (MI): A counseling style to elicit behavior change that focuses on the participant and involves listening to and discussing problems with participants in a way that helps them explore their own reasons for change to help them become less ambivalent. Clinical psychologists and researchers Stephen Rollnick and William Miller created this technique, stating that “compared with nondirective counseling, it is more focused and goal-directed. The examination and resolution of ambivalence is its central purpose, and the counselor is intentionally directive in pursuing this goal.”  

Motivational Enhancement/Increasing motivation to change: The advent of Motivational Interviewing spurred not only a counseling style, but also an approach and mindset to interacting with offenders at multiple levels. It’s not just the techniques of motivational interviewing that are important, the “spirit” and style are also key to using it, Rollnick and Miller wrote. Cognitive behavioral interventions incorporate the spirit of MI into training and service delivery. That spirit seeks to increase engagement and continuation in programming. It does so by building an atmosphere that is positive, non-confrontational, and nonjudgmental in order to decrease resistance so that the focus can be on positive change.

Quality Assurance: Research has shown that for programs and practices to be successful, agencies need to ensure that they are effectively applied and evaluated.

Recidivism: MN DOC tracks how often offenders return to prison for a new offense within three years of their release dates.

Responsivity: Refers to how programs, services and interactions with an offenders meets his or her individual characteristics. 

Risk Level: uses objective assessment tools to determine an offender’s likelihood to reoffend.

Risk-Needs-Responsivity Model (RNR): A variety of research has shown that to successfully reduce recidivism, corrections agencies should assess an offender’s likelihood to reoffend, determine what risk factors contribute to an individual’s likelihood to reoffend and provide services and treatment appropriate to those risk factors and risk level.  

Thinking for a Change (T4C): A program created by the National Institute of Corrections designed to help offenders change their thinking patterns and develop positive social and problem-solving skills. 

Sources: This information is cited directly from State of Washington Department of Corrections, Offender Change Unit. Many of these definitions were provided by the University of Cincinnati, the National Institute of Corrections and other resources.