Goals and Staff Functions
Goals
Kent County OCC works toward:
- Decreasing the prison commitment rate in Kent County
- Promoting the use of community-based sanctions as sentencing options for non-violent felony offenders sentenced to probation or jail
- Evaluation and auditing of Kent County OCC-funded agencies to ensure quality services are provided to enrolled offenders
- Ensuring that Michigan Office of Community Corrections funds awarded to Kent County OCC are fully maximized by funded agencies and Kent County
Staff Functions
Kent County OCC staff carry out a number of functions throughout the year with a primary emphasis on the monitoring of OCC-funded programming to ensure contract compliance and effective treatment services. When an issue has been noted with the programming funded by Kent County OCC, it becomes the responsibility of Kent County OCC staff to review the reasons why the issue has developed and to request/require modifications to the program to ensure that the issue has been resolved in a positive manner. Staff are also responsible for the collecting, entering, and interpreting of felony offender sentencing data in Kent County. Statistical data collected and reported to MOCC, CCAB, and other local criminal justice stakeholders includes (but is not limited to) jail utilization data, disposition rates, and program enrollment/termination information. Monthly invoices are also collected from each funded agency and reviewed for accuracy and to make certain that each program is meeting its stated utilization goals.
Another responsibility of Kent County OCC staff is the County Jail Reimbursement
Program (CJRP). This program (which was taken on by Kent County OCC staff
during FY 2000) allows each county in Michigan to seek reimbursement from
MDOC for housing eligible offenders within local jails that would have historically
received a prison disposition. Offenders who are eligible for reimbursement
can receive a per diem of $43.50 per day reimbursement for their stay in
the Kent County Correctional Facility for up to 365 days from the date their
sentence begins. Eligibility criteria can be modified from year to year to
better reflect the population of offenders that can be truly considered “prison
bound”. From FY 2000 through FY 2007, Kent County has received a total
of $8.3 million dollars in CJRP funds.
County Jail Reimbursement
The Michigan County Jail Reimbursement Program (Michigan CJRP) allows local counties to submit monthly invoices for housing offenders at the local jail facility that historically would have received prison sentences. Eligible offenders can be invoiced for up to 365 days from the date of their sentencing with Kent County receiving $43.50 per day per inmate. Kent County OCC staff took over responsibility for the Michigan CJRP from the Kent County Sheriff’s Department during fiscal year (FY) 2000. This change was done as Kent County OCC staff has greater access to sentencing information and other data which enables for the better identification of CJRP-eligible offenders.
The criteria established by the Michigan Department of Corrections has been modified several times over the years and most recently eliminated a blanket reimbursement for all OUIL III offenders and now requires this group of offenders to meet the same sentencing guideline (SGL) scores and prior record variable (PRV) scores as all other offenders. This change led to a decrease in the reimbursement Kent County received in fiscal year 2006. Despite the more stringent criteria that must be met for reimbursement, Kent County has ranked second in the State, behind Oakland County, in terms of Michigan CJRP funds received for eligible offenders during the past two fiscal years. From FY 2000 through FY 2006, Kent County received a total of $7,461,076.50 in Michigan CJRP funds.
