[From Our Partners] Understanding the Population of People with Frequent Jail Contact
For most people, being admitted to jail is their one and only contact with the criminal legal system. There are a small number of people, however, who experience more frequent jail contact and this group often constitutes a disproportionately high percentage of a jail’s daily census. And, as in jail populations overall, People of Color and people with behavioral health conditions are overrepresented in this group.
In an effort to understand the population of people with frequent jail contact, ISLG funded Policy Research Associates (PRA) through the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC) Research Consortium to conduct a mixed-methods research study in three SJC sites—Harris County, Texas, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and Pennington County, South Dakota. This study sought to track the flow of people with frequent jail contact, assess the various strategies used by sites to reduce jail contact, and investigate outcomes, especially for people of color and people with behavioral health conditions.
Using administrative records, virtual and in-person site visits, and interviews with practitioners and people with lived experience, researchers explored the dynamics of frequent jail contact and assessed outcomes for the people who experience it.
Key findings include:
Practitioners did not have specific criteria they used to define people with frequent jail contact. Yet, all practitioners were familiar with this population. Furthermore, sites implemented strategies aimed at reducing jail contact generally, but strategies in the study sites do not specifically target people with frequent contact.
People with frequent jail contact represent a minority of the population of people booked into county jails but a majority of all bookings. People of Color are disproportionately represented among people with frequent jail contact. People with frequent jail contact often described experiences of profound trauma and issues with homelessness, as well as unmet behavioral health needs.
Diversion strategies may improve outcomes for people with frequent jail contact, but they also implicate the need for strong community-based resources to support the success of people with behavioral health conditions.
People with frequent jail contact typically have complicated behavioral health needs, and often face systemic and personal obstacles such as poverty and housing insecurity—conditions that can be addressed with individualized, person-centered care and treatment plans.
The researchers provide several policy recommendations grounded in the project’s findings:
Creating a data-sharing ecosystem;
Establishing formal, jurisdiction-specific definitions;
Using validated behavioral health screening tools;
Implementing psychiatric advanced directives;
Facilitating jail in-reach programs;
Increasing peer support programs;
Improving access to housing;
Increasing utilization of community-based services; and
Centering and evaluating efforts for racial equity.
Publications include a policy brief and podcast about the findings as a whole, as well as site-specific fact sheets providing an overview of demographic and jail data, including relevant racial/ethnic makeup and characteristics of people with frequent jail contact, as well as site-specific “graphic notes” of findings and major themes from interviews with people with lived experience.
harris county
mecklenburg county
pennington county
ABOUT THE SAFETY & JUSTICE CHALLENGE
In 2015, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation launched the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC), a multi-year initiative to reduce populations and racial disparities in American jails. To advance knowledge development grounded in a research agenda that explores, evaluates, and documents site-specific strategies to safely and effectively reduce jail populations and address racial and ethnic disparities, the Foundation engaged the Institute for State & Local Governance (ISLG) at the City University of New York (CUNY) to establish and oversee an SJC Research Consortium. Consortium members are nationally renowned research, policy, and academic organizations collaborating with SJC sites to build an evidence base focused on pretrial reform efforts.