MAINE
Approximately 35,000
Square Miles
Population of 1.3 million
16 Counties
32 Court Houses
14 County Jails
6 State Prisons
2 Juvenile Institutions
1 Reentry Center
Maine Pretrial Services
Maine Pretrial Services, Inc. (MPS), originally known as
the Bail Project, has been in existence for more than
thirty-five years. MPS was incorporated in 1983 under its
current 501 c3 status.
MPS Mission Statement
Maine Pretrial Services, Inc. is a private, nonprofit
agency committed to providing pretrial services, post
conviction alternatives and diversion options
throughout the state of Maine.
Agency Vision
We strive to embrace innovation and integrity while
recognizing legal and evidence based practices in
order to effectively and efficiently address the evolving
needs of Maine’s criminal justice system.
A Chicken in Every Pot
With guidance from our board of directors, MPS has
sought to provide services to criminal defendants in all of
Maine’s 16 counties. Over the last 10 years the agency
has evolved into its current configuration with a presence
in 11 Maine counties.
Goals
To provide objective, comprehensive information to the
court, prosecution, and defense regarding each in-custody
defendant for use in the bail determination.
To provide effective community supervision and
monitoring of court ordered conditions of release for all
eligible defendants.
To reduce recidivism and promote appearance by
collaborating effectively with community based resources
for treatment, education, employment and housing.
Goals
To use an objective, validated risk assessment tool in
conjunction with screening and verification processes on
all in-custody defendants prior to initial appearance.
To appropriately consider the purpose of bail and the
constitutional guarantees afforded to the accused when
recommending conditions or combinations of conditions
designed to ensure appearance while reducing risk of reoffense for all in-custody defendants.
To address criminogenic factors in the criminal justice
population by embracing principles of legal and evidence
based practices such as motivational interviewing,
objective risk assessment, and referral to evidence based
treatment interventions for all defendants eligible for
supervision.
MPS Programs
 Pretrial Release and Supervision
 Adult Drug Court Case Management
 Family Drug Court Case Management
 Co-Occurring Court Case Management
 Veterans Court Case Management
 Reentry Case Management
 Vocational and Housing Resource Case Management
Data Driven Performance Outcomes
 Outcomes based on Measuring What
Matters
 Web based Information System for data
entry
 Ability to produce routine “error reports”
 Ability to run reports based on county,
caseworker, program, specific date ranges
 Seamless quality assurance
Weekly Data Snapshots
TOTAL
PT
830
520
510
820
500
810
490
800
790
480
TOTAL
470
460
780
450
770
760
440
430
PT
Total Clients Served 2009-2012
Total Supervised-All Programs
1900
1862
1850
1800
1771
1764
1750
Total Supervised-All Programs
1720
1700
1650
1600
2009
2010
2011
2012
Average Length of Supervision
96
95
94
94
92
Number of Days
90
88
86
Average Length of Supervision
86
84
84
82
80
78
2009
2010
2011
Year
2012
Bed Days Saved
170,000
167,411
165,706
165,000
160,970
160,000
155,000
150,000
145,000
Bed Days Saved-All Programs
144,775
140,000
135,000
130,000
2009
2010
2011
2012
Safety Rates
2000
1862
1800
1600
1771
1734
1720
1764
1647
1596
1645
1400
1200
Total Supervised
1000
No New Criminal Conduct
New Criminal Conduct
800
600
400
200
128
124
124
119
0
2009
2010
2011
2012
Appearance Rates
2000
1868 1855
1800
1771 1755
1720 1713
1764 1747
1600
1400
1200
Total Supervised
1000
Appeared for Court
Failed to Appear
800
600
400
200
7
13
16
17
0
2009
2010
2011
2012
Pretrial Certification
Current and former staff are Certified Pretrial
Professionals
MPS instituted policy in 2008 that all Pretrial Staff
become certified within the first year of employment
Staff are required to attend a mandatory minimum
number of continuing education hours in order to
maintain CPC status.
Accreditation
 NAPSA Accreditation Committee selected Maine as a test
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site for roll out of new accreditation process
Started process in fall of 2010.
Thorough review of policy and procedure vis a vis the
pertinent NAPSA standards as adopted by Accreditation
Committee.
Virtual, telephone, and in person meetings, followed by
local site visits.
Local team led by Deputy Director, required management
coordination
Special thanks to Barbara Darby and Peter Kiers!!!
State Board of Corrections
 History-Governor’s Initiative: One Maine One System
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2006
L.D. 2080-An Act to Better Coordinate and Reduce the
Cost of the Delivery of the State and County
Correctional Services
Passed as emergency legislation
Simultaneous with Correctional Alternative Advisory
Committee (CAAC)(special legislative committee to
the Governor’s Task Force on Criminal Justice).
CAAC report included “Pretrial Case Processing” by
Marie Van Nostrand, PhD.
BOC Mission and Goals
 Design, guide, and invest strategically in the
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development of a unified state and county corrections
system and to maintain and manage the system in
order to accomplish the following goals:
reduces recidivism
increases pretrial diversion and post conviction release
reduces the rate and use of incarceration
achieves efficiencies
reduces the rate of growth in the cost of corrections
BOC Responsibilities and Duties
 Manage the cost of corrections.
 Determine correctional facility use and purpose.
 Adopt treatment standards and policies.
 Certificate of need.
 Administrative duties.
 Receive and review recommendations.
BOC 2013-Blue Ribbon Commission
 “Jail Task Force” Commission to Study Board of
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Corrections
On heels of independent report by NIC
On heels of independent report by RH Smith audit
Another study to try and convince Mainers that our
correctional system is broken?
We knew that….but…….
Beginning of Bail Reform
 Testimony provided to Jail Task Force Commission
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regarding underutilization and misuse of pretrial
services
Conversation followed regarding need for bail reform,
involvement of bench and bar
Media opportunities
Anticipation of Arnold report (Van Nostrand and
Lowenkamp)
Possibilities!!!!!!
Massachusetts Bail Reform
 Meetings scheduled for Maine Pretrial Services, NAPSA,
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and Pretrial Justice Institute:
Presentations to Chief Justice and members of Pretrial Task
Force of Massachusetts
Presentations to Members of Massachusetts Commissions
on Criminal Justice
Presentations to Committee for Public Counsel
Services/Public Defender
Legislative presentations for members of Mass. Senate
Public meeting for Advocacy Groups, interested public at
Suffolk Law School