MCA Executive Board Meeting

Criminal Justice Training Commission

July 16, 2002

Present:  Tandra Schwamberg, President; Glenda Ward, Vice-President; Sue Fraser, Past-President; Linda Eiford, Treasurer; Linda Shaw, Secretary, Ron Krebs, Co-Chair Education & Training; Jim Smallwood, Membership.  Board Representatives:  District and Municipal Court Judges Association (DMCJA); Judge James Docter, District Municipal Court Judges Association (DMCJA); Sandra Warter, District and Municipal Court Managers Association (DMCMA);

 Guests:  Terry Sherwood, Criminal Justice Training Commission; Sue White, Seattle Municipal Court Probation Department

Absent: Ileen Gerstenberger, Co-Chair Education & Training; Deena Kaelin, Legislative; Nominations, vacant

10:05 a.m.  Meeting opened by Tandra Schwamberg, President.  Quorum declared.  Tandra turned the meeting over to Glenda Ward, incoming President.

Guests:  Terry Sherwood; Sue White

Terry Sherwood, Criminal Justice Training Commission announced that budget issues have forced having minimum of 20 students in each Adult Services Academy before they can proceed. They only have 6 students lined up for the October 15^th academy.  As an answer, they are considering regional academies.  Sue White has about 10 Probation Officers ready to go if the academy could offer Adult Services Academy on site in Seattle.  Terry will investigate the possibilities and other offices in the area can add participants if possible. Glenda Ward suggested having a regional training on Rule 11.  

Tandra suggested forging partnerships with DOC in the future. 

Terry brought up the need for trainers out of misdemeanant corrections, since DOC currently has the largest role in the training in the Academy.  Terry discussed the idea of regional people volunteering time for training, which can lower Commission costs.  Susan suggested that there is a need for training in other languages and specifically for Spanish.

Terry would like a copy of the Membership book so that Criminal Justice Training Commission to have e-mail access to the whole association.  Tandra asked the board to approve giving the CJTC one of her copies.

Sue White, Seattle Municipal Court came to report on the results of the Technical Assistance requests that have been sent to NIC.  The request was made to support statewide training for misdemeanor probation departments on the correct administration of the Wisconsin Risk Assessment.  Elaine McNally from Pierce County had added a request for revalidation of the Wisconsin tool and a workload study.  George Keiser, Chief of Community Corrections Division has indicated that NIC will not be willing to provide TA unless both the risk and needs scales are used.  Sue will contact Mark Gornik and clarify that we do want to proceed with needs, risk and case planning to increase the potential of getting TA.

The board discussed the need for probation standards so that misdemeanor departments in Washington can speak the same language.  Training manuals, policies and procedures, etc., would be very helpful in reducing liability.  Sue Fraser suggested having Pam Foister come to the next meeting to report on the probation standards that were developed by the APPA committee last year.  It was suggested further that it would be good to get a report from Pam on what is happening in Washington State Law & Justice Council.

Doug Butcher asked that Sue White prepare an article for the next newsletter on the TA request.

Reading of the minutes.  Sue Fraser made a motion to approve the minutes. Linda Eiford      seconded, motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report:

Linda presented report.  Total income from the conference was $11,584.56.  There is an additional $1,300.00 in membership and conference fees that have not been included in the total.  Current account balance as of June 30, 2002 is $22,785.30.  Tandra Schwamberg moved to approve the Treasure’s Report.  Jim Smallwood seconded, motion carried.

Linda asked whether or not $2,875.00 should be transferred to the Legislative Savings? Ron Krebs asked about putting some money into having a coordinator for the conference before a decision is made.  Jim Smallwood indicated that he thinks that we already committed the vendor fees to the legislative account and expressed concern about what having a contractor would do to the feel of the conference and MCA membership involvement.  The issue was tabled until Linda Shaw can research whether that is part of the past minutes.

Linda made a motion to provide a copy of the minutes to the bank so that they have record of the new officers, President, Glenda Ward; Doug Butcher, Vice President; Linda Eiford, Treasurer; Linda Shaw, Secretary.  Tandra Schwamberg seconded the motion, motion carried.

President’s Report: Glenda talked to Marie McGaffin, a PO from Everett regarding ASAM criteria.  She has formed a committee to get a standard compliance report that all treatment agencies can use.

Regarding filling of open board positions, Tandra and Glenda faxed ballots with a cover letter to all departments on July 11,2002 with a deadline of July 22, 2002.  They have already received more responses that they have from a typical mailing.

Vice-President’s Report:  Doug stressed getting newsletter submissions in.  Doug wants to do a little public relations and expand the mailing to other than paid members.

Immediate Past-President’s Report:  Tandra passed out the Technical Assistance Report prepared by Ray Ferns for NIC.  She also had a word of thanks for board member support of the conference.

Debbie Yonaka has been appointed as representative to the District and Municipal Court Judges Association.

Tandra sent a letter to DASA on July 1, 2002, as a follow-up to a motion made at the business meeting in May.  The contents of the letter included that MCA voted unanimously to support and recommend to DASA that the protocol for substance abuse assessments be placed in the WAC.  Some providers refused to follow the protocol which can increase potential of misdiagnosis.

Secretary’s Report:  Linda Shaw had nothing to report. 

Membership Report:  Jim reports that we currently have 132 paid members of MCA.  He wants to send an updated membership form out to past members for recruitment.  Jim will be adding honorary members to the membership list as well.

Education/Training Report:  Ron Krebs is suggesting that MCA contract with Roger Lake, retired WSP, for conference coordination.  Roger currently contracts with many criminal justice agencies for conferences.  Discussion around needing more involvement from MCA members to assist in future conferences and the risk that a small association takes when they contract for services versus encouraging member participation.  Tandra suggested having Roger Lake come and speak at the next board meeting.  Ron will contact the board by e-mail about arranging a special meeting with Roger, possibly in Bellevue prior to the next board meeting.  Ron Krebs made a motion to table the next conference location until the next meeting.  Linda Eiford seconded, Jim Smallwood opposed, so noted, the motion carried.

Discussed the need to get notes of “Thank You” out to agencies that donated items for the conference as well as the instructors.  Ron will provide a list to Glenda for follow-up.

Legislative Committee:  Deena Kaelin absent.

District and Municipal Court Judges Association Report:  Position vacant.  As Tandra indicated, she has appointed Debbie Yonaka, who has accepted the vacancy.

Nominations Committee:  Position vacant.

District and Municipal Court Managers Association Report:  Sandra reports that the AOC has taken huge budget hits.  One conference has been cut.  One conference for all managers has been cut by one day.  They have suffered a 3% cut across the board.  She adds that King County is going from 9 to 3 division courts.

Sand Ron Krebs is suggesting that MCA contract with Roger Lake, retired WSP, for conference coordination.  Roger currently contracts with many criminal justice agencies for conferences.  Discussion around needing more involvement from MCA members to assist in future conferences and the risk that a small association takes when they contract for services versus encouraging member participation.  Tandra suggested having Roger Lake come and speak at the next board meeting.  Ron will contact the board by e-mail about arranging a special meeting with Roger, possibly in Bellevue prior to the next board meeting.  Ron Krebs made a motion to table the next conference location until the next meeting.  Linda Eiford seconded, Jim Smallwood opposed, so noted, the motion carried.

Discussed the need to get notes of “Thank You” out to agencies that donated items for the conference as well as the instructors.  Ron will provide a list to Glenda for follow-up.

ra indicates that District and Municipal Court Managers are currently reviewing their policies and procedures.  

District and Municipal Court Judges Association Report:  Judge Docter encouraging local trainings in “What Works” and invitations to judges in order to increase awareness.  Judge Docter reports that Kitsap County is having someone in to do some training in “What Works”.  These kind of things need to be viewed as an opportunity to share with the bench.

Other:  Linda Eiford brought up as reminder that letters need to go out to Bill Cobb, Gary Schwab, Rich Ward and Fred Thompson on their honorary memberships.

Glenda Ward presented an award of appreciation to Tandra for her hard work as MCA President last year. 

The next meeting date is October 15, 2002.  Meeting time and location will be mailed out.  The Winter meeting will be on February 18^th and the Summer, July 15^th, 2003.  The date for the Spring meeting will be in conjunction with the conference, date TBD.

Discussed the next conference theme.  Ileen and Ron will explore with Roger Lake and possibly NIC.

Jim Smallwood made a motion to adjourn, Tandra seconded, motion carried

MCA Executive Board Meeting

Criminal Justice Training Commission

October 15, 2002

Present:  Glenda Ward, President; Doug Butcher,Vice-President; Tandra Schwamberg, Past-President; Linda Shaw, Secretary; Ron Krebs, Co-Chair Education & Training; Ileen Gerstenberger, Co-Chair Education & Training; Jim Smallwood, Membership; Patti Roadhouse, Nominations Chair.  Board Representatives:  Judge James Docter, District and Municipal Court Judges Association (DMCJA); Deena Kaelin, Legislative; Sandra Warter, District and Municipal Court Managers Association (DMCMA);

Guests:  Al Isaac, CJTC; Pamela Foister, Director, Clark County Corrections

Absent: Linda Eiford, Treasurer

10:00a.m.  Meeting opened by Glenda Ward, President.  Quorum declared.

Reading of the minutes, Tandra moved to accept the minutes as written, Jim Smallwood     seconded, motion carried.

Pamela Foister, Director, Clark County Corrections—Represents MCA on WSLJAC, also on Clark County’s Law and Justice Council.

Mission Statement:

“The Washington  State Law and Justice Advisory Council serves in an advisory capacity to the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government, as well as local law and justice advisory councils, on criminal justice issues, identifies specific community safety needs, and proposes policy solutions for short-term and long range, proactive criminal justice system improvements.”

WSLJAC is currently involved in short and long-term planning, which includes the above mission statement.  They want to narrow their scope to best serve the state in a leadership role.  They want to connect with the organizations they represent, including MCA.  Pam wants feedback to take back to the next meeting on November 7, 2002.  She wants ideas and strategies from MCA board members, particularly in the face of potential budget cuts.  We can be pro-active.  We need to develop several proposals on how to implement this mission statement in conjunction with MCA. 

Pam also pointed out how important connections with DOC could be as we move through upcoming days.  She suggested that we send out a request through the directors asking for feedback regarding a joint implementation plan to move forward.  Joe Lehman has been talking about basic communication including “best practices” and restorative justice initiatives.  One example is the issue of DOC starting up Work Crews.  We can work with DOC so they won’t duplicate something already happening at county level. 

Tandra is willing to coordinate a Director’s Meeting with Mark Kucza of DOC.

Pam presented information on the American Probation and Parole’s role in developing national standards for probation.  Clark County, Washington was the only misdemeanant corrections organization represented.  APPA had been working on the standards for a couple of years before Pam got involved in the process.  There were two main issues, 1) liability; 2) professional standards.  The scope of the standards was kept broad to encompass both felony and misdemeanor levels.

Pam will get an electronic copy of the draft standards out to all the board members.  Clark County will be adopting the standards after the APPA board approves them.  There will be technical assistance through APPA for field testing.  Clark County has already applied to be a test site.

Judge Docter asked what local entities would adopt the probation standards.  Pam indicated that Clark County Corrections will adopt the standards with involvement of the judicial branch, prosecutor’s office, risk management, the Board of Commissioners, etc.  Judge Docter also pointed out that standards that are too specific or too general can both be problematic.  Pam pointed out that APPA used representatives from national consultants, directors, DOC regional administrators, wardens, juvenile and adult corrections.  They worked on developing a comprehensive package that is broad enough to cover the needs of the profession without being so specific as to be too locked in.  The standards will be field tested for about a year prior to being adopted.  Selection of the test sites will be done early next year, probably no later than February with testing starting in March or April.

Treasurer’s Report: Linda absent.  Read Treasurer’s report.  Jim Smallwood made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report.  Tandra seconded.  Discussion ensued; Linda S asked how high does the checking account balance go before moving more money into a CD. Will discuss when Linda E. is present.  Motion carried.

Linda S made a motion that $2875.00 from the vendors at the May conference go to the coordinator for this next year’s conference.  Ileen seconded.  Discussion ensued; Jim Smallwood asked for clarification about Roger Lake’s fees.  Ron Krebs indicated that he is not charging a fee but will be asking for travel expenses.  Jim pointed out that the e-mail vote he saw was regarding Chelan being the conference location, and he did not recognize it as a vote on Roger Lake’s involvement.  Jim concerned about having a hard copy of vote and also pointed out that he questions not having MCA members more involved in working on the conference.  Doug Butcher suggests trying it out with Lake this year and see if it works.  The motion just includes money being allocated for this next year’s conference, not future conferences.  Ron Krebs pointed out that Lake has a pool of trainers, conference experience, site experience and also knowledge of probation and probation issues.  Tandra pointed out that the money that would be used came from conference vendors, not the membership. Motion carried.

President’s Report:  Glenda announced that Linda Eiford has a DV position open in Skagit County.  It is a two-year grant funded position.

She received 21 requests for 12 scholarships offered by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission for their Winter Conference in December.  It was decided to vote on who would receive the scholarships at the end of the meeting.

The Association of Domestic Violence Professionals is interested in getting the word out on standards for certified DV agencies.  Glenda will have Doug distribute information in the newsletter.

General discussion ensued; Tandra asked if MCA needs to clarify our role and involvement in the state, like enhancing the legislative committee or focusing just on the  conference or working in a cooperative/coordinated effort with misdemeanant probation directors.  Doug suggested that probation offices are “autonomous” and MCA needs to bring them together.  Need to set some obtainable goals and set direction for our future.  Patti Roadhouse suggested that we continue to try and promote membership.  Ron Krebs added that Rule 11 has helped us take a step in that direction.  Mandating misdemeanant corrections would be another way to increase cooperation/coordination.  Doug indicated that we can use the newsletter to increase exposure, but he needs articles.  Jim Smallwood suggested the board write a letter or develop a survey requesting the membership respond with what they think the focus of MCA should be.

Vice-President’s Report:  Doug spoke of his concern for the future of MCA.  He suggested that we work for the membership to develop a vision; a common goal; partnership goals with CJTC/NIC to increase training opportunities, etc.

Deena bought up Elaine McNally’s offer at the conference to make sure all departments got an original of the Wisconsin assessment tool.  She will call Elaine to follow-up on getting that out to everyone. 

Patti resurrected discussion on the TA Elaine had requested from NIC.  Ileen will get the letter that was sent to NIC from Sue White, which included both risk and needs training.

Secretary’s Report:  None

Membership Report:  Jim reports there are no new applications for membership.  He indicates that he has not moved on getting information out to promote relations.  Jim will draft a letter asking directors to consider joining and allowing staff to join.

Education/Training Report:  Ileen presented that we need to vote on whether or not to have Roger Lake as coordinator of next year’s conference.  Tandra made a motion to hire Roger Lake as coordinator for this year’s conference.  Doug Butcher seconded the motion.  Discussion ensued; Conference planned for April 16-18^th, board meeting on the 15^th.  Roger has instructors.  Jim brought up the question again whether he would be charging anything more than travel.  Ileen clarified, travel would include lodging, food and incidentals.  No charges for coordination of conference.  Ileen will work with Linda Eiford on a letter of agreement with a cap on incidentals.  We will need a request for volunteers to go out in the next newsletter.  Tandra amended her motion, to hire Roger Lake contingent on a letter of agreement, as coordinator for this next year’s conference.  Doug seconded the amended version.  Motion carried.

Legislative Committee:  Deena indicates that there is new liability legislation out there and she is trying to find it.  Tandra brought up torte reform in the medical field which may translate into other liability.  Deena will get an article on legislation to Doug for the newsletter.

Representative to District and Municipal Court Judges Association Report: None, Debbie Yonaka may be present for our February meeting.

Nominations Committee: Patti has been working on committee members.  Volunteers are Joel Whitaker; Nina Cogswell; Margaret Turner; Don Belisle; Sharon Fujita.

District and Municipal Court Managers Association Report: Sandra reports that budget concerns are hitting in a major way this year.  Sandra had nothing else to report.

District and Municipal Court Judges Association Report: Judge Docter reported out that the judge’s association is planning their curriculum for the June conference in Spokane.  He wants to get a session on “What Works”.  Linda suggested that Ed Latessa from University of Ohio might be willing to do a session and NIC might be willing to cover his cost as he contracts with them.  Pam Foister indicated that she would be willing to set up a meeting with Ed and see what can be arranged.  She will contact Judge Docter.  Al Isaac, CJTC, indicated that he has heard Ed articulate “What Works” research and was impressed.

Other:  Al Isaac reported that he had 13 students start Adult Services Academy today.  They are planning for 2 sessions next year, one in April and one in October.  Need to zero in on assessment instrument that the misdemeanant corrections departments agree on.

Selected 12 members for WTSC Winter Conference scholarships.  Ileen moved to accept the 12 of 21 applicants.  Tandra seconded the 12 selected.  Motion carried.  (List attached)

Deena made a motion to adjourn, Doug seconded, motion carried.

Minutes prepared by Linda Shaw