Recognizing the long-term negative health effects that high incarceration rates have on communities, Missouri Foundation for Health has formed a new partnership with the City of St. Louis to address criminal justice reform.
With support from the foundation, St. Louis is teaming up with FUSE Corp, a national nonprofit, to reduce the city’s jail population by 40 percent over the next five years and substantially improve behavioral health care at the facilities.
Through this collaboration the city will hire two external, executive-level FUSE fellows for 12 months. One will work on bail-bond reform, aiming to decrease the number of low-risk individuals who are awaiting trial in city jails. Another will work to increase the quality, quantity, and timeliness of behavioral health services for justice-involved individuals, ultimately reducing their recidivism rates through increased mental health care access.
The city has the highest incarceration rate in the state, with more than 17,000 individuals cycling through the system every year. In January, there were nearly eight times the number of black male inmates incarcerated in St. Louis jails than white male inmates (1,064 to 138).
According to the Department of Public Safety, in January, the average length of stay for people awaiting felony charges was 236 days. The wait was 250 days for those facing parole violations, and 53 days for those charged only with a misdemeanor. These pretrial wait times can be incredibly destructive for defendants and their families, often leading to job loss and other life-altering issues. A significant number of those held in pretrial detention would be unlikely to face jail time even if they were convicted. The social cost of these extended pretrial incarcerations is substantial, and the monetary costs weigh on the city as well.
According to the National Council of State Legislators, 64 percent of people in local jails identify as having mental health problems. A pilot project in St. Louis estimated that 87 percent of those incarcerated in the city have a history of substance abuse. These mental and behavioral health issues increase the likelihood of an inmate becoming a repeat offender, yet only one in six jail inmates receive mental health treatment.
As part of the FUSE fellows’ work to increase behavioral health services, they will partner with the Department of Public Safety to help establish a criminal justice coordinating council. The council will focus on ensuring that the city and partner agencies have the tools they need to support groups working with incarcerated individuals with behavioral and mental health issues. The council will facilitate increased data sharing, with the goal of better aligning behavioral health, physical health, and criminal justice agencies to improve outcomes for individuals, reduce the use of criminal justice resources, and improve public safety. Collaborators include Regional Justice Information Service and National Alliance on Mental Illness, St. Louis.
Separately, another fellow will work directly with the mayor’s office, public defenders, prosecutors, judges, police, and other key stakeholders to create a risk-assessment tool, in order to promote pretrial detention reform. The aim is to lower bail rates, or find alternatives to bail entirely, which will directly reduce jail populations and eliminate unnecessary barriers for reentry, recovery, and reintegration to society after a conviction or an acquittal. Partners for this work include The Bail Project; Department of Public Safety; the Missouri State Public Defender System and the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court.
“As the Forward Through Ferguson report clearly states, criminal justice reform is key to promoting equity in our region,” said Robert Hughes, president and CEO of Missouri Foundation for Health. “This project is a step by our city leaders to show that they are serious about emphasizing rehabilitation over incarceration and becoming a model for justice system reform.”
FUSE Corp fellows have an average of 20 years of experience and have worked in 20 different cities throughout the country. St. Louis’ fellows are expected to begin their work this October, with the foundation’s assistance for their placement lasting 12 months. The Mayor’s Office has pledged its support for the fellows, as well as the longer-term goals of this effort.
