The
most recent issue of the Alaska Justice Forum features articles on juvenile sex offenders, housing for chronic inebriates, justice projects in Alaska funded through Recovery Act funds, and the Alaska Prisoner Re-entry Task Force.
The 8-page issue includes the following articles:
Though juvenile sex offenders are often viewed as an intractable problem, the sex offender treatment program at McLaughlin Youth Center (MYC) in Anchorage, coupled with supervision and maturation, offers evidence of successful treatment. This article describes the characteristics of 29 juvenile sex offenders awho participated in the MYC sex offender treatment program and were released during the period July 1, 2004 – June 20, 2007 and examines their delinquency history up to age 18.
The issue of the chronically homeless, which includes hard-to-house subpopulations, is a common problem in cities across the U.S. A new way of addressing this problem, called Housing First, provides housing for chronically homeless people in their own permanent housing units at the very outset, rather than initially treating their underlying problems (e.g., substance abuse, mental illness, etc.) to make them “housing ready.” This article reports on observations during a facility tour in March 2010 of 1811 Eastlake, a property operated by Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) in Seattle which provides supportive housing for Seattle's chronic alcohol-addicted population. An accompanying sidebar article briefly describes
Karluk Manor, a proposed Housing First facility for chronic inebriates in the Fairview neighborhood of Anchorage.
A projected $1.6 billion in stimulus funds under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has been allocated for over 1,000 projects in Alaska. Included in the stimulus package for Alaska are funds administered by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) totaling $18,906,593 for 39 justice-related projects in 22 rural and urban communities statewide through grants to state agencies; Alaska Native tribes, villages, and councils; municipalities; and nonprofits.
The Alaska Prisoner Re-entry Task Force, a subcommittee of the Criminal Justice Working Group, met in April 2010 to establish a work plan, identify major areas of focus, and create strategic work groups to address each area. The Task Force goal is: “Individuals who are incarcerated do not return to custody.” To achieve this, the Task Force will look for community partners and identify evidence-based strategies to improve the re-entry process.
Deborah Periman, Justice Center faculty member, has been awarded tenure and been promoted to Associate Professor; Adrienne Freng, visiting faculty member during the Spring 2010 semester, is returning to University of Wyoming, where she is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice.
Dr. Marny Rivera, Justice faculty, was recently awarded a $20,000 grant from the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission to evaluate the Jackson County, Oregon community justice program called Recovery Opportunities Court. This multi-year evaluation project will examine the results of this unique adult court program in Oregon.
