Committee Members and Guests Attendance:  Ellen Alexander, Montgomery County Police Department; Wandra Ashley-Williams, D. C. Dept of Corrections, Eric Brenner, Director of the Maryland Governor’s Grants Office; Rev. Michael Bryant, Archdiocese of Washington; Bill Cimino, Community Correction Federal Bureau of Prisons; Colleen Davies, Parole & Probation; Thomas DeGonia, State’s Attorneys Office; Marsha Engel, PRRS Unit III Manager, Shawn Flower, Research Intern; Carl Furr, DOCR Records Manager; POIII Denise Gill, Montgomery County Police Community Policing Coordinator; Karl Girshman, Community Member; Andrea King-Wessell, Federal Bureau of Prison; Susan Kirk, Bethesda Cares; Rev. Ralph Kuehner, Archdiocese of Washington; John Lavigne, Public Defenders’ Office; Stefan LoBuglio, PRRS Division Chief;  Don Martin, Health and Human Services;  Kent Mason, Community Member; Felix Mata, Baltimore City’s Ex-Offenders Initiative; Tina Michaels, PRRS Screener, Charles Newman, D.C. Dept. of Corrections; Jane Sachs, PRRS Unit Manager; James Shannon, PRRS Personnel and Budget Manager; Teresa Still, PRRS Assessment Services Manager; Becky Wagner, Community Ministry of Montgomery County

Welcome and Introductions: Chairperson John Lavigne called the meeting to order at 7:35 A.M.   The Committee members and guests introduced themselves.   

Agenda Item #1:  PRRS Division Chief’s Report:  Chief Stefan LoBuglio presented the “Chief’s” Report which provided an update on PRRS activities and developments since the last Community Advisory Board Meeting on September 14th.   The report is attached.  It highlights the following issues:

·                New PRRS organizational changes were announced that include the creation of a separate unit for female residents at the Pre-Release Center; a reconfigured deployment of staff to improve building control and security; and a new program unit within the Division. 

·                PRRS has received statutory authority to place offenders into our program who are within one-year of release as of January 12, 2007.   Back in October, the County Council approved and the County Executive signed a legislative amendment that increased the eligibility requirement for PRRS from 6 months to a year of release.

·                PRRS will host the Archdiocese of Washington’s mentoring programming at the Pre-Release Program.  The coordinator of the “Welcome Home” program, Mary Elizabeth Mulholland, will recruit mentors from the faith-based community who are interested in providing support for Montgomery County offenders.

Agenda Item #2:  Victim Services:  Marsha Engel, PRRS Unit III Manager; Carl Furr, Manager of DOCR Records Section -- whose office conducts victim notification; Ellen Alexander, Victim Services Coordinator from the Montgomery County Police; and Teresa Still, PRRS Assessment and Screening Manager; and Tina Michaels, PRRS Screener, described several new efforts by PRRS to improve services to victims.   

·                The discussants mentioned that PRRS and DOCR have been working with the state’s victim notification system, called VINE (Victim Information Notification Everyday), to ensure that victims are receiving timely and accurate information when individuals are placed at PRRS.  Each week, PRRS tests the system on the individuals who come to PRRS Sunday night to ensure that VINE is working.  Carl Furr has working directly with the private company that manages VINE and to address some deficiencies in the notification systems that have come to light.

·                On the services side, PRRS is developing a new policy and procedure that will provide guidance on how to manage cases where victim are present.  In cases where there are protective orders, the program must ensure no contact occurs between victims and the PRRS participants and consider the appropriateness of using GPS monitoring technology when participants are in the community. In cases where the victim is interested in resuming contact with the participant and there is a greater likelihood that they will resume a relationship (often times children may be involved), the program needs to carefully proceed and examine the specific circumstances of the crime and individuals involved.  The new Policy & Procedure will identify victim advocate resources that the program can and should engage to ensure that victims are thoroughly knowledgeable about the resources available to them in the county. 

Agenda Item #3:  Strengthening and Expending the PRRS Community Advisory Board:  The Chairman of the Community Advisory Board, John Lavigne, led a discussion on ways that we might strengthen and enlarge the Community Advisory Board.  He provided a brief overview of the history of the Community Advisory Board.

·                CAB members suggested consideration to recruit new board members from the victim community, civic and homeowner associations, ex-offender community, and Montgomery College;

·                CAB members suggested a more significant outreach to the community by PRRS staff to publicize the program (CAB member Karl Kirshman mentioned that the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission has kicked off a major planning effort of the area in which the PRC is located, and suggested that the program become a participant in this process).

·                Chairman John Lavigne received support for a half day strategic planning session involving several board members to develop goals for 2007 (that has been scheduled for January 12, 2007) 

Agenda Item #4: Meeting Dates for 2007

·                Strategic Planning Retreat:  Friday, January 12th @ 8am – Noon –Please RSVP with Becky Fitzgerald (240) 773-4261, if you can come for this half a day meeting

·                Regular meetings:

o       Thursday, February 15^th      @ 7:30 am

o       Thursday, May 24^th             @ 7:30 am

o       Thursday, September 27^th    @ 7:30 am

o       Thursday, December 6^th       @ 7:30 am

PRRS Division Chief's Report