- CROMISA
- The Community Reintegration of Offenders with Mental Illness and Substance Abuse
(CROMISA) program provides comprehensive, intensive, individualized services to those
being released from state prisons who have a mental illness, substance abuse history
and at least one year on parole or probation so that they may fully and completely
reintegrate into the community. The Civic Institute collects data, writes reports,
evaluates, and monitors the functioning of the program, which has become a model of
treatment for dually diagnosed offenders throughout the Commonwealth.
- Erie County Adult Treatment Court Evaluation
- The Civic Institute conducts annual evaluation of the Erie County Adult Drug and
Mental Health Treatment Courts. On an on-going basis staff of the Institute assists
Erie County Department of Probation in their data collection process and reports out
annually on the demographic and programmatic findings. These evaluations are done in
conjunction with the Erie County Court of Common Pleas and the Erie County Department
of Drug and Alcohol.
- Erie County Criminal Justice Coalition
- The Erie County Criminal Justice Coalition, formerly known as the Erie County
Criminal Justice Advisory Board, brings together criminal justice professionals,
public officials, and private citizens to discuss pertinent topics affecting Erie
County’s criminal justice system. The Board provides a forum to share priorities,
concerns, and opportunities and to work together on strategies for change. The Civic
Institute staff help to coordinate activities of the Board and provide staff support.
In addition to ongoing facilitation, the Civic Institute hosted a planning retreat for
the coalition.
- Erie County Mental Health Screening & Assessment Demonstration Project
- The Erie County Department of Human Services received a grant in July 2003 to implement
a pilot screening and assessment service for early detection of mental health and/or substance
abuse issues of those youth entering detention or shelter facilities through the Erie County
Office of Children and Youth or Erie County Juvenile Probation. The Civic Institute is
conducting the local evaluation of the project in addition to coordinating data collection
for the state evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the program in early detection
of mental health/drug & alcohol issues and the impact on placement/service recommendations.
- Erie County Policy & Planning Council for Children and Families (PPC)
- The Civic Institute provides ongoing staff support to the Erie County Policy and Planning
Council for Children and Families. The Council represents 60 community human service leaders,
community representatives, non-profit organizations, government agencies, consumers of service
and educators. The purpose of the Council is to provide a setting in which concerned agency
representatives serving children and families seek to improve outcomes through adopting a more
holistic and less fragmented approach to service provision. The Council also serves as a mechanism
to facilitate collaboration and stimulate research, discussion, evaluation and implementation of
policy and programs to strengthen children and families in Erie County.
- Erie School District 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC)
- The Civic Institute provides the Erie School District CCLC program with consultation and
services in the areas of evaluation, data collection, and outcome-based program improvement plans.
- Family Group Decision Making (FGDM)
- A Civic Institute representative sits on the Implementation Team in guiding the introduction
and implementation of the process to the Erie Community and involving as many constituencies as
possible. Institute staff chair the Evaluation Subcommittee, determine the data to be collected
and guide the development of the necessary database. The Institute will be responsible for the
statistical analysis of the outcomes of FGDM in the future.
- Healthy Youth Development Advisory Board
- A Civic Institute representative sits on the HYD Advisory Board, which was revived and
reorganized over the last year to move from a focused goal of preventing teen pregnancies
to a generalized goal of promoting healthy youth development. A new director was hired to
coordinate the activities provided by agencies, churches, schools and other interested
parties. A Civic Institute representative sits on and currently chairs the Community
Standards subcommittee.
- Incorrigibility Work Group within the Erie County Policy & Planning Council
- The Civic Institute provides ongoing staff support to the Incorrigibility Program Managers
and facilitates the Incorrigibility Work Group. The term incorrigibility refers to youth who
are out of the reasonable control of parents, teachers and other legitimate authorities but
not yet delinquent. The mission of the Incorrigibility Work Group is to work toward the
development of a system of services for incorrigible youth in Erie County that is accessible,
coordinated, effective, and accountable and that minimizes the need for juvenile probation or
child welfare involvement with affected children and families while identifying children and
families who truly need such services.
- Juvenile Detention Census Management Project
- In August 1998, the Civic Institute developed a pilot Level of Security Screening
Instrument to assist the Edmund L. Thomas Adolescent Center in transfer decisions of
youth to staff secure shelters. The Mercyhurst Level of Security Screening Instrument
(MLSSI) was a tool developed to assure those youth transferred pose less risk to community
safety, less risk of absconding, and less risk of harming themselves or reoffending than
do ineligible youth. The Institute’s staff continue to complete screening forms based on
information obtained through the detaining probation officers on all youth admitted to
secure detention and prepare quarterly Census Management Reports for the Department of
Human Services.
- Juvenile Drug Court
- The Civic Institute is participating in the needs assessment process pertaining to
the implementation of a juvenile drug court in Erie County.
- PA Bureau of Drug & Alcohol Programs Peer Review Process
- The Pennsylvania Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Programs (BDAP) has commissioned the Civic
Institute to oversee their Site Peer Review process beginning in 2005. This annual evaluation
gives the opportunity for various program sites to review each others’ current functions, learn
best practices and discuss how to overcome difficult scenarios that may be posing problems
throughout the state system. In addition BDAP site program staff are afforded the opportunity
to discuss concerning issues prohibiting them from making the most of their work experience.
Through survey implementation, interview guide development and project facilitation the Civic
Institute collects and analyzes data for each participating sites and makes site-specific and
program wide evaluations and recommendations to help BDAP implement new policy.
- PAYS – Pennsylvania Youth Survey
- The Pennsylvania Youth Survey was first conducted in Erie County schools in 2005 by the Erie County Health Department.
The national survey provides a mechanism to assess risk, protection and outcomes in the community and school districts. Following
students through the grade levels by conducting the survey biennially, it provides the research based and statistically sound data required
for state and federal grants. Mercyhurst College Civic Institute facilitates the entire process for PAYS at the local level.
PAYS brochure.
- Sanction Certainty
- The Mercyhurst College Civic Institute is currently conducting an evaluation of the
effectiveness of the Sanction Certainty directive of the Erie County Adult Probation
Department. In 1997, Judge John Bozza requested that the Adult Probation Department in
Erie County implement a Zero Tolerance (Sanction Certainty) pilot program, which provide
responses to violations with clarity, celerity, and certainty; the suspected outcomes being
a reduction in the number of violations per violator and a decrease in the time offenders
are detained. Upon completion of this study period, a final report comparing the outcomes
of the evaluation with the preliminary report and previous studies conducted by the Erie
County Adult Probation Department as well as another study by the Civic Institute will
be produced.
- Statewide Criminal Justice Advisory Boards and Criminal Justice Initiatives
- The Civic Institute provides ongoing criminal justice technical assistance to various
counties in the Commonwealth. A project to provide policy assistance and training concerning
mentally ill offenders has been completed in Cumberland County. Additionally, the Institute
has consulted with Mercer, Westmoreland, Venango, Mifflin, Lycoming, Butler, and Blair
Counties regarding the establishment and maintenance of criminal justice advisory boards.
Jefferson County has received help in development of a Treatment Court program to be
implemented in the county, and ongoing evaluation of the Lackawanna DUI Treatment Court is
also being conducted. In Mifflin County, the Institute is also involved in coordinating
technology training for their law enforcement officials in order to more effectively
investigate and prosecute criminals. Also, Dr. Amann, Director of the Institute, assisted
the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency with a process evaluation of seven
county criminal justice advisory boards.
