The Colorado Department of Public Safety shall work with local community corrections boards and key stakeholders to develop and implement a mandatory introductory orientation and an annual continuing education curriculum to ensure appropriate and consistent community placement decisions by board members.

Colorado community corrections boards from every judicial district must have a mandatory minimum membership that includes representatives from the offices of the district attorney, public defender, law enforcement, probation, the Department of Corrections, a victim or survivor representative, and a citizen member. Board membership should strive to reflect the composition and values of the local community.

Each judicial district and appointing authority  (see C.R.S., 17-27-103) shall review how often each community corrections board member should apply for reappointment to the board.

The General Assembly should provide funding for a specialized program in the community corrections budget for very high risk offenders. This program requires a differential per diem, appropriate standards of practice, and services to address what criminologists term the "top four criminogenic needs." (Footnote: 1)

Community corrections boards shall develop and implement a structured, research-based decision making process that combines professional judgment and actuarial risk assessment tools.  This structured decision making process should sort offenders by risk, need and appropriateness for community placement. The Division of Criminal Justice shall receive resources to assist local boards in developing these processes.

The Colorado Community Corrections Standards developed by the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) shall be changed to allow flexibility within a program to provide appropriate and effective supervision and treatment of sex offenders in accordance with the Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) Standards and Guidelines, and to provide effective and appropriate supervision and treatment of low, medium, high and very high risk offenders.  

The Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) shall develop a program evaluation tool that will assess each programs' adherence to evidence-based principles and practices and identify each program's capacity for providing appropriate programming to very high risk offenders. The DCJ should receive funding from the General Assembly to obtain expert consultation on the development of the instrument and to complete a statewide assessment of community corrections programs using the new tool.  The current Risk Factor Analysis requirement of DCJ shall be removed from statute (see C.R.S, 17-27-108).  

The General Assembly should increase the community corrections appropriation to include a specialized Three-Quarter House or Shared Living Arrangement program for lower risk offenders that includes a specialized per diem, appropriate program standards, and access to services to address stabilization and the minimum supervision needs of lower risk offenders.  

Community corrections boards and programs, in conjunction with the Department of Corrections (DOC) shall develop a communication mechanism to provide appropriate feedback to the inmate regarding the decision to reject placement for a transition referral.  

Transition referrals from the Department of Corrections (DOC) to community corrections shall be to a primary and alternate release destination only.  A primary referral shall be a viable and verified county of parole destination or county of conviction.  County of conviction shall not be used for crimes occurring within a Department of Corrections facility or a community corrections facility.

The Department of Corrections (DOC) shall collaborate with community corrections stakeholders to develop an Intensive Residential Treatment (IRT) (Footnote 1) and Residential Dual Diagnosis Treatment (RDDT)  (Footnote 2) referral process that is focused on where the individual will eventually parole.

Amend C.R.S. 18-1.3-1008 to provide that offenders sentenced to the Lifetime Supervision Act, who suffer from a severe disability to the extent they are deemed incapacitated and do not present an unacceptable level of risk to public safety, may petition the court for early discharge from probation supervision.  Also, if necessary, make conforming amendments to the Colorado Victims' Rights Act regarding a "critical stage" for victim notification.

The Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice supports agencies within the Executive and Judicial branches of government, and agencies involved in critical decisions of case processing and treatment of juvenile offenders, committing to and participating in the creation of statewide juvenile professional development practices as directed by the state's Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Council.  We recommend the following timeline:

- Phase 1 (September 1, 2014 – September 30, 2015):  Commit to and participate in the creation of statewide juvenile professional development practices.

Require cultural competency training for all justice agencies and for all treatment and service organizations used by justice system agencies. (A preliminary version of this recommendation appeared as FY11-MOR#1)

All justice agencies should track the racial and ethnic diversity of their staff. Every organization should actively recruit minority candidates for both job opportunities and as members of boards and commissions. (A preliminary version of this recommendation appeared as FY11-MOR#2)