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Justice Project committee narrows outcome measures to track jail and behavioral-health results
Summary
The Justice Project Oversight and Planning Committee reviewed updated "definitions of success" and discussed four outcome measures from the national Stepping Up initiative—jail bookings, length of stay, connections to treatment and recidivism—while members flagged data gaps, racial disparities and workforce shortages.
The Justice Project Oversight and Planning Committee met March 20 and reviewed a draft performance measurement plan that applies four high-level outcome measures from the national Stepping Up initiative to Whatcom County’s justice and behavioral-health work.
Committee consultant Julia (VillageReach) told members the measures—jail bookings, jail length of stay, connections to treatment and recidivism—are intended to be disaggregated so the county can track outcomes specifically for people with serious mental illness while retaining the ability to look at the overall jail population. "If we set up measures in a way that lets us disaggregate to look at the general or to look at the specific population that does have mental illness, that allows us to then also look at the general jail population," Julia said.
The nut graf: Committee members supported the high-level framing but repeatedly raised measurement and scope questions. Discussion focused on how to define and identify serious mental illness (SMI) for reporting, whether to expand measures to include substance-use disorders, how to capture racial disparities, and what data sources exist to produce the proposed indicators.
Members urged concrete definitions and data plans. Committee member Tasha pressed for clearer definitions tied to metrics: "So that to me is just such a broad term…what does that mean?" Other members said the county must inventory data sources before finalizing measures. Julia agreed, saying the next phase will test whether the county can measure the ideals raised now.
Multiple speakers asked the committee to include substance-use disorder and co-occurring disorders under the behavioral-health umbrella. "We need to make sure we aren't overlooking that population or the population that carries both diagnoses," said Gene, recommending the language refer to "behavioral health disorders" rather than only "mental illness."
Members also flagged racial disproportionality and court processes as central to any performance measurement effort. Miriam asked the group to "address very directly and intentionally the fact that we have a small percentage of people of color in Whatcom County, but they make up a huge percentage of incarcerated people." Dean noted that competency-restoration pathways and slow court throughput affect length of stay and downstream outcomes.
Corrections and public-safety staff described available data and near-term reporting. A county corrections speaker said the jail’s average length of stay is about 19 days and that recent 2023–2024 reports include demographic breakdowns and offense-level detail; those reports will be shared with the committee. Sheriff Tanksley told the group the office can provide the data it collects but cautioned that some demographics are self-reported and that enrollment and reporting practices vary: "We certainly can give this committee what we have. But we also have to be cognizant that the data which we have is self reported." Another committee member described existing local SMI definitions used in jail practice that combine diagnosis and functional impairment.
Members proposed submeasures and process steps to make the high-level measures usable: capture bookings that are repeat or pending-charge rebookings, track whether reduced bookings coincide with increased emergency-department visits, record whether prebooking diversion assessments are administered, and add race/ethnicity disaggregation. Several members recommended measuring workforce capacity, training pipelines and retention as a precursor metric because service capacity affects diversion and postrelease supports.
Committee members also discussed competency restoration and court-based interventions. Dean urged the committee to consider competency restoration pathways that include state hospitals and other facilities as part of length-of-stay dynamics. Multiple members asked staff to map existing diversion programs (for example, mental-health court and law-enforcement diversion) into the measurement framework.
The meeting closed with agreement to continue refining definitions, identify data sources and test feasibility before the committee finalizes target indicators. Julia asked members to send further input by email. The committee will reconvene in April to continue measurement planning.
