Senate committee hears data and personal testimony on Family Sentencing Alternative program

The Senate Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health held an informational review April 22 of Oregon’s Family Sentencing Alternative Program (FSAP), a diversion program that allows eligible parents who are sole providers to remain in the community under intensive supervision rather than serve a prison sentence.

Jeremiah Stromberg, assistant director for the Department of Corrections’ Community Corrections Division, described the program’s origins amid earlier justice-reinvestment efforts and said FSAP was designed as a community-based option for eligible, nonviolent people who are sole caregivers. The program launched as a pilot across five counties — Columbia, Jackson, Marion, Multnomah and Washington — and provides enhanced, family-centered supervision: probation officers carry reduced caseloads (roughly half a standard load) and participants receive supports such as treatment, housing assistance, help with reunification when children are in foster care, and other wraparound services.

Stromberg told the committee FSAP has enrolled more than 345 participants across the five counties and impacted more than 600 children. He said the average length of foster-care stay for children of incarcerated parents in comparison groups exceeded 1,000 days; among FSAP participants the average was just over 800 days. A Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) analysis comparing FSAP participants to matched parents who went to prison showed higher arrest and conviction rates overall for this population but substantially and statistically lower rates — up to about 15 percent lower — among FSAP participants compared with matched incarcerated parents in the three years following program participation.

Stromberg said the pilot is set to sunset June 30, 2025, but House Bill 2,555 is working through the legislature; that bill would remove the sunset, extend program duration from a fixed 12 months to the participant’s period of probation (potentially up to three years), and remove statutory crime restrictions so that, with judicial approval, people convicted of a broader range of offenses could be considered for an FSAP departure from prison.

Stromberg and committee members discussed program expansion: three additional counties had expressed interest in participating, and the department’s fiscal analysis included cost scenarios for expansion. Committee members asked whether the program yields cost savings: Stromberg said standard probation costs about $15 per day, FSAP roughly $30 per day, and a prison bed can exceed $200 per day, noting the FSAP model “absolutely pencils out” when compared to incarceration costs.

Jill Schumette, an alumna of the program who now works for the Pathfinder Network in Jackson County, described entering FSAP in lieu of a long prison sentence, entering residential treatment, regaining contact with her children and later earning a certified recovery mentor certification with program support. Schumette said she has more than six years of sobriety and credited FSAP with enabling reunification and recovery.

Committee members asked whether other counties could opt in; department staff said current funding is limited to five counties but additional counties had expressed interest and the fiscal statement included cost estimates for expansion. Stromberg said district attorneys and judges had agreed in concept that crime type should not categorically bar consideration for FSAP departures if the court determines an individual is eligible and community placement is appropriate.

No committee vote was taken; the session was informational. Stromberg urged continued evaluation and collaboration with the Criminal Justice Commission to track outcomes as more participants complete follow-up periods.