Pilot program with forensic social workers reports 45% drop in first-year recidivism; bill seeks data-platform expansion

Representative Tyler Clancy and Dr. Daniel Lancaster presented a two-year pilot in Weber County that embedded forensic social workers within public defense and provided reentry case managers in county jails. Lancaster told the committee the pilot served roughly 550 high-utilizer individuals and produced a reported 45% reduction in first-year recidivism and a nearly 60% reduction in the number of rebooking episodes among those who were rebooked.

Lancaster described forensic social workers as master's-level clinicians who act as clinical case managers and coordinate treatment and community resources without overriding judicial decision-making. "They are more akin to a clinical case manager that ensures that treatment and support systems that are normally siloed and disconnected, are able to receive and share information," Lancaster said.

Clancy also proposed expanding a Department of Corrections case-management portal into a broader criminal-justice data platform to connect health, housing, mental-health authorities and law-enforcement data so frontline officers and case managers can identify services and reduce unnecessary jail episodes. Clancy estimated $28,000,000 in systemwide savings if integrated properly and emphasized consent and accountability rules for data access.

Legislators praised the pilot and asked questions about data ownership, after-hours monitoring and privacy controls. Presenters said data ownership would remain with contributing agencies and that access controls and audit trails would be part of the platform.