Tompkins County task force urges formal reentry team, explores nonprofit partners and remote assessments

Michelle, the task force chair, opened the meeting by noting a focused agenda and recent email exchanges about reentry planning and jail-based assessments. She told the group the Alcohol & Drug Council has met with Lieutenant Ray Buntz at the jail and is preparing OASIS approvals to designate an additional site to perform substance-use assessments for people in custody.

Bill, who said the mayor asked him to chair a municipal committee, described a four-pillar approach drawn from Canadian examples — prevention, treatment, harm reduction and public safety — and said the city wants to be a contributing partner rather than duplicate existing services. “The mayor asked me to chair the municipal committee,” Bill said, adding the goal is targeted short-, medium- and long-term actions for groups the county may not be serving well now.

On services inside the jail, members outlined a plan to run drug and mental-health assessments remotely using the jail’s visitor video system: “Casey would call us and say, I have three more assessments that I can do this week — can you do them remotely?” a staff member described. Members emphasized that remote assessments would avoid the OASIS satellite-approval requirement when the assessor connects via the jail’s system, though separate OASIS reimbursement rules may still apply.

The task force recommended formalizing CJ ATI’s reentry work: create a standing reentry team, adopt risk-assessment tools, and require regular reporting and accountability. Several speakers argued for a dedicated case-manager FTE to handle prerelease benefits enrollment (Medicaid, SSI, housing intake) and to coordinate postrelease referrals, rather than relying on existing staff who split time across other duties.

Members also discussed partnering with an existing national-style organization that provides comprehensive reentry services in multiple jurisdictions, suggesting a low-cost satellite or partnership model could deliver “soup-to-nuts” case management without using county general funds. One member volunteered to contact the Albany-area director to explore how a local satellite or partnership might work.

The group weighed voluntary versus mandatory in-jail programming. Some members cautioned the short average jail stays for many detainees limit what can be done inside the jail; others pointed to studies showing targeted GED and vocational programming for longer-stay inmates can reduce recidivism. The task force agreed to focus near-term resources on populations likely to stay longer and to explore restoring or expanding day-reporting and weekend alternatives where feasible.

Next steps: CJ ATI will draft recommended language (distinguishing ‘explore’ from ‘reinstitute’ where appropriate), compile an appendix of public input and data, and present the revised report for review at the next CJ ATI meeting.