DISCAPACITAT DERIVADA DE LA PRÒPIA HOSPITALITZACIÓ

This policy discussion outlines three general ways in which policy could be adjusted to improve the circumstances of offenders and limit the negative effects of legal financial obligations. First, enacting ways to modify or adjust debt congruent to the capabilities and circumstances of the offenders is a significant way to regulate legal financial obligations. Second, improving the accessibility or execution of financial services will also benefit those with legal debts. Third, adjustments to criminal justice consequences may be necessary. Keeping offenders under correctional supervision for a longer period of time typically presents additional challenges for individuals; other strategies to address unpaid legal debts may be more beneficial. Each of these approaches is discussed in more detail.

Addressing Legal Debts

Chapter Four clearly established the prevalence and magnitude of legal financial obligations in Missouri, and highlighted the challenges offenders face in gaining a steady income. Poor employment prospects translate into challenges in paying legal financial obligations. Several strategies could be employed to combat the issues of limited incomes and the described struggles offenders face in payment of legal financial obligations.

First, implementing day fines may be a useful alternative to standard fees.

Jurisdictions typically have set court costs, and the state of Missouri uses a standard $30 monthly supervision fee. As opposed to using set fees, taking into consideration income or earnings potential may reduce the likelihood of offenders being unable to pay legal financial obligations and further accumulation of debt. Utilized primarily in Western European nations, day fines consider the daily wages of individuals and assess fines accordingly (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1996; Hillsman, 1990). The day fine system essentially equalizes the sanction across socioeconomic classes. Although mandated fees and court costs are not necessarily intended to be punitive, offenders do differ in their abilities to pay legal financial obligations. For someone with a high wage job, $30 a month differs in its impact compared to someone who is either out of work or dependent on part time employment. A broader range of intervention fees would equalize the charges among offenders and may alleviate some financial struggle. Further, a study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (1996) suggested the consideration of individual income increased collection rates of economic sanctions. Findings in this dissertation suggested nonpayment of legal financial obligations was not uncommon; implementing day fines may not only balance legal financial obligations, but also increase rate and completion of payment. Also improving criminal justice outcomes, Turner and Greene (1999) suggest the use of adjusted fines decreased technical violations and rearrests among their sample.

If adjusting supervision fees based on income is unworkable, reconsidering the strategy of waivers may be useful. Benefits may emerge from extending the grace period of intervention fee waivers. The three-month delay for payment of intervention fees was established to allow offenders to adjust to reentry and gain steady employment. Findings

suggest it took offenders considerably longer than three months to gain employment. An extension of the automatic waiver period to coincide with employment experiences would likely benefit the offender by minimizing accrual of unpaid intervention fees. An alternative to lengthening the waiver period would be to improve consistency in

leveraging fees. Several participants described having their intervention fees waived at the time due to insufficient income, but this waiver was not uniformly applied to all unemployed offenders past the three-month waiver period. For those who do not have their fees waived and are unable to pay, their time under supervision typically extends.

Either lengthening the intervention fee waiver period or improving consistency in waivers for those with limited means of payment would likely assist in moderating accumulated legal debt.

There is also inconsistency in mandating program fees in addition to standard intervention fees. Sex offenders consistently have required class payments, however other categories of offense have little pattern of assessment of additional supervision fees (e.g.

program fees, specialized drug testing). There was some suggestion extra fees were dependent partially on the timing of release and the chance that inclusive mandated classes were not at capacity. If there was no availability, offenders were still required to participate in the program; however they gained financial responsibility for the program fees. With high numbers of individuals under correctional supervision, classes are often full. Supervising agents could waive intervention fees for offenders who are also

financially responsible for mandated programs.

A final method to mitigate negative consequences is to specifically address child support obligations. Chapter Four demonstrates including child support in total monthly

obligations as well as overall legal debt drastically increases the financial obligations of offenders. Evidence suggests enforcement of nonpayment on child support is increasing (Holzer, Offner, and Sorensen, 2005; Pirog and Ziol-Guest, 2006). Pirog and Ziol-Guest (2006) point out it is difficult to balance the benefit to the custodial parent and child while limiting the cost to the noncustodial parent. As a result, debates continue in regard to suspending or modifying child support orders during incarceration (McLean and Thompson, 2007; Pearson, 2007; Pirog and Ziol-Guest, 2006). Missouri statutes currently allow for consideration of incarceration status in regard to child support modification (Pearson, 2007); however findings suggest incarceration is rarely a sufficient reason for adjustment during the carceral term. Child support orders based on income prior to criminal conviction are fairly unrealistic for offenders to meet post-conviction,

demonstrated by employment challenges and general overall earnings potential as a result of criminal conviction (Pager, 2003; Western, 2006). The result is accumulated debt, long-term consequences in credit checks and extended supervision by the criminal justice system.

Although child support arrears cannot be excused (Pearson, 2007), modifications to monthly orders would help address legal debt. In light of the fact that child support arrearage and resulting garnishment acts as a disincentive for legitimate employment (Holzer, Offner, and Sorensen, 2005; Pearson, 2007), policy adjustments addressing child support payments seem quite beneficial. Modification procedures should begin upon incarceration, to limit the accumulation of debt. Orders should continue to be adjusted post release, to consider the limited economic circumstances of the offender (McLean

and Thompson, 2007). Findings suggest individuals financially prioritize their children;

making child support obligations more feasible may benefit both the child and the parent.

Improving Services

Aside from considering ways that legal financial obligations could be reduced or made more realistic, policy considerations should also note ways service provisions could aid in payment of legal debt. Travis (2005) points out a primary objective of probation and parole supervision should be to assist offenders in setting themselves up for longer term success. There are several opportunities directly relevant to managing legal financial obligations that would contribute to this goal.

Financial management skills are a fundamental issue offenders struggle with. Few interviewees reported participation in programs directly addressing budgetary skills.

Missouri includes child support financial counseling as part of their reentry programming (Pearson, 2007), however extending financial management counseling to a wider range of offenders and circumstances could be beneficial. Further, payment plans should be a consistent element of reentry plans. Some offenders have child support obligations, supervision fees paid to a central processing agency, and unpaid sentencing costs. It can be difficult to manage how much is owed and to whom. Turner and Greene (1999) found helping offenders organize and manage their accumulated legal fees improved both the rate and amount of payment. Most offenders admitted to having difficulty managing their money and expressed help would be welcome, consistent with other evidence (Beckett, Harris, and Evans, 2008; Maruna, 2001). By either improving budgeting instruction or implementing functioning payment plans, supervising agencies have an opportunity to assist offenders in building money management skills.

Changing the function of intervention fees may also be a useful strategy.

Introducing the use of savings accounts would be beneficial, as participants indicated holding few financial savings. Taking a percentage of intervention fees and applying it toward savings may produce a valuable product at the end of the supervision term.

Transitional plans include long-term goals, and the money could be reserved specifically for application toward those goals. Funds could go towards redressing the blocked opportunities, such as providing a deposit on an apartment, subsidizing schooling, or assistance in payment for transportation.

Services should also focus efforts directly on employment assistance. Clearly demonstrated both within this research as well as broad reentry literature, offenders face numerous challenges with employment (Holzer, Raphael, and Stoll, 2003; Pager, 2007;

Western, 2006). This directly impedes payment of legal financial obligations. By improving employment opportunities for offenders, the probability that more funds will be directed toward legal financial obligations increases. In the majority of the interviews, offenders expressed employment limitations as the biggest challenge they face during reentry. They also expressed an expectation of receiving more help from supervising agencies in employment endeavors. By improving employment skills, or incorporating additional employment components into existing classes, both employment outlook and ability to pay legal financial obligations improve.

Finally, a portion of the interviews used in this research had opportunity to be a part of a local service that assists offenders coming home from prison. St. Vincent de Paul allows offenders to gradually take on financial responsibility for their housing costs in addition to other expenses. The overall opinion of this program was quite high, and the