Minutes of the April 3, 2019 Meeting of the

Justice Center Oversight Committee Meeting (JCOC)

Approved at the May 1, 2019 JCOC Meeting

Committee Members Present:	Marissa Joy Mims (Chair)	Dr. Jennifer Yolles

Cassandra J. Ingram	Carlton Strail (via phone)

Jeff Marier (Vice Chair)	Nicholas Paro

Dr. N .Salaam Jennings Bey (via phone)

Committee Members Excused or Absent: none

County Staff Present: Barrie Gewanter & Montanette Murphy (Human Rights Staff)

Members of the Public Present: Samuel Dancil, Mikiel Anderson

Marissa Mims convened the meeting with Carlton Strail on phone, and noted that Dr. Najah would be joining us by phone. There was a quorum. The board decided to postpone consideration of minutes of the Nov. 7, 2018 and Jan. 9, 2019 and Feb. 6, 2019 minutes until next meeting.

Chair’s Report: Last month the Legislature confirmed Marissa to serve another term as a JCOC board member through 2021. The Legislature is expected to appoint John Falge to an open position in May. One CE appointment remains open. Marissa reported Public Safety Committee Chair Chris Ryan and Majority Leader Brian May are trying to schedule an evening committee meeting to discuss the first 5 issued recommendations documents, i.e. at a time when Marissa can attend. Marissa, Dr. Nave, Dr. Yolles and Barrie will participate in the April 23rd meeting with Wellpath (formerly CCS) Administrators, using either be rec-by-rec or a thematic format. Marissa reported that she will sign the letters to complainants cited in the first 5 issued recommendations documents later tonight and return the letters to Barrie. Marissa scheduled a meeting with Jeff and Barrie for April 15th. The next bi-monthly meeting with Custody Command officers at the jail will be May 8th. Agenda items to transmit to Custody Command will be identified at the May 1st board meeting. Barrie suggested asking if Custody Command and Wellpath Administrators will provide official responses to the healthcare recommendations in the first 2 related documents that have been issued, and how Custody intends to follow up on the recommendations related to alleged verbal and bias harassment of inmates. Barrie was asked to send Lt. Woods follow up questions from Wellpath’s last set of written responses to questions from Dr. Nave’s case review & to ask him if Custody will provide written responses to the recommendations in the issued recommendation documents. Notes from the March bi-monthly meeting were included in board members packets.

Administrator’s report: Barrie requested April dates from Marissa and Dr. Yolles for requested sit-alongs. Barrie will describe one new case for JCOC consideration in executive session, and that there were no new incident notifications. 1 case in backlog was given case number and documents uploaded. Working on 3 more cases. HRC intern is in process of summarizing 21 revised and three new directives. Barrie gave a quick overview of Denver’s policy on Transgender inmates (included in packets), and stated that Los Angeles and New York City jails have separate voluntary units for GBT inmates. Marissa may FOIL related policies and legal opinions from these two jail systems. Barrie will try to find time to do a written summary of the approaches used by the three jail systems and the related application of PREA.

DRAFT	Minutes of the April 3, 2019 JCOC Meeting	Page 2

Barrie reviewed bail and discover reform components in the approved 2020 New York State budget. This included the elimination of cash bail for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. Barrie noted that a newspaper article about a judge’s ruling taking a jail inmate out of solitary confinement and an article from The New Yorker magazine about mental health care in US jails was included in board member packets, the latter at the request of Dr. Yolles. Barrie reported that she and Dr. Yolles will review a few medical cases in executive session, and present related drafted recommendations. Dr Yolles has two more sets of medical records to review with Barrie

Board members looked over the inmate hospital transport charts for January and February. Board members asked Barrie to convey a few questions related to s pecific transports and CCS/Wellpath’s quality improvement review process.

Under Status of Recommendations, Marissa reported that she is still working on a recommendation document related to Language Assistance and Procedural Communications, and Dr. Salaam on one related to Religious Accommodations of Inmates and Visitors. 32 Recommendations from Dr. Nave, and 5 so far from Dr. Yolles will be formatted into the next medical recommendation document.

Under Old Business, Barrie reported that she is not able to reach out to Upstate or St. Joseph’s to explore a potential correctional health training program for medical students. JCOC Board members may pursue related outreach as they see fit. Barrie cited CCS/Wellpath’s response to a JCOC question about other programs. Rutgers, Texas Tech, University of Texas at Galveston operate correctional medical care programs for jails or prisons in Texas and incorporated training programs. Jeff Marier offered to try to contact these programs.

There was no New Business. Two members of the public addressed the board, Samuel Dancil and Mikiel Anderson. Anderson asked whether the board had any information on a 2019 Mock Prison Riot Competition in West Viriginia. He suggested that local law enforcement agencies will be attending the event. Mr. Dancil wanted to address a specific complaint about a relative’s experience in the jail and was referred to Barrie and Montanette for intake.

Nick Paro motioned to enter Executive Session. Jeff seconded the motion, which passed. The board moved into Executive Session to discuss matters related to specific cases and related recommendations. After the board returned from Executive Session, Nick moved to approve 3 recommendations drafted by Dr. Yolles for Case 63 and 1 for 64 (as amended). The motion was seconded by Jeff and passed unanimously. Nick motioned to adjourn the meeting and Cassandra seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned.

Submitted by Barrie Gewanter & Montanette Murphy