Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

I am pleased to appear before you today to support the Fiscal Year 2001 budget request for the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia (CSOSA). As you know, I am the Trustee appointed under the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997 (the Revitalization Act) to carry out the reorganization and transition of functions relating to pretrial services, parole, adult probation and offender supervision in the District of Columbia as a Federal Executive Branch agency.

It is my responsibility to certify to the Attorney General, and obtain her concurrence, that CSOSA, including the D.C. Pretrial Services Agency, meets all relevant Federal standards and is ready to assume these functions as a Federal agency by August 5^th of this year. Since the Agency's establishment in 1997, we have instituted policies and programs in compliance with Federal laws and regulations and we have been working collaboratively with the Department of Justice to assure the Attorney General's concurrence with CSOSA's certification as a Federal agency.

The mission of the Agency is to increase public safety, prevent crime, reduce recidivism and support the fair administration of justice in close collaboration with the community. During the summer of 1999, CSOSA began a multi-year performance management initiative. With this initiative, we have been able to set an overall direction for the Agency and we have developed clear strategic goals and anticipated outcomes that will drive the performance of all Agency activities. The Strategic Plan is anchored by a performance management system that forms the umbrella for all of CSOSA's major programmatic and management activities, and will ultimately serve to justify and account for the utilization of our resources.

The Strategic Plan provides a foundation for our FY 2001 Budget request. For Fiscal Year 2001, CSOSA requests $103,527,000, 1,140 permanent positions, and 1,093 FTE in direct budget authority to build on the programs and successes we have achieved to date. Of this amount, $23,489,000 is requested for the Pretrial Services Agency and $61,551,000 is requested for the Community Supervision Program which encompasses the former D.C. Board of Parole and Adult Probation, and $18,487,000 is requested for the operations of the D.C. Public Defender Service. While not a part of CSOSA, the budget for the D.C. Public Defender Service is transmitted with our budget, as required by the Revitalization Act. An additional $17,064,000 is requested as an earmark in the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program within the U.S. Department of Justice appropriation for treatment, graduated sanctions, and restrictive supervision contract beds.

We have provided you with a flowchart that links CSOSA's strategic direction and goals with its operational strategies and FY 2001 resource requirements (Attachment 1). CSOSA is committed to a strategic direction in which the combined impact of our activities and programs will be a dramatic reduction in the recidivism rate over the next 5 years among the population we supervise. This goal will require maximum performance from both Pretrial Services and Community Supervision. If both organizations perform as expected, I believe that we can reduce the drug-related and violent crime rate among the population we supervise by at least 50 percent over the next 5 years.

The provisions of the Revitalization Act that created CSOSA were enacted to address serious public safety problems resulting from years of neglect and to relieve the District of "state-level" financial responsibilities. The failure to deal with the D.C. crime problem has resulted in unacceptable levels of criminal activity that threaten all residents and visitors, and reduces the quality of life in the District. For example, 36 percent of the city's adult residents say that the problems caused by drug sellers and users in their neighborhoods have changed the way their families live. In addition to the effects of high crime on the quality of life in D.C., crime significantly impedes the District's economic development. CSOSA's success in increasing public safety will certainly have a positive effect on the economic development of the District

The high crime rate is in part a function of a systemic inability to effectively deal with individuals under criminal justice supervision who commit a disproportionate share of drug-related and violent crimes in the District. Addressing recidivism is a daunting responsibility due to the myriad social and economic factors involved. For example, approximately two-thirds of the offenders under supervision are currently drug users or have histories of drug abuse, and most lack adequate skills to survive in society. As a result, effective government programs have been limited by an inability to develop and implement a coherent approach to both understanding and developing appropriate responses to deal with repeat offenders.

Long-term success in reducing the recidivism rate will require a change in the behavior of a significant portion of the District's offender population. CSOSA's ability to ultimately affect this behavior is dependent upon two key factors: 1) identifying and treating drug use and other social problems among the defendant and offender population, and 2) establishing swift and certain consequences for individuals under supervision who fail to comply with the conditions of their release.

Over the next 5 years CSOSA will focus its activities and resources on implementing effective operations and establishing partnerships with other criminal justice and social services organizations throughout the District that will produce a dramatic reduction in violent and drug-related crime. There is no higher priority for this Agency.

Both Pretrial Services and Community Supervision have worked together to develop a common set of strategic goals and strategies, and both programs will direct their activities in support of these objectives. Specifically, our two strategic goals are:

1. Establish strict accountability and prevent the population supervised by CSOSA from engaging in criminal activity by:
   1. Ensuring that defendants and offenders comply with the conditions of their release; and
   2. Dramatically increasing the number of offenders successfully integrated into the community.
2. Support the fair administration of justice by providing accurate information and meaningful recommendations to criminal justice decision-makers to help them determine the appropriate disposition of cases.

Supporting these goals is a coherent set of operational strategies that will drive the performance of all CSOSA activities. These strategies are our Critical Success Factors; that is, our goals will not be achieved unless we successfully complete the following:

1. An effective Risk and Needs Assessment and case management process will be established and implemented to help officials determine who is appropriate for release and who is not, as well as an ongoing evaluation process that assesses an offender's progress in reforming behavior - approximately 10% of FY 2001 requested Agency resources;
2. Persons under Supervision will be closely "case managed", which includes entering into accountability contracts (agreeing to a series of graduated sanctions and incentives in order to instill an imperative of individual accountability) - approximately 47% of FY 2001 requested Agency resources;
3. Quality Interventions: Offenders and defendants will receive appropriate Treatment and Support Services, as determined by the needs assessment, to assist them in reintegrating into the community - approximately 28% of FY 2001 requested Agency resources;
4. Partnerships among criminal justice agencies and social agencies will be developed - approximately 2% of FY 2001 requested Agency resources; and
5. Criminal justice decision-makers will have access to complete, Accurate and Timely Information - approximately 13% of FY 2001 requested Agency resources.

Community Supervision Program and Pretrial Services Agency

FY 2001 Resources by Critical Success Factor (CSF)

Total: $102.1 million

PROGRESS TO DATE

Although CSOSA's strategic direction has only recently been defined as such, we have been working towards achieving these goals since the Agency was created. We have made considerable progress in coordinating and streamlining the former pretrial and supervision functions of the D.C. Government. This is being accomplished by establishing an infrastructure to support the Agency's mission, revising certain policies and procedures to close loopholes and improve supervision, instituting a system of defendant, offender and staff accountability, and developing a Strategic Plan that focuses the Agency's activities and resources on specific goals and strategies for achieving its mission.

CSOSA uses drug testing as both a diagnostic tool to identify drug abusers and to monitor compliance with the conditions of release. Drug testing provides an objective measure of drug use, eliminating reliance on defendant and offender self-reports on private drug use. A positive drug test is a clear early warning indicator requiring an immediate response by the criminal justice system. Each time the system could intervene, but does not, another message is sent to the individual that there are no consequences for illegal substance abuse.

In FY 1999, Pretrial's Drug Detection Lab processed over 146,000 urine samples with 54 percent of the individuals testing positive for illegal substance usage. The volume of drug testing will rise dramatically as more pretrial defendants and parole and probation offenders are subject to drug testing as a standard condition of their supervision contract. The number of samples anticipated to be collected from individuals on pretrial release, adult probation and/or parole in FY 2000 is projected to increase 37 percent over FY 1999 levels. For FY 2001, it is anticipated that the Lab will process over 300,000 samples - a 105 percent increase over FY 1999 levels.

The support of the Congress, the Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the District of Columbia Government has enabled CSOSA to successfully establish a new central drug testing laboratory. In April, the Agency will open a large urine collection site, and several other collection sites are being established this year to ensure that all individuals under our supervision are drug tested. For FY 2000, we received resources to increase drug testing of post-conviction offenders so that by the end of the year, all offenders under supervision will be drug tested on a routine and more frequent basis. Drug testing for adult probation and parole offenders will increase 102 percent in FY 2000 and 289 percent in FY 2001 over FY 1999 drug testing levels for this population.

With the help of Chairman Istook and the support of this Subcommittee, CSOSA received $7,000,000 in FY 2000 to begin meet the treatment needs of the individuals under our supervision who have been ordered by the court or paroling authority to receive treatment. Of the amount provided, $1,000,000 will be used to support 20 permanent positions and $6,000,000 supports contract services. Since the enactment of the FY 2000 appropriation on November 29, 1999, we have put in place the appropriate infrastructure required to support an extensive treatment program. As of last week, the Agency has obligated over $3,330,000 and placed 373 defendants and offenders in treatment programs. I am proud to report that we are on track to expend the funds provided this year for treatment and we are in the process of collecting baseline data, such as tracking the individuals who successfully complete treatment and remain drug free while under our supervision.

Supervision caseload ratios are improving. By the close of FY 2000, supervision caseload ratios of Community Supervision Officers to offenders on probation and parole will be approximately 51:1 compared to average FY 1999 levels of approximately 90:1. By the close of FY 2000, in Pretrial Services the caseload ratios will vary from 20:1 in the small intensive supervision programs to over 200:1 for misdemeanor cases, with general felony cases at approximately 140:1. Although these caseload ratios are still too high, they are considerably better than they were prior to 1999 when Pretrial Services had no significant resources with which to closely case manage the bulk of the population they were tasked with supervising.

The amount of time for which individuals are supervised in the community by CSOSA varies. Parolees in the District of Columbia are under supervision for an average of 5 years and probationers are under supervision, on average, for approximately 20 months. Split sentence probationers typically serve approximately 2 years in prison and 3 years under probation supervision. Pretrial defendants are typically under supervision for approximately 170 days. District of Columbia defendants and offenders have more extensive criminal histories than the average defendant or offender as reported in national surveys. For example, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that nationally, 50 percent of all probationers have prior convictions, but in the District of Columbia, 98.3 percent of all adult probationers have prior convictions. Among D.C. parolees, the percentage with at least one prior conviction is 99 percent. Twenty-three percent of D.C. parolees have six or more prior convictions. Clearly, improvements are needed in the current re-entry process to reduce the number of offenders recycling through the District's criminal justice system and to reduce their dependence on illegal substances.

CSOSA's supervision accountability structure establishes a series of intermediate responses short of revocation for individuals under our supervision who violate conditions of their release. In Pretrial, defendants assigned to a limited number of specific programs, such as the Drug Court Program, enter into sanctions/treatment contracts. Post-conviction offenders have started entering into "accountability contracts" with the releasing authority, agreeing in advance to a series of specific responses to specific violations. Currently, the Community Supervision Program has a few supervision units that provide the level of supervision and types of responses to violations that will become the norm throughout the probation and parole population during FY 2000.

One planned element that is critical to CSOSA's success is to have access to a Sanctions Center, which will contribute to public safety as part of the graduated sanctions scheme. CSOSA will place offenders and defendants who repeatedly fail to comply with outpatient treatment in a closely supervised setting where staff will address their addictive behavior. The Sanctions Center also will provide a secure setting for stabilization of drug-dependent individuals who relapse. It will be the focal point for a range of services available both to short-term "residents" and on an outpatient basis. Public health, education, and job training providers will be encouraged to co-locate in the Sanctions Center, making it a "one-stop" reporting center. The facility that was originally identified for this purpose is no longer available; therefore, we will submit a request for funding once an appropriate location has been identified and funding requirements are developed.

Currently, offenders under supervision who violate the conditions of their release may be sanctioned to a secure residential placement, also referred to as a "halfway back" option. For FY 2000, CSOSA plans to expend approximately $1,300,000 to contract for halfway back beds. Prior to FY 2000, CSOSA did not have funding to contract for bed space. Offenders who are placed in a halfway back slot are sanctioned for 45 to 90 days and are given one final opportunity to shape up before a supervision officer refers the offender for revocation.

Another critical component to CSOSA's strategy is to improve partnerships with the criminal justice community. For example, to improve public safety and increase offender accountability, CSOSA and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) are working to form partnerships with the community. Since August 1998, CSOSA and MPD have formed 12 community justice partnerships around the city. The first community justice partnership was formed in Patrol Service Area (PSA) 704, in Southeast Washington. A comparison of MPD's data for October 1998 and October 1999 shows a 60 percent decline in violent crime for PSA 704. The average annual reduction comparing 1998 to 1999 data resulted in a 36 percent decline in Part 1 offenses (violent crimes). CSOSA and MPD are also tracking the reductions in violent crime in all of the PSAs surrounding CSOSA's field sites. The display, below, shows the reductions in crime for Part 1 offenses from 1997 to 1999 for the PSAs surrounding CSOSA field sites.

Reductions in Part 1 Offenses (Violent Crime) in Patrol Service Areas

Surrounding CSOSA Field Sites, 1997 - 1999

Performance

We are developing the capacity to provide regular performance measures routinely, and we have been tracking some measures that clearly indicate that programs are working. For example, the number of parolees arrested on new charges has dropped by 73 percent since May 1998. This is a result of improvements in coordination, increased accountability when parolees are arrested for new crimes, and the establishment of a system for transitioning parolees back into the community through halfway houses.

Although some drug testing information is readily available to supervision staff, case disposition, sanctions, treatment, return to jail/halfway house, and other consequential data is not fully automated or readily retrievable, and there is no integration yet between Pretrial, Probation, and Parole management information systems. Pretrial Services and Community Supervision are partnering to develop CSOSA's automated, integrated supervision system (PRISM), which is presently being constructed. Until PRISM is fully operational, the Agency will continue to use its legacy information systems, along with manual reporting, to develop baseline information for certain performance measures.

Our performance management system, when fully developed, will consist not only of the Strategic Plan, but definitive performance plans for all CSOSA's programs, a performance budget that links resource requirements to performance expectations; and a dynamic system of performance measures that will highlight the logic of all our programs by showing true progress toward accomplishing our goals and strategies.

This clearly is a comprehensive effort, and one that I think will strengthen our certification efforts and the management of our Agency. However, building an effective performance management effort is necessarily a multi-year effort. For FY 2001, we are developing a strategic implementation plan that will provide us with a good first year effort and with something to build on in succeeding years.

This year, our baseline year, we are focusing our efforts on the development of a performance budget. This process required us to develop an overall strategy, to estimate the utilization of resources against that strategy, and to project future performance and resource requirements.

CSOSA's FY 2001 Budget builds on the programs and successes we have achieved to date. We are requesting resources for the following Pretrial Services and Community Supervision initiatives:

1. Drug Testing: $362,000 and 8 positions to enhance drug lab capacity and to establish drug testing collection capabilities for Pretrial Services. Restrictive Community Supervision Program in the city's halfway houses.

   Justification

   The Pretrial Services Agency is providing the leadership for the entire Agency in the area of drug testing. In addition to providing drug testing services for the pretrial and juvenile populations, the Pretrial Services. Drug Lab will handle all the drug-testing needs for the Community Supervision Program as well as other District/Federal entities. Accommodating the increases in drug testing projected for parole and probation, as well as increased testing of those in pretrial sanction-based treatment programs, will continue to expand the Drug Lab's workload. Also in FY 2001, Pretrial requires staff to perform urine sample collection from approximately 240 high risk pretrial defendants who have been released but court-ordered to reside in a District of Columbia Community Corrections Center or "halfway house" participating in the Restrictive Community Supervision Program. Frequent drug testing of this population will be a fundamental requirement of Pretrial Services. program, which was launched in FY 2000, in partnership with the D.C. Department of Corrections.

2. Supervision: $2,234,000 and 37 positions to provide case management supervision for defendants housed at halfway houses pending trial, expand supervision of curfew conditions of high-risk defendants, provide background investigations and reports to the Court for traffic court and quality of life crimes, and to improve evening and weekend supervision of high-risk offenders.

   Justification

   Pretrial Services has been at the forefront of the movement to effectively manage the pretrial defendant in the community. To this end, innovative techniques and automation have been implemented to the extent possible. Nevertheless, there are approximately 6,300 defendants under active pretrial supervision ordered by the U.S. District Court and the D.C. Superior Court at any given time, with the average pretrial defendant under supervision for approximately 170 days, resulting in caseloads from 20:1 to over 260:1. Ratios of defendants to case managers depend on the risk the defendant poses and the associated supervision program to which the defendant is assigned. In addition, there are approximately 4,500 pretrial defendants who are monitored primarily for re-arrest, and another 1,200 individuals are charged with regulatory and traffic crimes who are currently not monitored at all.

   Additional resources are needed to further reduce caseload levels, and increase the level and quality of contact that Pretrial Services Officers have with defendants under supervision. Specifically, Pretrial Services has launched a Restrictive Community Supervision Program, in partnership with the D.C. Department of Corrections, designed to provide case management supervision for defendants housed at halfway houses pending trial. Pretrial also plans to expand supervision of curfew conditions and introduce electronic monitoring for select high-risk defendants. Furthermore, due to budgetary constraints Pretrial Services has not been able to fulfill its statutory mandate to provide background investigations and recommendations to the Court regarding release of defendants charged with serious traffic offenses or other quality of life crimes. An additional $2,054,000 and 33 positions is requested for Pretrial Services to expand services in all three of these areas.

   Prior to the creation of the Agency, supervision caseload levels in probation and parole averaged over 100 offenders for every officer. Currently, there are approximately 18,000 offenders on probation or parole in the District of Columbia who are assigned to a general or special supervision and/or treatment team. In FY 2000, caseload levels will improve significantly, resulting in supervision ratios of approximately 51:1; however, additional reductions to caseloads are needed if the Agency is to more effectively supervise the offender population and assist offenders in becoming law-abiding, contributing members of society. In particular, resources are required to improve evening and weekend supervision of high-risk offenders, such as sex offenders and offenders diagnosed with mental health conditions; therefore, the Community Supervision Program is requesting $180,000 and 4 positions to improve case management of high-risk offenders.

3. Sanctions: $6,316,000 to contract for bed space. Of the amount proposed, $1,252,000 is requested in direct authority to contract for halfway back beds for offenders so that swift and appropriate sanctions can be imposed at the first sign of relapse. $5,064,000 is earmarked in the COPS grant program to permit the Pretrial Services Agency to contract for bed space for defendants under intensive or restrictive supervision.

   Justification

   Pretrial Services has agreed to supervise approximately 240 high risk pretrial defendants who have been released, but court-ordered to reside in a Department of Corrections Community Corrections Center or halfway house. These defendants will be managed under Pretrial's new Restrictive Community Supervision program. While the Department of Corrections currently provides the facilities to house the defendants participating in this program, it believes it is under no legal or statutory obligation to provide this support, and as such, would like to privatize all District halfway houses that currently serve pretrial defendants. Consequently, Pretrial Services needs the flexibility to purchase bed space for defendants under intensive or restrictive supervision. Funding for this purpose, $5,064,000, is requested as an earmark in the COPS grant program.

   Sanctions are a key component of the supervision process. Violations to the performance contract should be viewed as an early warning of criminal activity requiring immediate intervention. As a part of the graduated sanctions scheme, the Agency plans to place offenders who repeatedly fail to comply with outpatient treatment in a closely supervised setting where staff continue to address the offender's behavior. This intensive transition or "halfway back" option will also provide a secure setting for stabilizing drug-dependent individuals who relapse and will serve as a focal point for a range of social services such as public health, education and job training. In FY 2000, CSOSA received approximately $1,300,000 million to contract for halfway back placements. The Community Supervision Program is requesting an additional $1,252,000 to be able to house up to 100 offenders at any given time.

4. Treatment: $13,029,000 and 19 positions to provide substance abuse case management and assessment services, and ancillary treatment services for individuals under supervision such as housing placement, employment assistance, health care and educational and vocational training. Of the amount proposed, $12,000,000 is requested as an earmark in the COPS grant program to replace the $6,000,000 appropriated in FY 2000 for contractual treatment services and to increase that amount to ensure the availability of treatment slots for those who are either ordered to participate in these programs by the court or paroling authority, or if the nature of their offense requires it.

    

   Justification

   With nearly 50 percent of pretrial defendants testing positive for drug use at the time of their arrest, the spiraling relationship between drug use and crime is clear. Disengaging individuals from the negative influences of drug abuse and its associated criminal activity is critical to leading them to more productive and meaningful lives. Consequently, drug treatment must take the form of a prescribed, multi-faceted approach, consisting of life skills; psycho-social development; educational and vocational services; health and medical services; and particular awareness of and attention to individuals with special needs, such as women and HIV/AIDS patients. The foundation of treatment consists of both accountability in the form of graduated sanctions for non-compliant behavior and recognition for compliant behavior. Rewards in the form of progression ceremonies and graduations for succeeding clients illuminate program effectiveness. As Pretrial Services. Drug Court demonstrates, intensive, long-term supervision, treatment and aftercare are necessary to address chronic addiction and to break the cycle of drug abuse and crime. The number of individuals receiving treatment, however, does not meet the actual need. In FY 1999, 514 non-violent clients were treated by the Drug Court. Post-release services referred 1,844 individuals to city funded non-sanctions based treatment and a combined 85 clients were referred to treatment by the Intensive Supervision and Heightened Supervision Programs. Approximately 3,000 pretrial defendants on release currently have 3 or more drug testing violations in a 60 day period, yet only 300 defendants can be case managed in the Drug Court at any given time. Pretrial requests $4,090,000 and 8 positions to expand treatment services, of which, $410,000 is requested in direct budget authority and $3,680,000 is requested as an earmark in the COPS grant program to replace funding appropriated in FY 2000 for treatment services, and to increase that amount to begin to meet the needs of approximately 3,000 defendants with substance abuse problems.

   Treatment is also an integral part of the Agency's strategy to re-integrate the offender into the community. In FY 2000, the Agency received a significant increase in resources for treatment services for individuals under pretrial, probation and/or parole supervision. However, the amount provided is about half of the required resource level to provide offenders with adequate substance abuse, criminality and/or anger management treatment. Currently, individuals under supervision compete with members of the general public for limited treatment capacity. Based on data collected by case managers supervising probation and parole offenders, approximately 1,600 treatment slots are required on an annual basis for offenders who are ordered by the Court or the paroling authority to participate in treatment. This figure assumes the projected FY 2000 caseload ratios remain constant. In addition, in order for many offenders to be accepted into drug treatment programs, they must undergo detoxification (detox). The Community Supervision Program projects that 610 detox slots are needed on an annual basis for probation and parole offenders. Additional resources are also needed to provide critical ancillary services, such as housing placement, employment assistance, health care, and educational and vocational training. Further, there is a void in the District of Columbia for the treatment of sex offenders. Currently, Community Supervision supervises 330 sex offenders who have been release on probation or parole. The treatment requirements for these offenders include a clinical, psychological and polygraph assessment and 12 months of counseling. For FY 2001, the Community Supervision Program is requesting, $8,939,000 and 11 positions to replace funding appropriated in FY 2000 for treatment services and to increase that amount to ensure the availability of treatment slots for offenders who are either ordered to participate in these programs or whose offense requires such participation. However, as we expand our drug testing capability for the post-conviction offender population, we anticipate the need for substance abuse treatment to increase. Of the amount proposed, $619,000 is requested in direct budget authority and $8,320,000 is requested as an earmark in the Department of Justice COPS grant program.

5. Support Funding Initiatives: $3,432,000 and 37 positions to move a large segment of Community Supervision Officers out of downtown District of Columbia Court offices into the community, fully implement and evaluate the Agency's performance management strategy, provide staff to adequately support the information technology program, improve employee training and administrative support, and initiate DNA testing of offenders.

The Agency has established a number of executive and support functions whose activities are critical to the Agency's operations and ability to achieve its mission. Executive direction is provided by the Office of the Trustee and the Executive Office of Pretrial Services. Staff in these offices support the Trustee and the Director of Pretrial Services by providing policy advice, legal counsel, communications and analytical support for a range of high-level policy and operational support programs essential to the Agency. Major operational support programs include human resources, equal employment opportunity, budget, finance, management analysis, facilities, procurement, security, and information technology. Each of these programs provides crucial infrastructure support in implementing effective Community Supervision and Pretrial Services operations. Most of the support programs were virtually non-existent when the Agency was created by the Revitalization Act. Each has been established to operate under laws, regulations and policies applicable to Federal Agencies.

Several of the Agency's infrastructure support programs are insufficiently funded, and the Agency's ability to implement operational strategies to reduce crime is at risk. Therefore, funding for the following Management Strategies is requested:

1. Executive Direction: For FY 2001, CSOSA is requesting $780,000 and 12 positions to improve executive performance. Of the amount proposed, $403,000 and 6 positions is requested for the Pretrial Services Agency for performance management and quality control, and $377,000 and 6 positions is requested in support of the Community Supervision Program for performance management and long-term program evaluations.
2. Administration: For FY 2001, CSOSA is requesting $1,558,000 and 6 positions to improve Agency infrastructure and administrative support. Of the amount proposed, $288,000 and 6 positions is requested for the Pretrial Services Agency for administrative and network support, and $1,270,000 is requested for the Community Supervision Program for new field units and DNA testing of offenders. This includes funding to acquire space and furnishings for a large segment of Adult Probation staff currently located in D.C. Superior Court space.
3. Information Technology: For FY 2001, CSOSA is requesting $981,000 and 17 positions to improve information technology support. Of the amount proposed, $203,000 and 2 positions is requested for the Pretrial Services Agency for administrative staff to oversee and assist contract employees performing data reconciliation and data entry, and $778,000 and 15 positions is requested for the Community Supervision Program to support an Agency network operations center, management systems analysis, development and maintenance, database management, and telecommunications administration.
4. Training: For FY 2001, CSOSA is requesting $113,000 and 2 positions for the Community Supervision Program to improve training support services.

You will notice the different formats in the program justification of the budget submission for Pretrial Services and the Community Supervision Program. Community Supervision attempted to provide a format that fully links anticipated performance to resource requirements. We have not fully integrated strategies and performance measures for Pretrial Services with those of Community Supervision. This is being done with extra care due to the fact that Pretrial supervises defendants, whereas, Community Supervision handles post-conviction offenders. Inherent in these two categories of caseload are issues involving legal rights of individuals and the limited duration of pretrial supervision. Further, the principles of pretrial supervision are more limited compared with the more expansive purposes of punishment, such as incapacitation, deterrence, and rehabilitation. These issues must be addressed carefully to protect the rights of the individuals we supervise as well as the liability risks of the government.

Finally, you will see that most of our performance measures are still in development. As I mentioned earlier, we are using FY 2000 as our baseline data collection year to provide in-depth attention to the measures that will accurately assess performance against these goals. These measures, as well as more fully developed program performance plans for Pretrial Services, Community Supervision, as well as the management functions of the Agency, will be completed by the end of this fiscal year.

In committing ourselves to the performance management concept, I have set an agenda that will affect and improve the operation of virtually all Agency activities. The level of performance we are expecting of ourselves will require first rate information systems capability, a performance based human resources system, a technically proficient workforce, and a culture that values high performance and the public good.

In short, I am committing to a substantial change in the status quo, and I have submitted a budget that includes the resources necessary to succeed. I look forward to working with you in the coming months as we continue to put in place the programs of the Agency.

Our early performance indicators show that we are headed in the right direction. The ultimate measure of our progress is not the number of people we have under supervision, but the reduction in the recidivism rate for violent and drug-related crime by the population we supervise. All of us at CSOSA are committed to produce the results we have set out to achieve. I welcome any assistance you can offer and would like to thank you, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, for your continued support.

This concludes my prepared remarks. I would be pleased to take any questions you may have at this time.