Marna Miller, Irene Ngugi - November 2009

After the 2009 Legislative session, the Institute was asked to participate in a Housing Focus Group, and provide a summary of research findings on the effectiveness of housing programs for populations at risk of homelessness. In this report, we examine the impact of housing supports for persons with mental illness and for ex-offenders returning to the community following incarceration.

In this initial review of the literature, we found:

• Housing assistance for persons with mental illness significantly reduced homelessness, hospitalization, and crime when compared to similar individuals who did not participate in a housing program.

• Reentry programs that included housing support for the general population of ex-offenders did not affect the incidence of recidivism.

• Reentry programs for serious violent ex-offenders significantly reduced recidivism.

Mason Burley - November 2009

The report represents the latest analysis in an ongoing study to investigate educational outcomes for foster youth. While the Institute has conducted previous analyses on the educational attainment of foster youth, this is this first report to compare these outcomes using the standard, federal definitions of dropout and graduation rates. Based on this methodology, we found:

• Approximately 70 percent of high school students in Washington State graduate on time. About 30-40 percent of foster youth in placement for at least half of the school year graduate after four years in high school.

• The statewide annual dropout rate for high schoolers in Washington State ranges between 5 and 6 percent. Between 8 and 13 percent of foster youth with a long-term (full-year) placement drop out of high school.

• Foster youth with longer-term placements (360 days or more during the school year) have lower dropout rates and higher graduation rates compared with foster youth with short-term placements during high school.

Jim Mayfield - November 2009

The 2009 Legislature directed the Institute to study the disability benefits provided to members of Plans 2 and 3 of the state’s Public Employees’, Teachers’, and School Employees’ Retirement Systems (PERS, TRS, and SERS), and to examine options to improve coverage.

Due to the structure of these pension plans, disability retirement benefits for some Plan members may be considerably smaller than benefits provided to similar employees in other retirement systems. The average disability retirement pension of Plans 2 and 3 members is $369 per month. Eligibility for other income replacement sources, such as workers compensation and long-term disability (LTD) insurance, has considerable influence on the financial status of a Plan member who retires early due to disability. A 50-year-old Plan 2 member with pre-disability earnings of $4,000 a month would collect from $384 to about $3,200 per month, depending on his or her eligibility for other disability benefits. At greatest risk of receiving the low disability benefit are plan members (1) who are under the age of 55 and with fewer than 30 years of service, (2) experiencing non-duty disabilities that do not meet Social Security disability standards, and (3) who have inadequate or no LTD insurance benefits.

The report provides a range of options to improve the availability and level of disability benefits for members of Plans 2 and 3.

Marna Miller, Tali Klima, Corey Nunlist - October 2009

The 2008 Washington State Legislature directed the Institute to investigate the ways schools and courts are implementing the truancy provisions of the Becca Bill. In this report, we describe the various ways the courts have chosen to process truancy cases. We estimate the costs of these interventions to courts and local governments were $15.4 million for the 2007–09 biennium; the average cost per case statewide is $475 (in 2007 dollars).

Mason Burley - October 2009

The 2001 Washington State Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to “conduct a longitudinal study of long-term [mental health] client outcomes to assess any changes in client status at two, five and ten years.”

For this report, we followed 30,055 youth who received individual or family therapy in 2004. We looked at the most significant episode of treatment during the youth’s entire treatment history and found that 17 percent had “one-time” episodes lasting fewer than 30 days, 48 percent had short-term episodes lasting fewer than six months, 10 percent had an episode of intermediate duration (six to 12 months), and 25 percent had a long-term episode lasting longer than 12 months.

Among youth in public mental health care in Washington, 8 percent were in a foster placement following treatment (compared with 1.3 percent of the state population), 10 percent had a criminal conviction in the year following treatment (compared with 2.2 percent of the general population), and less than half (47 percent) of 18-year olds had any paid employment (compared with 88 percent of all 18-year-olds).

Stephanie Lee, Marna Miller - October 2009

The Washington State Institute for Public Policy was directed by the 2008 Washington Legislature to estimate the effectiveness, costs, and benefits of programs for individuals with developmental disabilities (excluding special education).

We reviewed the research literature to find the best available evidence on the economic impacts of services for individuals with developmental disabilities and found that residential services in the community for similar groups of adults with developmental disabilities cost less on average than institutional care. In some research, supported employment increases clients’ wage earnings and taxes paid, with a reduction in public costs. Several programs have demonstrated positive impacts on various life outcomes.

Mason Burley - August 2009

The 2007 Washington State Legislature established an Office of Public Guardianship within the Administrative Office of the Courts. The office is intended to “promote the availability of guardianship services for individuals who need them and for whom adequate services may otherwise be unavailable.” Public guardianship services are available in six pilot counties throughout Washington State. By June 2009, 71 cases had been referred to public guardians. This report summarizes detailed assessments and discusses the implementation of the public guardianship pilot program.

The Legislature also directed the Institute to “analyze the costs and off-setting savings to the state from the delivery of public guardianship services.” The Institute’s final evaluation report (December 2011) will analyze the benefits and costs of the pilot program.

Elizabeth Drake, Steve Aos - June 2009

The Sex Offender Policy Board asked the Institute to evaluate the effectiveness of sex offender registration and community notification laws on reducing crime. We conducted a systematic review of all research evidence and located nine rigorous evaluations. Some studies address whether the laws influence “specific” deterrence—the effect of a law on the recidivism rates of convicted sex offenders. The remaining studies analyze “general” deterrence—the effect of a law on sex offense rates of the general public, as well as recidivism rates of convicted sex offenders.

At this time, we tentatively conclude that existing research does not offer much policy guidance on the specific deterrent effect of registration/notification laws. For general deterrence, there is some indication that registration laws lower sex offense rates in the public at large. Additional research is necessary before definitive conclusions can be drawn.

Elizabeth Drake - June 2009

The Institute was contracted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Department of Corrections’ “Going Home Project.” The program was designed to transition younger, high-risk, violent offenders into the community. To date, not enough time has passed to conduct an outcome evaluation with a comparison group and 36-month follow-up. This interim report outlines our research design and provides 18-month recidivism rates for program participants.

Tali Klima, Marna Miller, Corey Nunlist - June 2009

The 2008 Washington State Legislature directed the Institute to evaluate evidence-based intervention and prevention programs for truancy. Because truancy and school dropout are closely linked, we also examined dropout prevention programs. In this report, we investigated whether targeted school, court, and law enforcement programs for middle and high school students affect educational outcomes, including high school graduation, dropping out, achievement, and attendance. The results of 22 studies were aggregated, and effective program types are identified.