Community Reinvestment Account Plan — Preliminary Legislative Report, Washington State Department of Commerce (December 1, 2022)
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Summary
A preliminary legislative report from the Washington State Department of Commerce on the Community Reinvestment Account Plan, dated December 1, 2022 and prepared under Chapter 297, Laws of 2022. It describes the department's work, with the state Office of Equity, to build a plan for investing funds to address disparities created by drug possession laws in four areas: economic development, legal assistance, violence intervention and reentry services. The report states the Legislature set aside $200 million and provided $1 million to develop the plan, which is due by July 2023. It reports that the Harriet Tubman Foundation for Safe Passage (HTFFSP) was selected to design the plan and lists its early engagement activities and initial research findings. The report closes with the proviso language creating the community reinvestment account.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Cite this document
“Community Reinvestment Account Plan — Preliminary Legislative Report, Washington State Department of Commerce (December 1, 2022).”
Original at app.leg.wa.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2022-commercereports-community-reinvestment-account-plan-6f37bd6f-0fe4-4b9c/
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Community Reinvestment
Account Plan
Preliminary Legislative Report
Pursuant to the 2022 Supplemental State Operating Budget, Laws of
2022, Chapter 297 (SB 5693, Section 128 (134))
December 1, 2022
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT
ACCOUNT PLAN Report to the Legislature
Director Lisa Brown
V3.2
Acknowledgments
Lillian Ferraz, Project Manager, Local Government
Division, writer and editor
Alice Zillah, Section Manager, Local Government
Division, editor
Jasmine Vasavada, Legislative Director, Director's
Office, policy review
Marissa VanHoozer, Equity & Belonging Director,
CRP steering team
Mark Barkley, Local Government Division Assistant
Director, CRP steering team
Megan Matthews, Office of Equity Shared Power
Design Assistant Director, CRP steering team
With thanks to:
WA State Office of Equity
Special thanks to:
Washington State Department of Commerce
Lillian Ferraz
Lillian.Ferraz@commerce.wa.gov
LOCAL GOVERNMENT DIVISION
RESEARCH SERVICES
1011 Plum St. SE
P.O. Box 42525
Olympia, WA 98504-2525
www.commerce.wa.gov
For people with disabilities, this report is available on
request in other formats. To submit a request, please
call 360-725-4000 (TTY 360-586-0772)
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT
Table of Contents
Executive summary ................................................................................................................................................ 2
Research overview ................................................................................................................................................. 6
Defining communities harmed by the war on drugs.............................................................................................. 7
Communications plan............................................................................................................................................. 9
Appendix A: Research plan .................................................................................................................................. 14
Appendix B: Community Reinvestment Account Plan proviso language ........................................................... 15
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 1
Executive summary
Overview
The Department of Commerce, in partnership with the state Office of Equity and community partners, is
responsible for building a Community Reinvestment Plan to describe how funds will be invested to address
racial, economic, and social disparities created by the historical design and enforcement of state and federal
criminal laws and penalties for drug possession.
The final plan, due by July 2023, will guide the investment of the funds in communities across the state in four
key areas, as defined by the Legislature in Chapter 297, Laws of 2022 (section 188 (134)):
I. Economic development, which includes addressing wealth disparities to promote asset building such as home
ownership and expanding access to financial resources including, but not limited to, grants and loans for small
businesses and entrepreneurs, financial literacy training, and other small business training and support activities;
II. Civil and criminal legal assistance to provide post-conviction relief and case assistance, including the
expungement of criminal records and vacation of criminal convictions;
III. Community-based violence intervention and prevention services; and
IV. Reentry services to facilitate successful transitions for persons formerly incarcerated in an adult correctional
facility or juvenile residential facility in Washington.
The project aims to engage with existing work groups, state partners, Washington residents with lived
experience in these areas, and by-and-for organizations to build recommendations for future fund
disbursement. This document is the preliminary report that outlines initial findings and progress to date for the
final Community Reinvestment Plan.
Background
In 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a “war on drugs.” On the surface, this aimed to combat drug abuse
on the supply and demand sides, but in truth it targeted disadvantaged communities, particularly Black
Americans. 1 A disproportionate number of these policies focused on criminal justice enforcement and
punishment for drug offenses — triggering disparate and systematic changes in the legal system. In the
decades since, escalation mass incarceration, which continues to disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous,
and People of color (BIPOC) Washingtonians, by restricting voting rights, economic achievement, wealth
building, and educational attainment.
The resulting arrests and convictions affected more than just the people who were caught in the criminal legal
system – incarceration creates struggles and disrupts families, neighborhoods and communities.
In 2012, the legalization of recreational cannabis in Washington significantly reduced the number of cannabis-
related arrests, but the racial disparities in drug enforcement are institutionalized in the design and
implementation of federal and state legal systems from the historical war on drugs. For example, even in
states that have legalized cannabis, research shows that Black Americans are still almost twice as likely to be
1 Report: Nixon aide says war on drugs targeted blacks, hippies | CNN Politics
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 2
arrested for cannabis-related offenses as white Americans. 2, adversely affecting their ability to secure housing,
employment and generate wealth.
In 2022, the Washington State Legislature set aside $200 million to invest in communities disproportionately
harmed by the war on drugs. Instead of authorizing Commerce to start granting this funding, the Legislature
directed that agency must first develop and present a community reinvestment plan to the Legislature. The
Legislature provided $1 million for the development of the community reinvestment plan to inform a
collaborative investment plan. (See Appendix B for the full proviso text.)
Progress highlights
A request for proposals was issued June 22, 2022, to solicit a consultant firm with the required community
engagement experience and research skills to produce the final study. The project plan requires broad
community involvement and participation, using research-based methods to identify individuals and
communities most affected by the war on drugs. With their input, the project will provide recommendations for
allocating funding across the four designated categories.
The Harriet Tubman Foundation for Safe Passage (HTFFSP) was selected to design the plan. HTFFSP has
proven expertise in Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)-led community engagement and academic
leadership. Its depth and breadth of experience will connect the project with communities most affected by the
war on drugs. The organization's founder, Jesse Miller, leads conscious of her positionality as a person of lived
experience with the legal system, community and state-level advocacy, and success as a small business
owner. The consulting team consists of recognized community leaders with more than 50 years' combined
experience in project leadership, and includes a faculty leader in economics at the University of Washington-
Tacoma and the director of the Black Brilliance Research Project of Seattle.
The consultant firm HTFFSP consists of and is supported by several research assistants and subject-matter
experts:
Shaun Glaze, lead researcher
Matt Harvey, Ph.D., economic researcher
Krystal Henderson, Ph.D., qualitative analysis and mixed methods researcher
Using lived experiences as the primary qualifier, the consultant firm expanded to include community advisors
and community researchers to ensure the research process is accountable to and led by the communities
harmed by the war on drugs. These trusted and credible messengers ensure robust participation with methods
that can increase participation of communities seldom heard by traditional community engagement. For
example, engagement with Mutual Aid organizations for those experiencing homelessness, (which are often
small and hyper-local), and barbershop conversations with elders who typically are not best served online.
Traditional research has been criticized by many BIPOC researchers because of its legacy of erasure of
community’s voice and underreporting of community solutions. This systematic underrepresentation of
communities harmed by policies that target their communities has cultivated a mistrust of traditional research,
especially that of government agencies.
2 ACLU Marijuana report 2021
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 3
One challenge for this work is the nuance required in conducting research on behalf of Washington state in a
way that adequately recognizes the harms done to specific and diverse communities. This research cannot
undo the centuries of harm, but by providing many meaningful ways to participate, review and refine the
process, HTFFSP aims to create a research methodology that can acknowledge the harms and create tangible
solutions that help address some of the impacts of structural racism.
In its first two months, the HTFFSP has:
• Convened a steering team that meets weekly and includes representation from the Office of Equity and
Commerce's policy team
• Developed a process to define communities harmed by the war on drugs
• Developed a communications and engagement plan
• Engaged multiple organizations and hundreds of community members and stakeholders
• Collected and analyzed data from state and federal sources
• Engaged communities through surveys, text messages, email, and phone calls, and amassed a list of
over 800 direct contacts
• Launched a project website (www.wa-reinvest.com), which had over 1,200 visits in its first 15 days
• Conducted the first of five planned focus groups
• Conducted interviews with Native and Indigenous scholars, public defenders, BIPOC small business
owners, and more than 200 BIPOC mental and behavioral health service providers, reentry service
providers, and violence prevention specialists
• Presented an initial research plan for stakeholder feedback
•
Initial findings
A review of literature and data on the impacts of the war on drugs reveals the following findings:
• Black, Latino and Indigenous people are disproportionately criminalized for cannabis. 3
• BIPOC communities are disproportionately impacted by racial, economic and social disparities. 4
• When considering economic opportunity, Latino (46%), Black (43%), and Native communities (38%) are
among the highest percentages of people living below the self-sufficiency standard. 5
• When considering poverty, including deep poverty, Black and Indigenous communities experience the
highest percentages, when controlling for racial demographics in Washington. 6
• When considering legal costs, (such as user fees and lawyers) the greatest impacts have been
demonstrated for single mothers; Black, Indigenous, and women of color; LGBTQ+ people; and people
with disabilities, according to the Washington State Gender and Justice Commission. This same
commission found that “while men face higher legal financial obligations (LFO), women face greater
challenges trying to pay both their own LFOs and those of people close to them.” 7
3 Washington State Gender and Justice Commission, ACLU Washington. Court Filings for Adult Marijuana Possession Plummet.
4 Ibid.
5 Washington State Department of Social and Health Services’ 2021 report “A Washington Without Poverty and Injustice.” : “Indigenous,
Black and Brown communities experience the undue burden of poverty in our state, and structural racism intersects with other forms of
systemic inequality to produce disparities in poverty rates among single parents with young children, youth, the LGTBTQ community,
rural families, people with disabilities, and immigrants and refugees.”
6 Ibid.
7 From the 2021: How Gender and Race Affect Justice Now: Final Report issued by the Washington State Gender and Justice
Commission " Indigenous and Black people in Washington state were more likely to be harmed or killed by law enforcement, more likely
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 4
• Indigenous women are murdered at significantly higher rates than women of other races. The crisis of
missing and murdered Indigenous women and people is an important consideration. 8
• Incarcerated women, LGBTQ+ people, and youth are at significantly high risk of sexual assault while in
confinement. These assaults are examples of some of the harm caused by the war on drugs. 9
• The Gender and Justice Commission analyzed Washington's felony judgment and sentencing data and
found that “Black, Indigenous, and women of color are convicted and sentenced at rates two to eight
times higher than white women. In addition, the types of crimes for which women and men are
convicted vary greatly. Women were convicted and sentenced in relatively higher proportions in drug,
property, and fraud categories, compared to violent and sex offenses.” 10
• While every community has been impacted by drugs, not everyone was treated equally. Certain
communities experienced years of excessive incarceration through a systemic design. For example,
nearly a quarter of a million people were arrested in Washington for cannabis possession from 1986 to
2010. 11 Although young Black and Latino individuals use cannabis at lower rates than young whites,
Washington arrested Blacks at 2.9 times the rate of whites. Latino and Native Americans individuals
were arrested at 1.6 times the rate of whites. 12
Next steps
Community engagement and research activities will continue until March 2023. Based on initial consultation
from communities with lived experience (those whom experienced incarceration due to illicit drug
manufacturing, sales, or use or their immediate relations) HTFFSP has made targeted outreach to BIPOC
communities in the first phase of the project, and will move into more general outreach in the identified
communities harmed by the war on drugs. This outreach is in partnership with the Community Vetting Team,
which was built through the project and comprises representative voices with lived experience in incarceration
due to drug possession. It will help manage community collaboration and leadership in community healing.
This empowered team, along with other civic-minded partnership-focused methods, will ensure that
community voices are heard in the final recommendations. Compilation and analysis of all the quantitative and
qualitative research will inform the final Community Reinvestment Plan that guides investment of the funds
appropriated by the Legislature.
to be searched or arrested by law enforcement, more likely to be incarcerated, and more likely to have a high legal financial obligation
compared to non-Hispanic white people."
8-9 Ibid
11 Washington State Gender and Justice Commission, ACLU Washington. Court Filings for Adult Marijuana Possession Plummet
12 Ibid.
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 5
Research overview
HTFFSP is using data justice and community-based participatory action as the key methodologies for research
in this project.
Historically, data collection and analysis was used to reinforce oppressive systems that result in divestment
and often inappropriate and harmful policies, especially against BIPOC communities. Data justice is an
approach that redresses methods of collecting and disseminating data that harmed marginalized
communities. Data justice aims to capture forms of knowledge and lived experiences that are community-
centered and community-driven.
The fundamental premises of data justice are that data should:
• Make visible community-driven needs, challenges, and strengths
• Be representative of community
• Treat data in ways that promote community self-determination
Community-based participatory action research (CB-PAR) is a collaborative research approach that involves
building up stakeholders as partners throughout the research process. Community stakeholders participate in
establishing the research question, developing data collection tools, data analysis, and reporting on findings.
This framework aims to address the practical concerns of community and fundamentally changes the roles of
researcher and who is being researched. The CB-PAR framework begins with a community’s issue, proposed
action, or strategy, and then supports or enhances this action with community-based and engaged research.
Data collection and community engagement methods
The project team will provide multiple in-person and virtual opportunities to meet community where they are,
including focus groups, interviews, case studies, and surveys. Additionally, spatial and quantitative data sets
informed the original priority setting and continue to inform the areas of focus for the consultant firm. Both the
quantitative and qualitative data are consistently shared and checked by community, in alignment with the CB-
PAR methodology and the data justice approach.
The team leveraged existing relationships with community leaders and invited them to serve as trusted
messengers to communities disproportionately impacted by racism and systems of oppression to review the
proposed approach and plan. In addition, the team reached out to grassroots leaders who had known
experiences with the legal system from different regions of the state.
The consultant group is working in partnership with Commerce to collect data and information from a variety
of state agencies and programs, including:
• The Office of Equity
• The Department of Health’s Social Equity in Cannabis Task Force
• The Department of Commerce’s Reentry Council
• The Department of Commerce’s Homeowner Disparities Work Group
• The Governor’s Poverty Reduction Work Group
• The Office of Public Defense
• The Office of Civil Legal Aid
• The Department of Children, Youth, and Families
• Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
• Department of Financial Institutions
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 6
Defining communities harmed by the war on drugs
When building the definition of communities harmed by the war on drugs, HTFFSP is centering people with
lived experience. This aligns with the HTFFSP's research values of collaborating and honoring relationships at
the speed of trust, and the principles of data justice. 13 14
First phase: People with lived experience define the process
Collaborate
with
community and Focus Groups
Commerce on
policy solutions
Analyze Qualitiative
quantitative input
data and determines
develop quantitative
mapping tools research focus
For this research, HTFFSP defines lived experience as having experienced or witnessed first-hand the impacts
of the inequitable design and enforcement of state and federal criminal laws and penalties for drug possession
and manufacturing. For early focus groups and interviews, this definition is narrowed to people who have
experienced the most direct harm from drug policies; meaning individuals who have been incarcerated due to
charges for the sale or manufacturing of illicit drugs or have at least one close contact, and those who has
been incarcerated for drug possession charges.
Concurrently, the consultant firm conducted stakeholder interviews and discussions to learn more about state
agency priorities around the war on drugs. HTFFSP used the initial feedback to inform which quantitative data
can serve to further examine the impacts. The data will be vetted with community members during the next
phase of the project. Here are some of the key perspectives the consultant group has heard so far:
• Recognizing the structural racism embedded in design and enforcement of state and federal criminal
laws and penalties for drug possession and manufacturing. This means being explicit that this policy
targeted BIPOC residents of Washington state, and the funding should prioritize these communities.
• Recognizing the mental, spiritual and embodied impacts of structural racism. Community members
were adamant that the harm was not just in terms of physical detention and incarceration, but also in
the harms that result from the over-surveillance, over-policing, over-incarceration, and over-sentencing
present throughout the criminal legal process. Communities are eager to talk about harm in ways that
13 Brown, A. (2017). Emergent strategy. AK Press.
14 Why Research & Data Justice — Coalition of Communities of Color (coalitioncommunitiescolor.org)Why Research & Data Justice —
Coalition of Communities of Color (coalitioncommunitiescolor.org)
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 7
include these impacts, and how this makes it more difficult for affected people to access
intergenerational healing.
• Relatedly, the importance of considering harm from a community-level perspective, not just individual.
Community members and stakeholders both described how important it is to consider how existing
public datasets may not adequately capture the kinds of harm and impacts that communities have
experienced — and continue to experience.
As part of the charge of the proviso, the HTFFSP is working with by-and-for organizations. While parallel work
to define by-and-for organizations is being led by the Office of Equity and Commerce, for the purposes of this
report and early research, HTFFSP is temporarily using the following definition for by and for organizations:
‘By and For Organizations' are operated by and for the community they serve. Their primary mission and history is
serving a specific community and they are culturally based, directed, and substantially controlled by individuals from
the population they serve. At the core of their programs, the organizations embody the community’s central cultural
values. These communities may include ethnic and racial minorities; immigrants and refugees; individuals who identify
as LGBTQ+; individuals with disabilities or who are deaf; and Native Americans. 15
Spatial and quantitative data approaches
In focus groups and outreach, HTFFSP asked communities harmed by the war on drugs about what data are
important to consider when describing its impacts. Communities discussed the necessity to center structural
racism when considering economic impacts and the solutions that can effectively address them.
Some of the data sets HTFFSP is examining are:
• The Centers for Disease Control's Social Vulnerability Level represents how access to housing and
transportation — or how demographics including race, disability and household composition — might
make some communities more vulnerable than others, particularly as it relates to the need for support
and recovery assistance.
• Local governments, such as the City of Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development,
created indices to help represent communities’ access to opportunity (combined data indicators of
education, economic, transit, civic infrastructure and health) or risk for displacement (combined
indicators of vulnerability, amenities, development potential and median rent). This approach allows
agencies to create maps and analyses that explore how to address the specific communities affected
by possible policy interventions.
• The Research and Data Analysis Division at the Department of Social and Health Services provides
census block group-level data to inform community risk profiles. The profiles aggregate data on
income and assistance programs, health outcomes, services for Medicaid recipients, percentage of
population that is legal system-involved, employment levels, access to mental health and substance
use treatment, and number of individuals accessing state-funded housing.
• The Administrative Office of the Courts has caseloads reports for superior, district and municipal
courts.
• The Department of Health provides data on injury deaths including homicides, suicides and
drug/alcohol induced deaths by county.
15 Kitsap County Department of Human Services’ Kitsap Eviction Prevention Assistance (KEPA) Program
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 8
Communications plan
Leading with the web
The project website (www.wa-reinvest.com) is optimized for feedback and project transparency. Visitors can
view the project timeline, proviso, data resources and information on how the public can engage. Content and
documents on the website include information about Commerce’s process for requesting translations into
other languages. There are multiple options for the public to provide information to the consultant firm via
written surveys, video surveys, audio surveys, emails, or calendar events.
Diving into community locations
The project recognizes that in-person outreach is essential to meeting people where they are at — and tapping
into the networks of communities who are seldom heard in online outreach. For this reason, the consultant
firm coordinated outreach in culturally situated communities (such as Black- or BIPOC-owned businesses
locations (such as barbershops) to increase communication with community members. This includes kiosks
for data collection, as well as interviews and outreach opportunities to spread the word about the Community
Reinvestment Plan and opportunities to contribute. By partnering with trusted organizations and businesses,
we are supporting investments into community as part of the creation of the plan, building trust, and helping to
heal some of the harm of community disinvestments.
Focused engagement throughout the state
"Quit coming to us because you think we have all of the problems. Come to us because you know we have all
of the solutions." — Abigail Echo-Hawk, Chief Research Officer, Seattle Indian Health Board
The consultant group is making every effort to ensure all regions of the state are invited to participate. The
plan includes means for outreach and collaboration with Black, Latino, Native American, and other
communities of color, who are those most impacted. Other consulted communities could include those who
are:
• Currently and previously incarcerated
• Families of color impacted by the foster care system
• Individuals or families denied access to education, housing, or employment due to a drug-related
charge or conviction
• Individuals and families who receive public assistance
• LGBTQ-centered substance abuse support groups
• Tribal-affiliated recovery program participants
• Narcotics Anonymous participants who were involved with the illegal sale/manufacturing of drugs
The equitable outreach principles described below are being used:
• Involve people disproportionately impacted by racism and systems of oppression in early strategy
conversations and planning as an advisory group and to review local data and assessments.
• Target and create partnerships with organizations predominantly led by BIPOC Washingtonians to find
opportunities to build their capacity and support local strategies for safety and achievement.
• Build a culture of evidence that promotes communities of color as the experts of their own experience
and have the right to research, the right to know, and the right to be heard as a crucial part of
transformative change.
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 9
• Conduct specific outreach to the immigrant and refugee communities, as well as communities with
limited English proficiency, to understand and track their unique safety needs and ensure language
barriers are addressed.
• Participate in the social initiatives predominantly led by BIPOC Washingtonians; that is, show up in
community and collaborate.
• Use the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) communication guide to pitch stories that
affirm, counter, and transform. Highlight local stories of initiatives led by BIPOC Washingtonians.
• Any consultants/vendors must possess both the experience and skills needed to work with diverse
populations, particularly the Black community.
• Serve as a coordinated and networked hub of information about policies to advance equity work within
the region in partnership with other organizations.
•
Innovative practices, accountability and transparency
Diverse participation that empowers community and increases civic engagement, including funding
compensation for participation, is part of the research plan for this project.
Prioritizing people with experience with incarceration
To help develop a project that is accountable to the communities harmed by the war on drugs, the consultant
firm continually seeks the guidance of people who have been incarcerated to help ensure that the priorities and
expertise of those impacted remains a focus. This focus has resulted in seeking consultation and advice from
people who have been incarcerated, including people who now deliver services related to reentry, economic
development, violence prevention and intervention, and legal assistance.
Outreach and collaboration with Black, Latino, Native American, and additional communities of color
Statewide engagement with Black and Latino communities is a strong focus of the outreach and collaboration
for this project. While these are not the only communities harmed by the war on drugs, there is a recognition
that the specific structural racism inherent in the design and enforcement of policies related to the war on
drugs disproportionately affected these communities in unique ways. Recognizing the special expertise of
communities harmed, and the specific remedies they are seeking to redress the harm, is essential to
effectively supporting communities who have been under-resourced and over-targeted for harm and excluded
from opportunities.
Outreach to additional consulted communities
The consultant firm started outreach to tribal-affiliated liaisons, stakeholders, and recovery program
participants. Learning how to respectfully navigate and amplify the trusted relationships with tribes in the
region is a focus area for outreach that is part of the creation of the Community Reinvestment Plan.
Providing resources and trauma-informed strategies
HTFFSP plans to utilize a trauma-informed approach that includes mental health support resources for
stakeholders who have lived experience in this work. The consultant firm heard about this need in the initial
focus group, and has already started to compile resources lists to support the comprehensive mental health
and healing needs for community members involved in this work. This includes attention to the
intergenerational nature of trauma and resilience.
We are inspired by the existing work of community leaders to connect communities to useful resources that
have been vetted by community members and mental health experts, such as culturally specific supports
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 10
including the Native Project, Strong Hearts Native Helpline, Therapy For Black Girls, Teen Link, WA Listens, and
the Trevor Project.
Next steps for engagement
In the coming month, these initial pieces of outreach will be collected and analyzed to build out the larger-
group engagement strategies that will occur in the second half of the project. The consultant group will create
and share an engagement calendar for its activities with communities identified as harmed by the war on
drugs. These events will by hybrid and occur across the state and in a multitude of mediums. The prioritization
of which of the four areas named in the proviso (see Appendix B) should be invested in and the community-
vetted successful methods of community growth will then be turned into workable policy solutions for the final
report.
Second phase: Community voices define policy solutions
Collaborate with
community and
Focus groups
Commerce on
policy solutions
Analyze Qualitiative
quantitative input
data and determines
develop quantitative
mapping tools research focus
More information on how the HTFFSP is building out this complex collaboration strategy in the
Communications Plan Matrix below.
CRP Communications Plan matrix
Communication Audience Goals Schedule Format Responsibility
Interim report Commerce Communicate current Nov. 1, 2022 PDF document Commerce
progress, challenges, and
Legislative next steps Presentation HTFFSP
aides
Website
Public
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 11
Initial report Commerce Communicate findings to December PDF document, HTFFSP
inform necessary 2022 website
Legislative political process to
aides support Community
Public Reinvestment Plan
development
Website Public Introduce project timeline Launched Online HTFFSP
and background, inform Oct. 15, 2022
the public on how to wa-reinvest.com
engage, and informal Updated bi-
weekly
reporting
Podcasts All Inform public on November Online HTFFSP
stakeholders opportunities to engage 2022 -
December Streaming
Services, Linked
2022
on website
Community events Public Larger events and Varies, In-person HTFFSP
activities to inform final Confirming
report dates Virtual
Office hours All Create real-time two-way Weekly In-person HTFFSP
stakeholders feedback space for
Virtual
community and
interested parties to
partner in dialogue
around the research
process or overall project
Print and SMS All Reach community October 2022 Phone HTFFSP
outreach stakeholders members, by-and-for - May 2023
In-person
organizations, service
providers, and
stakeholders
Kiosks Public Collect real-time data November Rotating kiosks HTFFSP
2022 - at community
Provide project updates February common areas
Engage in the idea portal 2023 (such as
barbershops)
Register for events and
outreach
Explainer videos Public Inform public on November Short-form HTFFSP
opportunities to engage 2022 - content
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 12
February
2023
Research Community Inform public about how October 2022 PDF document, HTFFSP
cookbook researchers research is done, train - January video format,
community researchers 2023 and website
Public
Final report Governor Report and synthesize At project end PDF document COMMERCE
the information collected - June 2023
Legislature to date HTFFSP
Public
Present deliverables
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 13
APPENDIX A: A
DESCRIPTION OF
THE RESEARCH
PLAN FOR THE
REMAINDER OF THE
PROJECT
*Includes the Black Brilliance Research Cookbook that all
researchers will be trained on and use for this project.
PREPARED BY
Harriet Tubman Foundation for Safe Passage
Research Team
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT PLAN REPORT
CRP Researcher Training,
Support, and Work
Training and Support Relationships to the research
The CITI Program: Human Subjects More than 100 researchers, including
Research Ethics Training educates youth, elders, people with different
researchers about the ethical levels of experience with the criminal
principles around researching with legal system and homelessness, artists,
humans and the regulatory healers, educators, etc.
requirements for conducting research
on human subjects. Researchers are involved in every
step of the process, including
Onboarding meetings help provide developing research topics and
context, answer questions, and research questions, data analysis,
provide support. and reporting findings.
A research manual "cookbook" helps Researchers aren't just collecting
guide the work. The cookbook data; they are bringing their full
includes research methods, expertise to what needs to be
templates, examples, and step-by-step studied, how best to collect that
guides. data, and how to present it in a way
that is accessible and accountable to
Video and live training provide the communities they serve.
support and direction.
Researchers are building
Research professionals provide relationships across research teams.
technical and review support for all This project was built with a strong
necessary aspects of the research focus on relationship building and
process. facilitation, which has resulted in
new collaborations and new
Anti-oppression education and insights.
discussions take place regularly.
Visit https://about.citiprogram.org/en/course/human-subjects-research-2/ for more details about the
CITI Program research ethics training researchers completed.
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT PLAN REPORT
Community Reinvestment Plan
Research Leads and
Organizations
Researcher Team Criteria Researcher Team Overview
Each team member has been directly Research Leads:
impacted by the War On Drugs and
Lead: Shaun Glaze, Chief
brings different expertise and
Consulting Officer of Inclusive
contributions to the work. In all cases,
Data & Research Director of Black
researchers are committed to the
Brilliance
following:
Quantitative: Dr. Matt Harvey,
Assistant Professor of Economics
Be curious
at University of Washington
Be accountable to the
Tacoma
communities you're connected to
Mixed Methods: Dr. Krystal
Work to build and support
Henderson, Professional
relationships with each other and
Consultant & Researcher
with community
Community-Centered: Support Team:
Advisory Group and Community (5) Part-tIme Research Assistants
Researchers
Community Participation:
A group of community members who Targeted Focus Groups Monthly
have been directly impacted by the Advisory Steering Group Monthly
War on Drugs will be convened to Community Researchers Group
inform, support, and challenge the
project to honor lived experience Project SME Advisors:
through the process. Additionally, Jeff Klein (SME Financial Well-
growing from the priorities identified
Being)
directly by impacted communities,
Korbett Mosesly (SME Reentry
community researchers are being
Services)
brought on through the Fall and
Winter to explore asset-building,
community-based well-being worker
programs, and strategies to eliminate
the racial wealth gap in Black and
BIPOC community contexts.
PLACE HOLDER
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT PLAN REPORT
Community Reinvestment Plan
RESEARCH
METHODS
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT PLAN REPORT
Research Methodology
Community Reinvestment Plan
We believe that those closest to the issues are closest to the solutions; so we
are using a data justice approach, a group of community researchers with lived
experience are leading the project to review available data, review feedback,
and conduct research using robust research methodologies. to inform the
reinvestment recommendations.
Examples of research methods in use:
Focus groups
Interviews
VideoAsks
Case Studies
Surveys
Datasets
CRP involves 100+ paid researchers who worked collaboratively to determine:
What does community need in terms of investment in "Economic development"?
What kind of "Civil & criminal legal assistance" to support successful reentry?
What are the highly impactful "Community-based violence intervention and prevention
services" and what are some of the ways in which government invest in them?
What are the the highly impactful "Reentry services" and what are some of the ways in
which government can invest?
What do you need to thrive?
Research Framework:
Utilizing a Participatory Action Research (PAR) framework to create knowledge for social
change
Engaging a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) collaborative framework that
pulled from the strengths of our community partners to define actions for social change
to reentry and enhance economic development
Employing community assessment surveys to match Seattle residents' unmet needs with
resources in order to involve more Seattle residents in the participatory budgeting
process. For instance, many of our researchers needed computers and/or internet access
to participate in our research.
*The Research Cookbook at the end of this document articulates the steps, templates, tools, and resources connected to the work. For more
details and citations for the research framework, please reference the cookbook.
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT PLAN REPORT
Research Methodology
Community Reinvestment Plan
Description of Research Methods Used (page 1 of 2)
Focus Groups
Discuss and write research goals with researchers and stakeholders
Review BBR research cookbook and training materials for best practices; seek consultation
as needed
Create a conversation guide, including what specific questions to discuss
Invite participants and confirm availability
Moderate the focus group while taking notes
Identify quotes and themes from the focus group, based on research goals and analysis
Interviews
Discuss and write research goals with researchers and stakeholders
Review BBR research cookbook and training materials for best practices; seek consultation
as needed
Create interview protocol, including interview questions, , uniquely tailored to community
engaged in the research
Moderate the focus group while taking notes and asking follow-up questions for rich
discussion
Identify quotes and themes from the focus group, based on research goals and analysis
Video Asks
Video Ask, a web app, which also works on Android and iPhone, and allows researchers to
provide status updates on research and reinvestment and receive answers, suggestions,
and feedback, face-to-face.
Develop questions on a bi-weekly basis to ask for community feedback and suggestions
Provide updates on research findings and emerging themes
Engage in two-way conversation with community to report on research updates and seek
feedback on direction and focus
Share synthesized data about emerging activities within 4 areas of investment and
consistently check our alignment to community priorities
Identify quotes and themes from Video Asks, based on research goals and analysis
Download the data and make charts and graphs, based on research goals and analysis
*The Research Cookbook at the end of this document articulates the steps, templates, tools, and resources connected to the work. For more
details and citations for the research framework, please reference the cookbook.
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT PLAN REPORT
Research Methodology
Black Brilliance Research Project
Description of Research Methods Used (page 2 of 2)
Case Studies
Discuss and write research goals with researchers and stakeholders
Review research cookbook and training materials for best practices; seek
consultation as needed
Review existing literature or data about the research direction or goal
Identify a specific example or case related to your research direction
Describe reasons or justifications people might use to exemplify, expand, or
challenge your case. For example, a case where a police officer kills an unarmed
disabled black person
Use methods to explore a case, for example, interviews, focus groups, secondary
data review. News archives, case law, and policies may all help inform a case study.
Describe and analyze the case
Surveys
Discuss and write research goals with researchers and stakeholders
Review research cookbook and training materials for best practices; seek consultation as
needed
Create an initial survey, typically using Qualtrics or a similar tool to collect responses
Test and edit the survey to fit research goals and to ensure accessibility
Share the survey with appropriate strategies, based on goals. For example, when seeking
feedback from a particular language community, teams provide a survey and/or
researchers who can use that language
Keep the surveys open for at least two weeks, unless there is an identified need for a
shorter survey
Identify quotes and themes from the survey, based on research goals and analysis
Download the data and make charts and graphs, based on research goals and analysis
Large Data
Review of large statewide datasets
Disaggregation of datasets by key demographic data, county, city, and neighborhood
Utilize a data visualization tool to map the geographic locations of key indicators
Ongoing review of Washington State Department of Health and similar data dashboards
*The Research Cookbook at the end of this document articulates the steps, templates, tools, and resources connected to the work. For more
details and citations for the research framework, please reference the cookbook.
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT PLAN REPORT
RESEARCH METHODS
Quantitative and Qualitative Integration
Focus
Interviews Case Studies Surveys
Groups
Provide means Pull data from Research tool
Provide to have in-depth focus groups to collect
opportunities for exploratory and interviews to large
community to conversation identify amounts of
share their with individual reoccurring quantitative
expertise and community themes to inform and
informed members to investment and qualitative
opinions on this glean critical research data to
work. perspective. approach. identify
trends and
Written Activities Written Activities Focus Groups outliers.
Discussion Discussion Interviews
Video Asks Video Asks Literature Questionnaires
Review SMS & Email
Video Asks
Existing
Video Asks Meetings Datasets
Various meetings
Violent Crime
Collect with stakeholders
feedback and provide insight Mental Health &
guidance via which serves as Drug Treatment
video. secondary data Homeownership
collection.
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT PLAN REPORT
This is How Our Team Collects Data
Simplify Ask for nuance Bring elders & Amplify
statistics in stories youth together solutions
We use We ask Our elders We're often
statistics and deeper hold asked to over
numbers to questions important explain well-
talk about about how wisdom and known
and the War on expertise that problems,
understand Drugs grounds us; but now we
common affects us, our youth will build
issues and individually grow new
integrate and legacies solutions
data with collectively forward
maps and
stories
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT PLAN REPORT
Blending Quantitative and
Qualitative Data and Methods
Data and findings are analyzed collectively and reported out regularly
to community for transparency and accountability.
LITERATURE SECONDARY DATA FOCUS GROUPS
REVIEW ANALYSIS INTERVIEWS
MEETINGS
We explored We are continuously
& VIDEO ASKS
existing work, running new analyses
Using Zoom, phone
community stories, on existing data
calls, and in-person
previous data, and conducting research
meetings
findings with new people
CASE STUDIES SURVEYS AND MIXED METHODS
EXISTING DATA SETS ANALYSIS
We are collecting
stories about what's We are collecting We are analyzing
working and data and through quantitative and
conducting in- surveys; most surveys qualitative data
depth analysis on have both quantitative together in order to
how to apply those and qualitative data to ensure data sets are
insights help understand in relationship
community members'
experiences. We are
also exploring
statistically
significant differences
with large data sets
Data can be as diverse as we are.
Appendix B: Community Reinvestment Account Plan
proviso language
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN - $1 MILLION
(134) $1,000,000 of the general fund—state appropriation for fiscal year 2023 is provided solely for the
department to develop a community reinvestment plan to guide the distribution of grants from the community
reinvestment account created in section 947 of this act.
(a) The department shall, in partnership with the office of equity, and "by and for community organizations" as
defined by the office of equity, develop a community reinvestment plan for how funds would be distributed to
address racial, economic, and social disparities in communities across the state created by the historical
design and enforcement of state and federal criminal laws and penalties for drug possession. The community
reinvestment plan should address funding in the following areas:
(i) Economic development, which includes addressing wealth disparities to promote asset building such as
home ownership and expanding access to financial resources including, but not limited to, grants and loans for
small businesses and entrepreneurs, financial literacy training, and other small business training and support
activities;
(ii) Civil and criminal legal assistance to provide post-conviction relief and case assistance, including the
expungement of criminal records and vacation of criminal convictions;
(iii) Community-based violence intervention and prevention services; and
(iv) Reentry services to facilitate successful transitions for persons formerly incarcerated in an adult
correctional facility or juvenile residential facility in Washington.
(b) The plan must include a timeline for regular review by the department and the office of equity, criteria for
eligible communities and programs, development of accountability measures to ensure that distribution and
use of funding meets intended purposes, and tracking of outcomes for the funds. At a minimum, the plan must
address how the community reinvestment account funding will:
(i) Produce significant long-term economic benefits to the state, a region of the state, or a particular
community in the state;
(ii) Result in significant long-term economic benefits in the form of new jobs, job retention, increased personal
wealth, or higher incomes for citizens of the state or a particular community in the state; and
(iii) Ensure that:
(A) Projects or programs do not require continuing state support;
(B) An expenditure will not supplant private investment;
(C) An expenditure is accompanied by additional public or private investment; and
(D) Nonprofit, faith-based, and grassroots organizations are prioritized for funding.
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 15
(c) In developing the plan, the department is encouraged to incorporate existing and ongoing work from
relevant task forces and work groups including, but not limited to, the social equity in cannabis task force, the
reentry council, and the homeownership disparities work group.
(d) The department shall submit a preliminary report to the governor and relevant committees of the legislature
by December 1, 2022. A final report on the implementation plan must be submitted to the governor and
relevant committees of the legislature by June 30, 2023.
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PROGRAMMING - $200 MILLION FY23
NEW SECTION. Sec. 719. A new section is added to 2021 c 334 (uncodified) to read as follows: FOR THE
OFFICE OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT—COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT General Fund—State
Appropriation (FY 2023). . . . . . . $200,000,000 TOTAL APPROPRIATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200,000,000. The
appropriation in this section is subject to the following conditions and limitations: The appropriation in this
section is provided solely for expenditure into the community reinvestment account created in section 947 of
this act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 947. A new section is added to chapter 43.79 RCW to read as follows:
(1) The community reinvestment account is created in the state treasury. Revenues to the account shall
consist of appropriations and transfers by the legislature and all other moneys directed for deposit into the
account. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation.
(2) Expenditures from the account may be used by the department of commerce for:
(a) Economic development, which includes addressing wealth disparities to promote asset building such as
home ownership and expanding access to financial resources including, but not limited to, grants and loans for
small businesses and entrepreneurs, financial literacy training, and other small business training and support
activities;
(b) Civil and criminal legal assistance to provide post-conviction relief and case assistance, including the
expungement of criminal records and vacation of criminal convictions;
(c) Community-based violence intervention and prevention services, which may include after-school programs
focused on providing education and mentorship to youths; and
(d) Reentry services to facilitate successful transitions for persons formerly incarcerated in an adult
correctional facility or juvenile residential facility in Washington.
(3) The distribution of the grants under this section must be done in collaboration with the governor's office of
Indian affairs and "by and for community organizations" as defined by the department of commerce and the
office of equity.
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACCOUNT PLAN INTERIM LEGISLATIVE REPORT 16
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