MIDC to Begin Distributing Grant Funds in October; Will Submit Next Standards to LARA
The MIDC regional and field staff have been hard at work readying the local systems for their upcoming plan implementations. Starting this October, the beginning of state’s new fiscal year, funding will become available for all approved MIDC compliance plans. Pursuant to the MIDC Act, once the local indigent defense systems receive funds, they are required to comply with their plan within 180 days. Kicking-off this six-month planning phase, twenty percent of the grant will be disbursed up front so the local systems can get started right away. The remainder of the grant dollars will be available on a quarterly basis through a reimbursement process.
To aid in the implementation process, MIDC grant budget, reporting and management guidelines are now available on the MIDC website. Training webinars on these MIDC grant guidelines will be conducted during the week of September 10th. Be sure to check MIDC’s calendar for exact times and additional information. And as always, the MIDC staff will be continuously available to assist with implementation and local systems should expect to work with their regional managers on the next steps.
During the August MIDC meeting, the Commissioners approved final versions of the next set of indigence defense compliance standards. These standards address the need for independence from the judiciary (Standard 5), defender workload limitations (Standard 6), qualification and review of attorneys accepting assignments in adult criminal cases (Standard 7), and attorney compensation (Standard 8). Much consideration was given to the public comments received over the past year. For example, based on feedback from numerous public defenders, Standard 7 was amended to broaden the qualifications necessary for attorneys to handle high-severity felony and life offense cases. The full set of the final standards can be found on MIDC’s website.
Per the MIDC Act, the updated standards will now be sent to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) for final approval. Once LARA approves the new standards, the clock begins on the next round of compliance planning as local systems will have 180 days to submit a plan and cost analysis for approval.
MIDC Caseload Study
The MIDC is responsible for developing a Michigan-specific caseload standard that will address maximum recommended caseloads for attorneys who practice indigent defense. To develop these numbers, we are in the midst of a three-part process that will culminate with a session called a Delphi Panel, where we gather approximately 30 experts in Lansing for a full day to synthesize and finalize the caseload numbers. The Delphi Panel is arguably the most important part of the caseload development process, as the output of this session will be used to inform the MIDC’s recommended maximum caseload standards. The MIDC is looking for participants for the Panel, which will take place in Lansing on Thursday, September 13th. If you are interested, please contact MIDC’s Research Director, Jonah Siegel at jsiegel@michiganidc.gov.
The MIDC will meet next on October 16, 2018. The Commission meets at 1:00 p.m. in Lansing for and all meetings are open to the public. Information about upcoming meetings, or agendas and minutes from prior meetings can be found on our website. We will continue to post progress about our work and any other developments about indigent defense in Michigan on our website as well.