Lehigh County

Lehigh County CJAB/Pinebrook’s Forensic Services Department

The Lehigh County Criminal Justice Advisory Board established its Reentry Subcommittee in 2005.  Today members of the Subcommittee include representatives from the county departments of corrections, probation and parole, pretrial services, drug and alcohol, and mental health. Staff from non-profits that provide community-based reentry services also serve on the Subcommittee including Pinebrook Family Answers, Haven House, the Lehigh Conference of Churches and Neighborhood Health Clinics of the Lehigh Valley.  This is a strong collaborative group that works together to improve reentry planning, policies and practices throughout Lehigh County.  Dr. Joyce Dougherty has served on the Reentry Subcommittee since 2006, and currently is Pinebrook Family Answers’ Forensic Grant Writer and Project Coordinator.  Pinebook’s Forensic Services Department provides a wide range of evidence-based services throughout the Lehigh Valley including Thinking for a Change and Parenting Inside Out to men and women housed at the county jails in Lehigh and Northampton.  Thinking for a Change has proven to be a highly effective pre-release reentry program.  Tracking the men and women who completed a full cycle of Thinking for a Change for twelve-months after they were discharged from the Northampton County Jail, a recidivism rate (measured as returns to the jail for a new charge and/or a technical violation) of 21 percent has been documented.  That is a 10 percent reduction in the jail’s baseline recidivism rate of 31 percent 12-months after discharge.  With support from a contract with the Lehigh County Drug and Alcohol Department, a pre- and post-release Reentry Group for men and women will be launched in the summer of 2017.  Pinebrook’s Forensic Services Department also operates a Transitional Housing program, specifically targeting women with mental health issues exiting the Lehigh County Jail.

Click HERE for the Lehigh County Synopsis of Pinebrook Family Answers’ Second Chance Act Comprehensive Community-Based Adult Reentry Program Application: Leaving Jail: A Comprehensive, Regional Reentry Program for Women

Joyce Dougherty, Ph.D.
Dr. Dougherty’s current reentry role, representing Lehigh County in the PRC, is as a member of the county’s CJAB Subcommittee Reentry Committee.  She has participated in all of the L.C. CJAB strategic planning sessions over the years and has played a key role in bringing evidence-based programming to the county jail.  Dr. Dougherty also is a Professor of Practice at Moravian College, specializing in corrections, and women and crime.

Click here to email Joyce.