Planning alternatives to incarceration
for persons in the justice system
ALTERNATIVES TO INCARCERATION
It's becoming quite obvious as our federal and state correctional institutions remain well above rated capacities, that alternatives to incarceration are an important option in the finalization of various criminal cases.
In response, Alternative Planning Associates LLC was formed by experienced former corrections leaders to provide services to assist criminal defense attorneys in getting the best possible results for their clients whenever a decision to incarcerate is at stake. The courts are provided sound factual analyses as well, giving judges the rationale for considering alternatives to incarceration.
Alternative Planning Associates is designed to provide professional assistance in developing comprehensive alternative plans when, despite all defense efforts, clients become involved in a sentencing situation. Our experienced corrections professionals interview clients to do a comprehensive pre-sentence investigation. The client's needs are assessed, in some cases by a forensic psychologist, and specific resources are matched to them with a firm commitment for delivery from the provider. One of our objectives is to complete these tasks with greater speed, depth and creativity than the state or federal resources.
Our ultimate goal is to provide the defense attorney with a total package to satisfy the requirement of the court that the public is protected while a program is undertaken and completed. Attorneys know, of course, that judges need to have solid and comfortable reasons for bypassing incarceration and implementing rehabilitation in the community. Each of the professionals associated with us understand these matters and is equipped by years of experience to deal effectively with them.
Take a moment to review our company and our approach and then contact us to get started on developing alternatives to incarceration for your clients today. Contact Us .
ADVISORY BOARD
Hon. Anthony S. Earl
Former Governor
State of Wisconsin
.
James E. Carley
Former Chairman
Wisconsin Public
Defender Board
Barbara La Follette
Former President
DC TeleSystems LLC
Michael J. O'Connor
Chief Financial Officer
J.B. Poindexter, Inc.
Copyright, 2011 Alternative Planning Associates LLC
OUR FOUNDERS
Credentials
Allyn R. Sielaff, AB, MSSA, JD
President APA and former:
Administrator, Wisconsin Division of Corrections
Commissioner, New York City Department of Corrections
Commissioner, Pennsylvania Bureau of Correction
Director, Illinois Department of Corrections
Director, Virginia Department of Corrections
Illinois Director, National Council on Crime and Delinquency
Professor of Criminal Justice, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Administrator, Juvenile Court, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Donn F. Gurney, AB, BS
Vice President APA and former:
Director, Wisconsin Corrections Industries
Wisconsin Coordinator of Offender Programs
President, Madison Metropolitan YMCA
President, Race Legends, Incorporated
Managing Partner, Management Services Associates
Our Company
Alternative Planning Associates LLC was formed by experienced former corrections leaders to provide services to assist criminal defense attorneys in getting the best possible results for their clients whenever a decision to incarcerate is at stake. The courts are provided sound factual analyses as well, giving judges the rationale for considering alternatives to incarceration.
FACTS FOR ATTORNEYS
What We Do
How We Do It
Contents of ATI Plan
Our Ultimate Goal
Role of Criminal Defense Attorney
Anthony S. Earl
Please click on a board member to learn more about each individual.
MORE ABOUT APA'S ADVISORY BOARD
Our Board of Advisors was selected to provide Alternative Planning Associates with high-level experienced persons from the fields in which we operate. We also looked for persons sharing our philosophy of providing alternatives to incarceration.
Tony Earl's long professional and public career encompasses all areas of legal experience coupled with his high positions in Wisconsin government. He gives us an overview of how our endeavors fit into the political structure of the state.
Jim Carley was instrumental in leading the Office of the Public Defender during a period of mandated expansion as well as providing support for ex-offenders re-entering their communities. Since APA is on the Public Defender's Expert List, Jim's knowledge of the workings of the system is invaluable in our strategic planning.
Barb La Follette advises us on our Field Operations, heading up a team that investigates and reports on the client's needs and future prospects. Her experience within the Wisconsin Department of Corrections gives us liaisons with key persons in the correctional system.
Mike O'Connor has an outstanding business career and provides APA with both financial operating advice but, even more importantly, advises us as to client-based financial planning both during the justice process and for the difficult period following release.
JAMES CARLEY
Mr. Carley joined APA's Advisory Board October 2008. Jim, a longtime Madison resident, national property developer and active in a number of civic positions, has had a lengthy history of participating in criminal justice efforts to provide employment and education for offenders. Jim was instrumental in leading the Office of the Public Defender during a period of mandated expansion as well as providing support for ex-offenders re-entering their communities. In addition, Mr. Carley has been an advocate for low-income housing throughout the country.
Mr. Carley will be providing management advice, program opportunities and liaisons with the Wisconsin business and political communities.
Jim Carley has a long interest in securing employment for offenders, either in lieu of incarceration or following their release from prison. Working with APA will allow Jim to utilize his experience in assisting to work up programs to relieve jail and prison overcrowding.
MICHAEL J. O'CONNOR
Michael J. O'Connor joined APA's Advisory Board in January 2008. Mike is a Corporate Financial Officer and Certified Public Accountant who counsels APA in providing planning advice and counsel for alternatives to incarceration plans for persons in the criminal justice system.
APA is pleased to have developed a financial planning resource to assist our clients and their attorneys in providing state and federal courts with alternative to incarceration plans that not only address the issue of restitution but also provide planning for family support during what is always a very trying period. Mr. O'Connor's involvement allows us to add what we feel is a most innovative resource to our list of services. In addition, his presence on our advisory board will give us an expanded view of financial trends that affect our clients as they re-establish their lives.
Mr. O'Connor is CFO at J.B. Poindexter & Co. Inc. He has over 30 years of financial management experience and expertise in both domestic and international operations. His background includes assignments with Deloitte & Touche, Tyco Safety Products, Gardner Denver, Stryker Modern Building Materials, Carley Management Company and several private equity groups. Mr. O'Connor is a Certified Public Accountant and holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting and Finance from the University of Wisconsin and a Masters of Business Administration Degree from the University of Chicago. He has had extensive experience with Wisconsin-based as well as international firms in senior financial management positions. Mike resides in Houston, Texas with his wife.
WHAT WE CAN DO
Alternative Planning Associates LLC has been providing presentence Investigations and Alternatives to Incarceration Plans (ATIs) for defense attorneys; both private and the Wisconsin Public Defenders office since our inception in 2007. During this period, we have been successful in achieving solid results for our client attorneys; defending both adult and juvenile offenders.
Our experience leads us to believe there is a far greater potential for success if our recommendations are prepared prior to plea negotiations between the defending attorney and the prosecutor. We find that the prosecutor's sentence recommendation - often prepared in the period between pleading and sentencing, becomes set in concrete prior to the submission of a standard presentence investigation and recommendation. We believe that it is very possible to convince a prosecutor of the merits of our alternatives to incarcerations or reductions in prison sentences early in the negotiations, so that both parties are in agreement with the well-balanced recommendation prior to the sentencing hearing.
While we always stand ready to quickly complete a presentence investigation and alternative to incarcerations recommendation following the pleading, we feel strongly that the earlier the better is a more proactive approach to take. We would like you to consider such an approach in your next suitable case.
Please contact us either through our web site at Contact Us, or call us directly at (608) 655-3151. We can act quickly, often within a matter of days, and stand ready to assist your defense team in securing the best results for your clients.
TREATMENT FINANCING
Financing for rehabilitation facilities, phychiatric treatment or other care needed by your client is available through
Applying is easy at www.mlendfinance.com. Toll-Free Tel. (888) 474-6231.
January 16, 2012
Milwaukee Police Get Quick Access to Juvenile Probation Records
Let's work together to bend the corrections cost curve
Alaska -- You may have seen a lot of news lately about the rising cost of Alaskas corrections system. We have to face the facts: Prisons are incredibly expensive -- regardless of where or how they are built. Its time for us to start focusing on why we have had to build a new prison in the first place.
http://www.corrections.com/news/article/30053-let-s-work-together-to-bend-the-corrections-cost-curve
January 9, 2012
Corrections & State Leaders from 50 States Take On Recidivism
December 5, 2011
Visiting Inmates Reduces Recidivism, Corrections Costs, MN Study Finds
November 28, 2011
More than Half of Arrest-Related Deaths are Homicides by Law Enforcement: Report
November 21, 2011
Abolish Juvenile Life Without Parole in Mass
November 14, 2011
Controlling Crime: How To Do More With Less
November 7, 2011
Why Michigan has more juvenile life sentences than almost any other state
October 31, 2011
New initiatives aim to stop repeat offenders
APA Letter for Attorneys
October 24, 2011
Jailing Still Possible in D.C. for 160 Misdemeanors, Like Lewd Posters
October 17, 2011
Fewer People Being Sent to Prison in Florida
October 10, 2011
California has embarked on a reform that might keep more people out of prison
October 3, 2011
Incarceration "General" News
* Reposted with Permission from the Wisconsin Public Defenser's Office.
September 26, 2011
Three Benefits From the Law Library
CONTACT INFORMATION
Alternative Planning Associates, LLC
Allyn R. Sielaff: Direct (608) 825-6025
Donn Gurney: Direct (608) 655-3151
5410 State Road 73
Marshall, Wisconsin, 53559-9679 USA
Fax: (608) 237-2312
www.alternativeplanning.com
E-MAIL CONTACT
BARBARA LAFOLLETTE
Barbara La Follette has over 20 years experience as an administrator in County and State government, including 6 years as Director of Juvenile Services in the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. This coupled with over 17 years in private sector corrections provides unique insight into the operation and administration of correctional programs at the state and county levels. She has designed programs and services to provide alternatives to incarceration including the development of the first day treatment center in Dane County.
Mrs. La Follette spent over 10 years supervising and monitoring out-of-home placements for children and adults. Her experience includes managing multimillion-dollar projects, developing policies and monitoring compliance with state and federal regulations, system design, marketing, consulting and auditing.
Barbara is former President and Chairman of the Board of DC TeleSystems, LLC, a national provider of telecommunications services for incarcerated inmates. Since 1990, she has created two start-up companies to oversee the provision of secure inmate telephone services in County Jail and State Correctional facilities.
Barbara was selected by the National Institute of Corrections for a scholarship to attend Management Development for Correctional Administrators, sponsored by the University of Southern California. She has authored several articles and presented numerous workshops nationally.
ANTHONY S. EARL
Former Wisconsin Governor, Tony Earl Joined APA as a senior member of the firm's Advisory Board in November 2007. Mr. Earl will counsel APA and deliver plans for effective alternatives to incarceration to reduce prison overcrowding and improve rehabilitation outcomes.
Tony Earl has a long history of supporting innovative ideas in the criminal justice system and is vitally interested in expanding alternatives to incarceration as a creative and necessary means of reducing both jail and prison overcrowding as well as adding various facets to the rehabilitative aspects of criminal sentences. APA is fortunate to use Tony's insights as a basis of achieving some very significant social goals.
Anthony Earl received a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago. From 1961 to 1965, he served in the U.S. Navy. Tony Earl served as assistant district attorney of Marathon County from 1965 to 1966 and the city attorney of Wausau from 1966 to 1969. He was elected to the State Assembly in 1969 and reelected in 1970 and 1972, serving as assembly majority leader from 1970 to 1974. Earl was the secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration in 1975 and secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources from 1975 to 1980. Tony was a partner in the law firm of Foley & Lardner. He was elected governor in 1982. After leaving public office, he began practicing law in Madison, Wisconsin, specializing in environmental law and he chaired the Center for Clean Air Policy and directed the Great Lakes Protection Fund.
January 2012
Dear Criminal Defense Attorney,
Our experience in providing pro-defendant Pre-Sentence Investigation Reports and Alternative Sentencing Plans leads us to believe that Alternative Planning Associates documents also have the potential to be of value to criminal defense attorneys at other stages in the procedures.
One that we have already brought to the attention of many of you is the benefit of having the information available for plea negotiations. If that is desired in a particular case, we generally have the capability to complete our work to meet your accelerated schedule - unlike the State field agents, who often take weeks to complete, review and submit their reports.
Moreover, APA is increasingly being called upon in cases that are not appropriate for the offender to be immediately returned to the community. In those matters, our objectives are two-fold; to counter in mitigation of state sentencing recommendations, which are often overly harsh, with rationales based upon our research and experience as correctional system managers, and to ensure that treatment needs and strengths are identified. Since the PSI follows the offender throughout imprisonment and thereafter, this is an opportunity to influence counselors and program review committees when incarceration will be part of the sentence structure. We suggest you read the excellent article on the subject by Attorney Jeffrey L. Murrell, accessible through our web sites News button.
Alternative Planning Associates accepts private and Public Defender cases from attorneys. Please give Donn Gurney or me a call if you have a situation you would like to discuss or contact us via our website.
Yours very truly,
Allyn R. Sielaff
Allyn R. Sielaff, President
Officers
Former Administrator
Wisconsin Division of Corrections
President
Donn Gurney
Former Wisconsin Coordinator of Offender Programs
Vice President
Advisory Board
5410 State Road 73 | Marshall, Wisconsin 53559
Donn Gurney direct (608) 655-3151 | fax (609) 237-3213 | Allyn Sielaff direct (608) 825-6025
dfgurney_cs.com | arsielaff_gmail.com
