From The Urban Institute’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative Team:
The Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) is a “data-driven approach to managing criminal justice populations and investing savings in recidivism reduction strategies and improved public safety” (Harvell et al. 2021, iii). The Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Pew Charitable Trusts have funded JRI since its inception in 2010. The 36 states that have participated in JRI have saved or averted more than $1 billion, reinvesting half of that in solutions to justice system challenges (Harvell et al. 2016; Welsh-Loveman and Harvell 2018). Through JRI, states have made a range of changes to their justice systems,
and many states have decreased their prison populations or kept them below projected levels (Harvell et al. 2016). Some states have used the JRI process to develop, invest in, and implement new programs for and approaches to solving justice-related challenges.
1 This report discusses four states’ programs and approaches that are now critical components of their justice systems and represent the diverse
challenges and solutions of states that have participated in JRI. These programs and approaches are
Arkansas’s crisis stabilization units (CSUs) and crisis intervention training;
Louisiana’s gender-responsive approach to women’s incarceration and supervision;
Oregon’s Improving People's Access to Community-Based Treatment, Supports, and Services (IMPACTS) program; and
Pennsylvania’s performance-based contracting approach to community corrections.
After briefly describing our methodology (box 1) and technical assistance that states receive through JRI (box 2), we describe each state’s JRI legislation and its new program or approach. Then, we outline each program or approach’s implementation process, changes, and/or challenges since its inception, and perceived or documented outcomes. Lastly, we discuss key takeaways and lessons
learned from each program or approach. The information in this report is descriptive, and the report does not evaluate the programs and approaches highlighted.
Read the full report here.
|
|
|
|
