About The Project
The Challenge
In the past 20 years, state spending on corrections has grown at a rate faster than nearly any other state budget item. Despite increasing corrections expenditures, recidivism rates remain high with half of all persons released from prison returning within three years.
Further, in every state, there are a handful of “high-stakes” communities to which most people released from prison return; these are also the communities where taxpayer-funded programs are disproportionately focused.
The Strategy
To get started, policymakers establish a small, high-level, interbranch, bicameral, and bipartisan team of elected and appointed officials to work with the Justice Center’s nationally recognized criminal justice policy experts. These experts then consult with a broad range of stakeholders in the jurisdiction, which may include prosecutors; public defenders; judges; corrections and law enforcement officials; service providers and community leaders; victims and their advocates; people who have been incarcerated; and health, housing, human service, education, and workforce professionals.
Together, these policymakers, experts, and stakeholders move through 3 phases:
- 1: Analyze data and develop policy options.
- 2: Adopt new policies and put reinvestment strategies into place.
- 3: Measure performance.
Our Partners
Justice reinvestment staff work closely with outside partners to leverage the best expertise in criminal justice and comprehensive neighborhood development.
Our Funders
The justice reinvestment project, with support from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and private grant makers such as The Pew Charitable Trusts, the JEHT Foundation, and the Open Society Institute is providing intensive technical assistance to a limited number of states that demonstrate a bipartisan interest in justice reinvestment.