Center for Justice Innovation’s Post

There’s an urgent need to address the rising rates of incarceration of women and girls, as this recent report from The Sentencing Project. The number of women and girls currently incarcerated stands almost seven times higher than in 1980, and today there are over 975,000 women currently under the supervision of the criminal justice system. We know that women and girls experience unique challenges within the justice system, and that’s why our Executive Director Courtney Bryan recently joined the Women’s Justice Commission, a new commission facilitated by the Council on Criminal Justice. The Commission will address the challenges facing women in the justice system and work toward evidence-based reforms to advance safety, health, and justice for those often forgotten in the system. ➡️ Read more about the recent report from the Sentencing Project here: https://lnkd.in/ejAFHByE

Did you know that one in five children in the U.S. are served by child support programs? Our Parent Support Program in #NewYork has helped more than 3,100 non-custodial parents meet their child support obligations by offering meaningful support, like job skills development, vocational training, case management, family life skills classes, continuing education and literacy classes, legal advice and representation, and more. Our approach recognizes that parents are best able to care for their children when they have resources and economic opportunities. All of our Family Court programs work directly with parents and families with children to reduce system involvement and break intergenerational cycles of trauma. ➡️ Learn more about our family court programs today: https://lnkd.in/e9PKTEq4

Timothy Johnson, one of the judges of the #InsideLiteraryPrize, walks readers through what it was like to judge a national book award behind bars, including an inside look at the thought-provoking judging sessions led by our partners at Freedom Reads. This story was published in partnership with Prison Journalism Project, a national non-profit organization which trains incarcerated writers in journalism and publishes their work. https://lnkd.in/eca6vTXG

Case backlogs? Issues with access to counsel? Using virtual court appearances? BJA is offering no-cost assistance to jurisdictions across the country to enhance Sixth Amendment protections. Sites will work with an attorney-researcher team from the Center for Justice Innovation. Collaboration with system actors and community is encouraged. Applications are competitive and will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Learn more and apply: https://bit.ly/3X6EwWa

Brownsville, Brooklyn, has a strong history and presence of community activism and action. While the neighborhood has experienced economic and social challenges, that strong foundation means the community can build toward an equitable, safe, and hopeful future. A report earlier this year from Urban Institute and our team at Brownsville Community Justice Center, which was supported by JPMorganChase, provides us with an overview of Brownsville’s current landscape and proposes a ten-year equitable development plan led by the community. The plan has four main components: 🌱 Economic opportunity. 🏫 Education and youth development. 🏙 Housing. 🌻 The built and social environment. Read the full report to find out how this plan can become reality: https://lnkd.in/euAzGhVV #Opportunity #EconomicJustice #Equity

This new report from Brennan Center for Justice discredits theories linking bail reform to recent increases in crime, instead linking the rise to systemic societal inequities. The research calls for an increase in community-based service providers, like those our programs provide in mental health and substance-use support. ➡️ Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/eCnY_CyU

Access to economic opportunities is crucial to stability in all other aspects of life: housing, physical and mental health care, family well-being, even a sense of purpose and meaning. As part of their work with the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development's Summer Youth Employment Program, our teams are helping young people break into jobs that not only pay well and afford stability, but that are also personally and socially meaningful. ➡️ Find out more: https://lnkd.in/gUBkpCbq

The choice of language in the justice system is incredibly important. The way treatment court practitioners speak to and about participants can impact their success, exacerbate or lessen stigma, change participants' perceptions of both court and treatment, and even affect the quality of the treatment provided. Our new publication explores why the use of language should be an ongoing focus in the justice system. We provide recommendations for changing the language used in treatment courts to be recovery oriented, person-centered, strength-based, and culturally competent for both better experiences and outcomes for people involved. https://lnkd.in/eNGQiRiA

From the moment people enter the justice system, the opportunities for intervention narrow. The key to keeping them open? Community-based, holistic resources that prevent justice involvement. Our leaders in community justice, Julian Adler and Chidinma Ume, present the case for “upstream” services as the future of legal reform: https://lnkd.in/e6iijdak