[From Our Partners] Safety and Justice Challenge Case Studies from the Urban Institute
Across the country, dozens of cities and counties participate in the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC), a multi-year initiative to reduce populations and racial disparities in American jails launched by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 2015. SJC cities and counties receive substantial funding from the Foundation, as well as support from a network of national experts and technical assistance providers, including ISLG, to implement comprehensive, systemwide criminal justice reforms toward reducing the use of jail incarceration and its disproportionate impacts on people of color.
To compliment and expand upon the data trends published by ISLG, the Urban Institute, an SJC partner, worked with a handful of SJC cities and counties to produce a series of case studies digging deeper into several SJC strategies. To date, three case studies have been published. Together, they shed light on the successes, challenges, and lessons learned implementing strategies to reduce jail populations. Additional case studies covering other strategies SJC cities and counties have implemented since the start of the initiative are linked here.
Risk Assessment and Structured Decisionmaking for Pretrial Release
This case study looks at how two SJC counties, Charleston County, South Carolina, and Lucas County, Ohio, used pretrial risk assessment tools to inform pretrial decisions.
Using Cross-System Collaboration to Reduce the Use of Jails
This case study features East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, the City and County of San Francisco, and St. Louis County, Missouri, and explores how the sites implemented coordinating councils and population review teams to safely reduce jail populations.
Using Data to Change the Use of Jails
This case study examines the role of data in Charleston County, South Carolina, and St. Louis County, Missouri, to inform decarceration strategies.
ABOUT THE SAFETY & JUSTICE CHALLENGE
In 2015, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation launched the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC), a multi-year initiative to reduce populations and racial disparities in American jails. To advance knowledge development grounded in a research agenda that explores, evaluates, and documents site-specific strategies to safely and effectively reduce jail populations and address racial and ethnic disparities, the Foundation engaged the Institute for State & Local Governance (ISLG) at the City University of New York (CUNY) to establish and oversee an SJC Research Consortium. Consortium members are nationally renowned research, policy, and academic organizations collaborating with SJC sites to build an evidence base focused on pretrial reform efforts.