WASHINGTON—The National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA), through its Center for Justice Planning, today announced a joint initiative to support system-wide criminal justice reform in up to five states.
The National Criminal Justice Reform Project is funded by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. The project will support planning and implementation of data-driven, evidence-based reform focused on one or more areas of state policy and practice, including pretrial release, re-entry and offender recidivism, mental health and substance abuse, reducing incarceration and information sharing and integration of evidence-based practices across the justice system.
This fall up to 20 state teams will convene to discuss key areas of reform. Based on that meeting and other planned activities, up to five states will be selected for in-depth planning and implementation assistance over the next several years.
The overarching goals of the project are to move all states toward wider adoption of evidence-based practices within criminal justice policymaking and to improve public safety by making criminal justice systems smarter, fairer and more cost-effective.
