The National Governors Association’s (NGA) Center for Best Practices, in partnership with the National Parole Resource Center (NPRC), has announced this year’s selection of states that will receive technical assistance to address paroling strategies in 2019.
These states — Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia — will participate in a learning collaborative that will update state executives about evidence-based practices and enhance relationships among key criminal justice stakeholders. The collaborative will assist the states in developing recommendations for supporting and strengthening parole decision-making, policies and practices as they explore opportunities for enhancing collaboration between governors’ offices and paroling authorities.
“With continued support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance at the Department of Justice, this partnership with the National Parole Resource Center has successfully worked with eight states over the last three years to strengthen state paroling policies and practices,” said Jeff Locke, a program director with the NGA Center for Best Practices’ Homeland Security and Public Safety Division. “We’re excited to now begin work with these three new states, which were selected on the basis of their governor’s vision for the work, demonstrated need, and strong fit for the project.”
Over the past three years, approximately 17 states have applied for this program. The three newly selected states displayed a demonstrated interest in examining all facets of their justice systems, made previous reforms to help reentering individuals navigate better pathways for success, and upheld public safety throughout their previous initiatives and in their proposals as a part of the collaborative.
The convenings will take place from January to September of 2019, and will include activities such as conference calls, networking and in-state workshops. At the end of the collaborative period, state teams will have identified, developed and refined their recommendations for strengthening parole practices, and will then share these recommendations with their state governors. As governors are responsible for decisions regarding reentry, the findings from these collaborations could help determine the future for reentering individuals across these three states and serve as potential models nationwide.
