BJA FY 15 Justice Reinvestment Initiative: Assessment Technical Assistance and Maximizing Local Reforms

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Approximately 2.2 million people were incarcerated in federal, state, and local prisons and jails in 2013, a rate of 1 out of every 110 adults.1 After three years of declines, the prison population increased slightly in 2013, largely due to growth in state prison populations. These prisons face crowding and resource challenges. Accordingly, state spending on corrections has remained high. Over the last 25 years, state corrections expenditures have increased significantly—from $12 billion in 1988 to more than $55 billion in 2013.2 Similar trends are evident on the local level. The local jail population declined by 13,300 from 2012 to 2013, a decrease of 1.8 percent;3 however, the trend over time indicates an increase in jail use. From 2000 to 2013, the nation’s jail population increased by nearly 18 percent. As a result, many jails remain overcrowded yet lack resources dedicated to treatment or programming. Local expenditures on building and operating jails increased nearly 235 percent from 1982 to 2011, a figure that likely underrepresents local investments because it may not include costs such as employee pensions, inmate health care, and other costs outside corrections budgets.4 The returns on these investments in local jails are disheartening. Pretrial detention, even for short periods, has been found to correlate with reduced public safety and worse case outcomes.5 Additionally, when a small fraction of people consume a disproportionately large share of jail resources due to mental health problems, substance addiction, and homelessness—as is the case for several local JRI sites and other jail systems studied recently—local justice systems are not achieving the public safety outcomes that their communities expect. Justice reinvestment emerged as a way to address these issues, both at the state and local level, through a targeted, data-driven policymaking process. BJA, in a public/private partnership with The Pew Charitable Trusts, launched the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) in 2010 as a multistaged process in which a jurisdiction increases the cost-effectiveness of its criminal justice system by investing in high-performing public safety strategies. JRI is a public-private partnership between BJA, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and JRI technical assistance (TA) and assessment providers. Justice Reinvestment at the local level is fundedsolely by BJA. Funding from BJA is authorized under the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, Pub. L. 113-235.

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