BJA FY 15 Justice Reinvestment Initiative: Maximizing State Reforms

archived

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 For the first time since 2009, the state prison population grew between 2012 and 2013; many prison populations remain near all-time high levels and face crowding or resource challenges. And state spending on corrections has remained high. Over the last 25 years, state corrections expenditures have increased exponentially—from $12 billion in 1988 to more than $55 billion in 2013, a significant increase even accounting for inflation.2 Justice reinvestment emerged as a way to address these issues 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 and reinvests savings into high-performing public safety strategies.

High