Justice Reinvestment Initiative State Assessment Report

• NCJ Number: 244754
• Author(s): Nancy Lavigne; Samuel Bieler; Lindsey Cramer; Helen Ho; Cybele Kotonias; Deborah Mayer; David McClure; Laura Pacifici; Erika Parks; Bryce Peterson; Julie Samuels
• Date Published: January 2014
• Length: 145 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2010-RR-BX-K072
• Agencies: BJA-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation; Legislation/Policy Analysis

Annotation

This report describes the progress, challenges, and preliminary outcomes of State Justice Reinvestment Initiatives (JRI) from 2010 through the summer 2013.

Abstract

The JRI provides technical assistance and financial support to criminal justice reform efforts at the State and local levels. Through the JRI model, policymakers from all branches of State government use comprehensive data analyses to identify the drivers of corrections populations and costs in order to develop policy options for addressing these drivers. These population and cost drivers, identified and discussed in this report, are parole and probation revocations, sentencing policies and practices, insufficient and inefficient community supervision and support; and parole system processing delays and denials. The policy responses enacted in the some or all of the 17 States profiled in this report include risk and needs assessments accountability measures, earned credits, intermediate and graduated sanctions, community-based treatment, and sentencing changes and departure mechanisms. The report also discusses projected and preliminary outcomes resulting from implementation of the JRI in the following States: Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and West Virginia. Tables, figures, notes, and references