Tracking Costs and Savings through Justice Reinvestment

• NCJ Number: 238999
• Author(s): Pamela Lachman; S. Rebecca Neusteter
• Date Published: May 2012
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2009-DD-BX-K040
• Agencies: BJA-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: Reducing Jail Populations, Improving Communities: A Strategic Approach for Justice Reinvestment at the Local Level

Annotation

This brief from the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute contains information for the use of justice reinvestment strategies by local criminal justice professionals and policymakers.

Abstract

This brief is intended for local criminal justice professionals and policymakers who are interested in using justice reinvestment strategies to reduce costs and control growth in correctional populations while at the same time maintaining public safety. Local justice reinvestment is a "multistaged and ongoing process whereby local stakeholders collaborate across State, city, and county systems to identify drivers of criminal justice costs and then develop and implement strategies for reinvesting scarce resources ... to yield a more cost-beneficial impact on public safety." Criminal justice data are collected and analyzed in order to identify key population drivers that may affect criminal justice costs. The brief discusses the five key steps of the local justice reinvestment model: collect and analyze data to identify key population drivers, develop alternative strategies, implement the alternative strategies, document costs and potential savings, and assess the impact of the reinvestment strategies. The brief also addresses how to document costs and demonstrate savings, how to track populations across systems, how to measure savings throughout jurisdictions, how to determine the best ways to reinvest, and how to use crime mapping to target reinvestment. Tables, figures, notes, and references