Strengthening Community-Based Service Capacity through the Justice Reinvestment Initiative

By Leah Sakala, Ammar Khalid, Constance Hull. Rebecca Wong

Community organizations and service providers can be key partners for addressing public safety challenges and reducing justice system involvement. Through the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) process, multiple states have established goals, policy structures, and implementation strategies to provide and enhance community-based services related to safety and well-being, such as behavioral health treatment, violence prevention, victim services, and reentry support. This report focuses on 10 JRI states’ strategies to advance public safety goals by collaboratively building community capacity to provide and enhance vital safety and well-being services. We identify common themes among these approaches and explore lessons learned from the successes and challenges of JRI community collaborations that may inform similar efforts in the future. The appendix contains profiles that provide additional details on these states' community capacity-building approaches.

Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2022. 47p.