Criminal Justice - Funding New Approaches

Criminal Justice - Funding New Approaches is sponsored by Public Welfare Foundation. The Public Welfare Foundation makes grants primarily to groups working to advance the redirection and prioritization of state and local resources toward targeted investments that support system-involved individuals in their communities.

Criminal Justice - A New Approach | Public Welfare Foundation Our Work // Issue Areas // Adult Criminal Justice Reforms at the edges are no longer enough. PWF is committed to funding new alternatives to the justice system in our targeted jurisdictions. Over-Incarceration: A Uniquely American Problem The scale and severity of America’s criminal justice system is a unique problem unmatched by any other developed nation.

This crisis disproportionately impacts people of color, and costs the nation $80 billion annually in law enforcement spending and between $55 and $60 billion in lost annual Gross Domestic Product. Our country’s over-reliance on mass incarceration is a failed experiment that adversely impacts communities and families, and has no positive effect on public safety.

It’s a problem that can, and must, urgently be addressed with effective community alternatives. Community-based programs encourage innovative solutions that meet local priorities, foster collective action, and support new leaders who can spearhead efforts to make their own neighborhoods safer and stronger. It is time to boldly reimagine our nation’s justice system.

Public Welfare Foundation makes grants primarily to groups that are working in its targeted jurisdictions to: Advance the redirection and prioritization of state and local resources toward targeted investments that support system-involved individuals in their communities, through research and strategic thought leadership.

Reduce state incarceration levels and racial disparities through reforms in sentencing, charging, and supervision policies and procedures. Funding New Approaches in Criminal Justice A Transformed System Requires a New Approach America’s scaled response to crime isn’t working. It has yielded little in public safety outcomes and relied heavily on a system that causes grave damage to all it touches.

Public Welfare Foundation aims to end the over-incarceration of adults in the U.S., while reducing racial disparities. At the same time, we work to advance community reinvestment strategies that help people stay out of the system. Heroes exist in the very neighborhoods that are most often relegated for being riddled with crime and violence.

It is time to resource these leaders and let them bring us into a new era of restoration and redemption. It is through this effort that we will be able to overhaul the systems that were created to marginalize our nation’s most vulnerable populations. It is time to boldly reimagine our nation’s approach to criminal justice.

Number of people released from America’s state and federal prisons every week People sitting in our nation’s jails and prisons Children with incarcerated parents People with prior felony convictions People with a criminal record in the US Amount lost in annual Gross Domestic Product Demand More: Investing in Communities to Transform Criminal Justice Billions of dollars have been wasted on ineffective prison reform.

Learn how community-based restorative efforts will transform the system. This video from Public Welfare Foundation highlights efforts in Colorado, California and the District of Columbia as examples of what can be done across the country. Turning Moments into Movements Public Welfare Foundation funds Color of Change in their use of technological innovations in criminal justice reform advocacy.

Featured in this video is Color of Change executive director Rashad Robinson. Improving Pretrial Justice Systems Pretrial Justice Institute The Public Welfare Foundation supports the Pretrial Justice Institute in their efforts to improve pretrial justice systems across the country. Featured is Pretrial Justice Institute Executive Director Cherise Fanno Burdeen.

Fighting for Fair Sentencing Laws Families Against Mandatory Minimums Families Against Mandatory Minimums is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization fighting for fair and proportionate sentencing laws that allow judicial discretion while maintaining public safety.

Building Capacity for State Reforms Alliance for Safety and Justice Public Welfare Foundation grantees Lenore Anderson and Robert Rooks at Alliance for Safety and Justice discuss over-incarceration and the racial disparities in the justice system.

Hear why they built a national organization to provide direct support to states across the country that are working to significantly reduce incarceration and racial disparities in state prisons, and build momentum for reform nationally.