Reentry Initiatives (MacArthur Foundation - Safety and Justice Challenge)

Reentry Initiatives (MacArthur Foundation - Safety and Justice Challenge) is sponsored by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

Safety and Justice Challenge The Safety and Justice Challenge is reimagining and rebuilding local criminal justice systems — reducing jail incarceration and increasing equity for all . America's Problem with Jails Jails have become warehouses for people who are poor, lack housing, or suffer from mental illness or addiction. They starkly reflect America’s long history of racism.

Jails have almost 19x the number of annual admissions as prisons. Three out of five people held in jail have not been convicted of any crime. Nearly 75% of people in jail are there for nonviolent traffic, property, drug, or public order offenses.

Black people are jailed at almost 4x the rate of White Americans. Jails are misused and overused in ways that damage families, devastate communities, and ultimately lead to more crime.

The Safety and Justice Challenge invests in locally developed, equity-based solutions that take a balanced approach to protecting public safety, including: Our goal is to safely reduce jail populations across all Safety and Justice Challenge jurisdictions by 2025 and eliminate racial inequities.

We’re providing practical support and scaffolding to communities that are taking bold action in response to centuries of institutional and systemic racism, honoring the expertise of directly impacted communities, and working together to achieve transformational change.

Our Network of participating cities, counties, and states is tackling America’s jail crisis at the local level, implementing community-informed solutions that can be replicated across the country. Network members receive support from the John D. and Catherine T.

MacArthur Foundation and include small communities and the biggest urban centers, with diverse perspectives leading to a range of approaches. These local leaders share solutions and lessons learned with each other and the public so all can do better. 100 Counties, Cities, and States 19% of the nation's jail beds 20% network-wide jail incarceration reduction to date Jails and detention centers shouldn't be our mental health system.

Too many children and adults can't access the psychiatric care they need until they're in crisis. Reply on Twitter 2085397882266403174 Retweet on Twitter 2085397882266403174 Like on Twitter 2085397882266403174 Big changes can start with small investments. The SJC’s Innovation Fund helped communities across the country test new approaches to safely reduce jail populations, strengthen local partnerships, and build lasting reforms.

Reply on Twitter 2082560152721350733 Retweet on Twitter 2082560152721350733 Like on Twitter 2082560152721350733 Community violence intervention programs save lives. Since 2021, gun homicides in Cook County have fallen by 50%. In a new @Suntimes op-ed, @ToniPreckwinkle explains why sustained investment in communities is making a difference.

Reply on Twitter 2079652258594111656 Retweet on Twitter 2079652258594111656 Like on Twitter 2079652258594111656 A federal judge has ordered TX to move faster to provide mental health treatment for people in jail awaiting trial. This addresses long waits that have left some people with mental illness in jail for months, or longer, without the treatment they deserve.

Reply on Twitter 2078150403997217138 Retweet on Twitter 2078150403997217138 Like on Twitter 2078150403997217138 Read the new case studies from @urbaninstitute on the 10 years of the Safety and Justice Challenge that highlight lessons from 37 jurisdictions across 25 states on reducing jail populations, advancing equity, diversion, reentry, and more.

Reply on Twitter 2077788027112304947 Retweet on Twitter 2077788027112304947 Like on Twitter 2077788027112304947 Join @jsp_partners’ webinar on 7/23 to learn how to measure the impact of the Medicaid 1115 Reentry Waiver. Hear from CA leaders about practical, low-burden ways to track outcomes like rebooking, time in the community, and supervision compliance.

Reply on Twitter 2077484093101756465 Retweet on Twitter 2077484093101756465 Like on Twitter 2077484093101756465 Pima County's Transition Center, funded in part by the Safety and Justice Challenge, is proving that reentry support works. It has served about 2,500 people with housing, counseling, and other services after they leave jail.

Reply on Twitter 2077128856943886697 Retweet on Twitter 2077128856943886697 Like on Twitter 2077128856943886697 Over the past decade, the Safety and Justice Challenge invested $6 million to help reduce overcrowding at the St. Louis County jail.

While the grant is coming to a close, officials say key reforms, including enhanced pretrial supervision, expedited probation handling, and Tap In Reply on Twitter 2059632093676618026 Retweet on Twitter 2059632093676618026 Like on Twitter 2059632093676618026 Texas jails are overcrowded, understaffed, and increasingly serving as de facto mental health facilities.

With new leadership at the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, @statesman’s Cody Copeland argues now is the time for practical reforms that can save lives and reduce costs. Reply on Twitter 2057071948790636728 Retweet on Twitter 2057071948790636728 Like on Twitter 2057071948790636728 To address overcrowding, the St.

Louis County Jail is working with the Safety and Justice Challenge to screen certain people with lower-level violations to fast-track their hearings. Overcrowding can create an unsafe environment for everyone in jails.

Reply on Twitter 2054192977895956697 Retweet on Twitter 2054192977895956697 Like on Twitter 2054192977895956697 Safety and Justice Retweeted CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance How do you reflect on 10 years of data, from 50+ cities & counties, that resulted in 18k less people held in jail without impacting safety? The @safety_justice Challenge Research Symposium did just that. We recapped what worked and what should come next.

Reply on Twitter 2041244569849798857 Retweet on Twitter 2041244569849798857 Like on Twitter 2041244569849798857 Prior to joining the SJC, St. Louis County’s jail had been either near or above capacity for over a decade. The county’s goal was both to safely keep more people out of jail and make the justice system fairer.

#SJCLegacy Reply on Twitter 2039153113735872650 Retweet on Twitter 2039153113735872650 Like on Twitter 2039153113735872650 When joining SJC, Spokane County set two major goals: reduce the number of people in its jails and make the local criminal justice system more fair. Overall, Spokane safely reduced its jail population by more than 13%.

#SJCLegacy Reply on Twitter 2039096585083294183 Retweet on Twitter 2039096585083294183 Like on Twitter 2039096585083294183 Since joining the Safety and Justice Challenge, Pima County has worked to make its criminal justice system more fair, just, and equitable for all.

#SJCLegacy Reply on Twitter 2038714839775023121 Retweet on Twitter 2038714839775023121 Like on Twitter 2038714839775023121 Philadelphia established a workgroup to develop strategies aimed at creating a more fair and just criminal justice system. #SJCLegacy Reply on Twitter 2037229082069585926 Retweet on Twitter 2037229082069585926 Like on Twitter 2037229082069585926 .

@nytimes spotlights a new development in CA's justice system: With support from @safety_justice, Medicaid is now paying for health care in jails and prisons to end the cycle of incarceration – a move supported by corrections and law enforcement leaders. Reply on Twitter 2036927108962812020 Retweet on Twitter 2036927108962812020 Like on Twitter 2036927108962812020 Native Americans are overrepresented in Pennington Co. ’s jail.

While they make up 10-20% of the population, more than 50% of the daily jail population was Native American in 2021. From 2018-2021, the county saw a 22% reduction in Native Americans referred to the jail.

#SJCLegacy Reply on Twitter 2036523325544079589 Retweet on Twitter 2036523325544079589 Like on Twitter 2036523325544079589 When New Orleans joined the Safety and Justice Challenge in 2015, the city incarcerated nearly twice as many people each year as the national average. Since then, the jail population has safely decreased by over 17%.

#SJCLegacy Reply on Twitter 2036147111688020270 Retweet on Twitter 2036147111688020270 Like on Twitter 2036147111688020270 . @RSI highlights a core SJC lesson: transparent information-sharing and consistent collaboration make justice systems work better for everyone.

#SJCLegacy Reply on Twitter 2035100848456409465 Retweet on Twitter 2035100848456409465 Like on Twitter 2035100848456409465 Since the beginning of Multnomah County’s participation in the Safety and Justice Challenge, the community tackled innovative approaches to making the system more fair and just for everyone. #SJCLegacy Reply on Twitter 2034694619364233532 Retweet on Twitter 2034694619364233532 Like on Twitter 2034694619364233532