Safety and Justice Challenge
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Basic pageThe Safety and Justice Challenge provides support to local leaders from across the country who are working to safely reduce overincarceration in jails, more effectively use taxpayer resources and protect public safetySafety and Justice Challenge
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Basic page
Safety and Justice Challenge
The Safety and Justice Challenge is providing support to local leaders from across the country who are working to safely reduce overincarceration in jails, more effectively use taxpayer resources and protect public safety.
Thirty-four counties, four cities and two states were selected through a competitive process to receive financial and technical support in their efforts to rethink justice systems and implement data-driven strategies to safely reduce jail populations. These efforts are part of an initial five-year, $100-million investment by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
County officials are critical stakeholders in efforts to improve local justice systems as counties run 91 percent of jails with nearly 11 million people admitted every year. Counties invest close to $80 billion annually in the criminal justice system, including $33 billion in county law enforcement activities, $19 billion in courts and legal services and $26 billion in correctional facilities. The county justice system is also part of a larger community context that interacts with justice-involved individuals. Health care centers, hospitals, emergency rooms, behavioral health providers, schools and community colleges and housing assistance are examples of the community-based resources accessed by individuals prior to, during or after their justice system involvement—counties invest more than $140 billion annually in these types of health and human services.
NACo is a strategic ally in the Safety and Justice Challenge, providing county leaders across the country with information about successes and lessons learned through Challenge efforts and supporting these leaders through learning opportunities such as webinars, publications, a monthly newsletter, connections to experts, conferences and peer-to-peer exchanges.
Safety and Justice Challenge Sites
Within the Challenge Network, 18 Implementation Sites are receiving substantial funding and expert technical assistance to implement ambitious reforms to make their local justice systems fairer and more effective. The 20 selected Innovation Sites are receiving short-term support to design and test a single innovative reform program or project.
The Challenge Network sites represent 34 counties, four cities, and two state-wide systems. They are geographically distributed throughout the country and have a diverse jail capacity size, ranging from 140 beds in Campbell County, Tenn., to as many as 21,811 beds in Los Angeles County, Calif. Collectively, the Challenge Network holds a jail capacity of approximately 130,000 and accounts for 16 percent of the total confined jail population.
To learn more about the work in any of the sites, click here.
Implementation Sites
Ada County, Idaho
New York, N.Y.
Charleston County, S.C.
Palm Beach County, Fla
Cook County, Ill.
Pennington County, S.D.
Harris County, Texas
Philadelphia, Pa.
Los Angeles County, Calif.
Pima County, Ariz.
Lucas County, Ohio
Shelby County, Tenn.
Mecklenburg County, N.C.
Spokane County, Wash.
Milwaukee County, Wis.
St. Louis County, Mo.
Multnomah County, Ore.
State of Connecticut
New Orleans, La.
Innovation Sites
Adams County, Colo.
Durham County, N.C.
Allegheny County, Pa.
East Baton Rouge Parish, La.
Atlanta, Ga.
Lake County, Ill.
Broward County, Fla.
Minnehaha County, S.D.
Buncombe County, N.C.
Missoula County, Mont.
Campbell County, Tenn.
Polk County, Iowa
Clark County, Nev.
City and County of San Francisco, Calif.
Dane County, Wis.
Santa Clara County, Calif.
State of Delaware
Summit County, Ohio
Deschutes County, Ore.
Yakima County, Wash.
The Safety and Justice Challenge provides support to local leaders from across the country who are working to safely reduce overincarceration in jails, more effectively use taxpayer resources and protect public safety2017-11-27Basic page2022-08-30
The Safety and Justice Challenge is providing support to local leaders from across the country who are working to safely reduce overincarceration in jails, more effectively use taxpayer resources and protect public safety.
Thirty-four counties, four cities and two states were selected through a competitive process to receive financial and technical support in their efforts to rethink justice systems and implement data-driven strategies to safely reduce jail populations. These efforts are part of an initial five-year, $100-million investment by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
County officials are critical stakeholders in efforts to improve local justice systems as counties run 91 percent of jails with nearly 11 million people admitted every year. Counties invest close to $80 billion annually in the criminal justice system, including $33 billion in county law enforcement activities, $19 billion in courts and legal services and $26 billion in correctional facilities. The county justice system is also part of a larger community context that interacts with justice-involved individuals. Health care centers, hospitals, emergency rooms, behavioral health providers, schools and community colleges and housing assistance are examples of the community-based resources accessed by individuals prior to, during or after their justice system involvement—counties invest more than $140 billion annually in these types of health and human services.
NACo is a strategic ally in the Safety and Justice Challenge, providing county leaders across the country with information about successes and lessons learned through Challenge efforts and supporting these leaders through learning opportunities such as webinars, publications, a monthly newsletter, connections to experts, conferences and peer-to-peer exchanges.
Safety and Justice Challenge SitesWithin the Challenge Network, 18 Implementation Sites are receiving substantial funding and expert technical assistance to implement ambitious reforms to make their local justice systems fairer and more effective. The 20 selected Innovation Sites are receiving short-term support to design and test a single innovative reform program or project. The Challenge Network sites represent 34 counties, four cities, and two state-wide systems. They are geographically distributed throughout the country and have a diverse jail capacity size, ranging from 140 beds in Campbell County, Tenn., to as many as 21,811 beds in Los Angeles County, Calif. Collectively, the Challenge Network holds a jail capacity of approximately 130,000 and accounts for 16 percent of the total confined jail population. To learn more about the work in any of the sites, click here. |
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Reports & Toolkits
Jail Population Review Teams
Over the past three decades, the number of people entering local jails has nearly doubled leaving county leaders looking for strategies to reduce jail populations. -
Webinar
Roundtable: Criminal Justice Innovations in Times of Uncertainty
Nov. 5, 2020 , 12:00 pm – 1:00 pmThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on county criminal justice systems and budgets. In an effort to promote social distancing within jail facilities, some counties have worked with law enforcement and judicial partners to reduce their jail populations by as much as 50 percent. -
Workshop
Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Justice Reform
While jail incarceration rates are on the decline, African Americans are more than three times as likely to be incarcerated as their white counterparts. As counties implement initiatives to address the overuse of jails, reducing racial and ethnic disparities and meaningfully engaging communities in policy decisions remain barriers. -
Blog
MacArthur Foundation Awards Additional Funding to Counties in the Safety and Justice Challenge
NACo works with county leaders across the country to support the development of innovative solutions to safely reduce local jail populations and address racial disparities in the system. Operating 91 percent of the nation’s 3,000-plus jails, counties are at the forefront of innovation to create fairer and more comprehensive justice systems. -
Blog
NACo Launches New County Justice Peer Learning Network With 13 Counties
NACo will support 13 counties from across the country with creating strategies to address justice-involved individuals with mental illness while examining racial and ethnic disparities in their justice systems -
Blog
NACo Announces New County Justice Peer Learning Network
An estimated 2 million annual jail admissions involve a person with a serious mental illness and three-quarters of these individuals has a co-occurring substance use disorder.
Contact
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Director of Programs and Operations(202) 942-4289
Upcoming Events
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25Sep2023
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26Sep2023
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27Sep2023Webinar
NACo Information Series on Treasury’s ARPA Flexibility Guidance: Relief from Natural Disasters
Sep. 27, 2023 , 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm