Transforming Jails with the Safety and Justice Challenge

An Introduction to the
Safety and Justice Challenge

Letter from John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
President Julia M. Stasch
On behalf of the MacArthur Foundation, I congratulate you on
being selected for the Safety and Justice Challenge Network,
and welcome you to this exciting effort to transform the way
America thinks about and uses jails.
Our announcement of the Safety and Justice Challenge
earlier this year elicited an overwhelming response from
the criminal justice field. A total of 191 applications were
submitted, from jurisdictions that spanned 45 states and
collectively accounted for roughly a third of the nation’s total
jail capacity. We were gratified by this response, not only because it gave us an unusually
strong pool of applicants to choose from. It also confirmed our belief that the country is
ready for this challenge, and this opportunity.
Your jurisdiction was selected from among all of these applicants because you made
a compelling case of leadership, capacity, and commitment to change. As a Safety and
Justice Challenge Network member, you are not only determined to reduce incarceration
locally and make your system work more fairly and effectively for all your citizens. You
also recognize your responsibility to serve as a leader in the field, and welcome the
opportunity the Safety and Justice Challenge will give you to influence the future of
criminal justice policy and practice in the nation as a whole.
This is a critical, promising moment in our history. Ordinary people and justice
professionals, researchers, advocates, and political leaders of all kinds recognize that
our society has placed far too much reliance on incarceration as a response to crime
and disorder—that some essential balance has been lost, and that it must be restored if
this country is to function as a strong and healthy society. The MacArthur Foundation is
investing in the Safety and Justice Challenge because we believe that some part of the
solution must be found at the “front end” of the justice system, where incarceration begins.
We are betting, in other words, on you. The success of the Challenge will depend on your
success—on achieving in your own communities a better and fairer balance between
incarceration and other responses to crime. Our role is to provide resources, technical
assistance, and a network of supportive allies, to draw attention to the progress you
make and the learning you generate, and to use all of our influence to make change a
national imperative.
I look forward, with you, to your success, and to a justice system that is more effective,
more just, and more reflective of America’s founding values.
Julia M. Stasch

Contents
The Safety and Justice Challenge�� 3
The 20 Selected Sites�� 6
Planning for Change: A Closer Look at the Next Seven Months�� 7
Phase 1: Getting Started (May 11-29, 2015)�� 7
Phase 2: Investigate and Understand the Facts (May 30 – July 31, 2015)�� 9
Phase 3: Develop a Reform Response (August 5 – October 8, 2015)�� 10
Phase 4: Implementation Planning (October 12 – December 11, 2015)��11
Phase 5: Application for Implementation Funding (December 15, 2015 – January 6, 2016)��11
Data Collection and Research��11
Appendix A: Partner Bios��13
Appendix B: Getting Started Checklist��20
Appendix C: Site Visit Scheduling Tool�� 22
Appendix D: Communications Toolkit�� 24

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The Safety and Justice Challenge
Congratulations on being selected to participate in the Safety and Justice Challenge. To help your site hit
the ground running, we have prepared this package of introductory materials. It includes:
• An overview of the problem we aim to address through the Challenge, the process that lies
ahead, and the conceptual framework that will guide our work together;
• A description of the five-phase planning process that will unfold over the course of the next
seven months;
• Descriptions of the partner organizations we have engaged to help guide us along this journey;
and
• Helpful tools to help you navigate the first few weeks of work, including a “getting started checklist,”
a site visit scheduler, and a communications toolkit to inform your engagement with media.
Overview of the Challenge
America relies on incarceration as a response to crime more than any other country, and the problem
begins in local jails. Jail usage has more than tripled since the 1980s, and so have the costs of building
and running jails. Jails now hold 731,000 people on any given day, and admit nearly 12 million a year—
with devastating impacts on individuals, families, neighborhoods, and the economy. Just a few days in
jail can damage health, degrade economic prospects, interrupt education and employment, jeopardize
housing, break up families, increase the likelihood and severity of a sentence of incarceration, and even
promote future criminal behavior—making jail a gateway to deeper and more lasting involvement in the
criminal justice system. And research shows that all these impacts are disproportionately felt in low-
income communities and communities of color.
Although an important purpose of jails is to detain people who may be a danger to public safety or a
flight risk, they have come to hold many who are neither. Many jails have become warehouses for those
too poor to post bail or too sick for existing community resources to manage. Seventy-five percent of
those in jail are there for nonviolent traffic, property, drug, or public order offenses. An estimated 14.5
percent of men in jails and 31 percent of women suffer from severe mental illness—rates that are three
to six times higher than in the general population.1
It doesn’t have to be this way. Believing that every community in America can safely reduce its use of
local incarceration while reserving valuable jail resources for offenders who pose real risks to public
safety, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is making a $75 million investment in the
Safety and Justice Challenge, an ambitious effort to change the way America thinks about and uses jails.
The centerpiece of the effort is the Safety and Justice Challenge Network: twenty competitively selected
jurisdictions committed to making policy, practice, and system changes that will reduce jail incarceration
and the disproportionate jailing of low-income individuals and communities of color. With help from
experts, each jurisdiction will make its own plan, based upon a data-driven assessment of local problems
and opportunities. But all will seek, without compromising public safety, to reduce the flow of people
into jail, shorten lengths of stay in jail, and diminish racial and ethnic disparities in the jail population.
1 Ram Subramanian, Ruth Delaney, Stephen Roberts, Nancy Fishman, and Peggy McGarry (February 2015). Incarceration’s Front Door: The
Misuse of Jails in America. New York, NY: Vera Institute of Justice, pg. 12. The full report is available for download at:
http://www.safetyandjusticechallenge.org/category/resources/

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To advance our knowledge and understanding about the use of jail in America, and to document the
experience of local jurisdictions that succeed in building safer, less costly, and more just criminal justice
systems, the Foundation is complementing the grants it makes to local jurisdictions with investments
in research and data analytics. The Foundation will also invest in a robust communications campaign
aimed at elevating jail overuse into an urgent national issue, and generating national demand for a more
balanced approach to crime and disorder that uses incarceration only where necessary, and as part of a
flexible range of effective alternatives.
During the planning stage of the Safety and Justice Challenge, your site will develop an actionable plan
for reducing your community’s jail population without compromising public safety. The Foundation has
recruited four of the nation’s leading criminal justice organizations to help in this process: the Center for
Court Innovation (CCI), the Justice Management Institute (JMI), Justice System Partners (JSP), and the
Vera Institute of Justice (Vera). A brief description of each site coordinator organization can be found in
Appendix A.
A representative of your assigned site coordinator organization will be contacting you in advance of the
first meeting of the Safety and Justice Challenge Network. This site coordinator will serve as your guide
and support throughout the planning phase, and will help your team:
• Describe your jurisdiction’s criminal justice system using facts and data;
• Identify priority problems that contribute to the overreliance on jails in your jurisdiction;
• Surface and understand racial and ethnic disparities in the way jail is administered or
experienced; and
• Develop responsive reform strategies and connect them to measurable impact targets.
At the end of the planning phase, your jurisdiction will have developed a clearly articulated plan for
system change, including a compelling logic about how unnecessary incarceration will be reduced and a
realistic implementation plan with measurable and time-sensitive goals.
The Foundation will review the plans generated in the first stage of the Safety and Justice Challenge,
and identify those that propose the most promising, credible, and ambitious strategies for reducing
overreliance on jail incarceration and diminishing racial and ethnic disparities in the way jail is used.
In the second stage of the Challenge, to begin in early 2016, as many as ten Network sites will receive
grants of up to $2 million per year to support implementation of their jail reduction plans. The
Foundation will initially fund implementation for two years, with an option to extend if substantial
progress is made. It will also continue to fund the work of the site coordinators, as well as a broader
network of experts, peers, and leaders to fortify implementation efforts and leverage specific expertise
as needed.
Whether or not they receive implementation funding, all twenty Safety and Justice Challenge Network
sites will receive funding to support their continued participation in the Challenge Network in the coming
years. As members of an active learning community, they will attend and participate in meetings, share
resources and learning, and help advance the reform agenda of the Safety and Justice Challenge.

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Conceptual Framework
The Safety and Justice Challenge’s approach to local reform is grounded in six key concepts that we
believe can help our network of grantees succeed:

• Developing the infrastructure for data collection and analysis and using those data to inform
decision-making;
• Promoting collaborative decision-making at all levels, from front-line practitioners to leadership,
across stakeholders;
• Fostering culture change in systems that have been designed and operate in ways that may
conflict with this initiative’s system improvement efforts;
• Mobilizing community ownership of the changes not only among the people working within the
system but among those in the community affected by the system;
• Integrating risk and needs assessment as a core tool and practice in the criminal justice system
to inform decisions about the right response, for the right person, at the right time; and
• Introducing and strengthening evidence-based interventions that demonstrate that they
enhance public safety and realize other desired outcomes most fairly and cost-effectively.
We view this framework as a common foundation for the work we will do together.
Data collection
and analysis
Community
ownership
Culture
change
Evidence-based
interventions
Risk and
needs
assessment
Collaborative
decision-making

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The 20 Selected Sites
Twenty sites, drawn from all across the country, have been selected to participate in the planning stage
of the Safety and Justice Challenge.
ADA COUNTY,
IDAHO
LOS ANGELES,
CALIFORNIA
CHARLESTON,
SOUTH CAROLINA
MECKLENBURG
COUNTY,
NORTH CAROLINA
PHILADELPHIA,
PENNSYLVANIA
LUCAS COUNTY,
OHIO
SAINT LOUIS
COUNTY, MISSOURI
CONNECTICUT
PALM BEACH
COUNTY, FLORIDA
SPOKANE COUNTY,
WASHINGTON
MULTNOMAH
COUNTY, OREGON
HARRIS COUNTY,
TEXAS
NEW ORLEANS,
LOUISIANA
SHELBY COUNTY,
TENNESSEE
COOK COUNTY,
ILLINOIS
MILWAUKEE,
WISCONSIN
PIMA COUNTY,
ARIZONA
MESA COUNTY,
COLORADO
PENNINGTON COUNTY,
SOUTH DAKOTA
NEW YORK,
NEW YORK

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Planning for Change:
A Closer Look at the Next Seven Months
The first stage of the Safety and Justice Challenge—beginning with the announcement of your site’s planning
grant in May 2015 and concluding with your application for implementation funding in early January 2016—
spans approximately seven months. Even though each of the Challenge Network jurisdictions will have its
own unique system characteristics, strengths, and opportunities for reform, the Foundation has developed a
structured methodology to help each site investigate, analyze, and document an impactful reform plan. The
structured planning process will unfold over five primary phases, each of which is described below.
Five Phases of the Planning Process
Phase 1: Getting Started (May 11-29, 2015)
The “getting started” phase of the work runs from the time you learned you were selected to participate
in the Safety and Justice Challenge, until our national launch and first All Sites Meeting on May 27-
29, 2015 in Washington, D.C. At the end of this phase of the work, your site will have: assembled an
interdisciplinary planning team; connected with your site coordinator to discuss core activities and
scheduling; and attended the Safety and Justice national launch event and first all-sites meeting.
Your assigned site coordinator will contact you by phone during the week of May 11, and will be available,
as needed, as you step through the “getting started” tasks described below. We have also included a
“getting started checklist,” at Appendix B, to help you organize and track progress during the first few
weeks of the Challenge.
Phase 5
Application
Dec 15-Jan 6
Phase 4
Implementation
Planning
Oct 12-Dec 11
Phase 3
Develop a
Reform
Response
Aug 5-Oct 8
Phase 2
Investigate and
Understand
the Facts
May 30-Jul 31
Phase 1
Getting
Started
May 11-29
MAY JANUARY
Site Visit 1:
System
mapping
Site Visit 2:
Conclude
system mapping
Site Visit 3:
Prioritize
decision points
Site Visit 4:
Develop
logic model
OPTIONAL
Site Visit 5
Site
selection
All Sites
Meeting #1
All Sites
Meeting #2
Proposals for second
round funding due

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Assemble a Planning Team
It is critical to assemble an interdisciplinary planning team that will be reliable and responsible for
driving your site’s efforts during the planning stage. Although the composition of the planning team is
more art than science, we recommend it include the core criminal justice decision-makers from various
system points. Most effective planning teams include representatives from, at a minimum, the judiciary,
prosecution, defense bar, law enforcement, the jail, and the courts. Effective planning teams may also
include community representatives such as service providers, religious leaders, and individuals who have
participated in the local criminal justice process or served time. Members of the planning team should
be expected to participate in all scheduled site visits, interim planning meetings, and off-site meetings of
the Challenge Network.
Designate a Planning Liaison
You should, at the start, identify a “Planning Liaison” to serve as the primary point of contact for your
jurisdiction’s Challenge activities. The Planning Liaison will be responsible for communicating and
coordinating with your assigned site coordinator, including the scheduling and managing of site visits,
conference calls, planning meetings, and the iterative review of the planning phase work products.
The Planning Liaison should also serve as the Foundation’s point of contact, taking responsibility
for administrative tasks such as the preparation of grant reports, budgets, and other due diligence
materials, as well as responding to Foundation inquiries during the grant period.
Select your Site’s Washington, D.C. Delegation
The national launch of the Safety and Justice Challenge, and the first convening of the Challenge
network, will take place in Washington, D.C. on May 27-29, 2015. You should select 4-7 representatives
from your site to travel to Washington, D.C. for these meetings. The public launch event will take place on
May 27 at the Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001 from 4:00—7:30 p.m., and
will be followed by a celebratory reception.
The planning stage of the work begins in earnest on May 28 and 29. This “kick-off” meeting will strive
to achieve a number of goals including: introduce the 20 site teams to Safety and Justice Challenge
partners and their assigned site coordinator; provide an overview of the planning phase, including
scheduled activities, expected deliverables, and criteria for advancing to the implementation phase;
begin to cultivate a productive learning network and community of practice; and send your team home
prepared and ready to work.
Please notify the Pretrial Justice Institute by May 13th (via Jeanine@pretrial.org and mauro@pretrial.
org) of the attendees your site will send to the May 27-29 events. While lodging is being provided by the
Foundation, your teams’ travel arrangements will be covered by your grant funds. You should plan to
book your teams’ travel as soon as the team is identified.
Schedule on-site planning meetings
During the planning stage of the Challenge, each site will receive a minimum of four site visits by their
site coordinator—with an optional fifth visit if helpful—lasting roughly two to four days each. Given the
range of teams, partners, and participants involved, it will be important to get the site visits calendared
before the end of May. To help facilitate this process, we have attached a “site visit scheduling tool.”
Using this tool, your site’s Planning Liaison will coordinate with the members of your planning team and
indicate your team’s top scheduling choices. The “site visit scheduling tool” can be found at Appendix C.

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Participate in Communications Orientation
While your site’s selection as a member of the Safety and Justice Challenge Network should not be
a matter of public comment until the official announcement on May 27, you will need to prepare to
communicate the news and field inquiries from the press at that time. To assist you, a communications
toolkit has been included in this packet (Appendix D). In addition, we will be arranging a call with
Meredith Klein, the Foundation’s communications lead for the Challenge, and BerlinRosen, our
communications partner for this work. They will reach out to you to arrange the call, during which you’ll
have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have about communications protocols. If you have
any inquiries in the meantime, please contact Meredith Klein at mklein@macfound.org or BerlinRosen at
MacArthurJails@berlinrosen.com.
Phase 2: Investigate and Understand the Facts (May 30 – July 31, 2015)
During June and July, the planning process will take off at full steam. Your planning team will work
closely with your site coordinator to develop an empirical picture—or augment existing analyses—of how
your local criminal justice system operates and performs. At the conclusion of the second phase of the
work, your planning team will have a firm, data-driven understanding of how the local criminal justice
system operates in your jurisdiction, and will have surfaced the most promising opportunities to reduce
jail use without compromising public safety.
System Mapping
One of the most effective ways for your planning team to identify opportunities for significant, safe
jail reduction is to develop a map that charts the course of justice system operations from the point of
arrest through post-conviction supervision. System mapping highlights current policies and practices at
each decision point that may be contributing unnecessarily to the local jail population. Once identified,
this knowledge provides a solid basis from which to develop viable, safe jail reduction strategies.
Importantly, by collecting information about how people and cases flow through the criminal justice
system and their characteristics, system mapping is an invaluable tool for identifying where there
may be racial and ethnic disparities and provides direction for deeper dives into the relevant practices,
policies, and decisions.
Our system mapping process will be anchored in the seven key decision points listed in Table 1 below.
We understand that some sites may have previously completed an analogous system mapping exercise
through participation in another initiative or planning effort. We will meet you where you are and build
on existing planning efforts and materials, as appropriate. We will describe the system mapping process
more fully when we convene in Washington, D.C.

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Table 1. Seven Key Decision Points
Decision Point Definition
Arrest
Point of contact with law enforcement where a decision is made not to
intervene, to divert for services, or if probable cause exists, to cite and release
or arrest and book an individual.
Charge
Decision by a prosecutor to formally charge an individual with a crime. Can also
include probable cause review by a magistrate or other; indictment by a grand
jury; or prosecutorial diversion.
Assignment of counsel
Point at which counsel is assigned, and the interaction between counsel
and defendant pre- and post-conviction. Includes the availability of indigent
defense.
Pre-trial release
One or a series of administrative or judicial decisions to release a defendant
outright; set terms of release (financial or non-financial); or detain an individual.
This decision point also includes responses to violations of pretrial release.
Case processing
The series of touch points with the court between arraignment and disposition,
including the time standards for each and the extent to which those standards
are adhered. Includes docketing options and specialty courts.
Disposition/sentencing
Point at which a judge or jury makes a determination of guilty or not guilty, or a
plea is accepted, and the judge determines terms for release, supervision, and/
or incarceration.
Post-conviction process/
supervision
Post-dispositional incarceration, supervision, and/or programming. Includes
time in jail, reentry, and any sort of correctional control in the community.
As your planning team builds, or fortifies, a data-driven understanding of your criminal justice process,
you will schedule two on-site planning meetings with your site coordinator. The focus of both of these
visits will be completing the system mapping exercise and homing in on the aspects of the system that
offer the best opportunities for reform. During one of these visits, your site coordinator and planning
team should expect to take a tour of a local jail.
Phase 3: Develop a Reform Response (August 5 – October 8, 2015)
Using the system map as a starting point, your planning team will work with your site coordinator to
develop a concrete reform response. At the end of Phase 3, your site will have prepared a preliminary
logic model, which will summarize the evolving reform strategy and include numeric impact targets.
During this phase, you will have one on-site visit with your site coordinator. Your planning team will work
with your site coordinator to identify the challenges to be prioritized for reform, and begin the critical
conversation about setting targets. Planning teams will begin to develop a logic model at this time. A
logic model helps lay out the shared understanding of what resources are available, what activities and
changes will occur, what these activities and changes will produce, and the intended long-term impacts
that the initiative is expected to have. The logic model succinctly depicts your site’s theory of change,
providing a road map of what steps need to be taken in order to produce desired impacts.

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During this phase, there will be a second convening for all 20 planning stage sites on October 7-8 in
Chicago. The goals of this gathering will include: facilitating networking and the exchange of ideas among
sites; supporting the development of innovative approaches and strategies; and continuing to provide
training and information about best practices.
Phase 4: Implementation Planning (October 12 – December 11, 2015)
As we near the end of the planning stage, your team will turn toward developing a detailed
implementation plan. The implementation plan will provide an operational roadmap for your site’s
proposed reform strategies and will be the basis for your proposal for implementation funding.
Sites will use a standard template to develop and present the implementation plan. The template will
prompt site teams to think practically about the resources needed to implement key strategies, the
leadership and partnerships that will ensure effective implementation, performance metrics that will
document progress, and the appropriate timeline for completing tasks.
You will have one on-site visit with your site coordinator during this phase. With help from your site
coordinator, your planning team will ensure proposed activities are clearly linked to specific outputs,
milestones, and deliverables and to the objectives defined in the logic model.
Phase 5: Application for Implementation Funding
(December 15, 2015 – January 6, 2016)
At the culmination of the planning stage, your planning team will work iteratively with your site
coordinator to finalize the implementation plan and application for implementation funding. Although
the details and format of the second stage selection process are yet to be confirmed, sites will, at a
minimum, be expected to submit final implementation plans and the deliverables produced during
the planning phase. These written submissions will be due to the Foundation by January 6, 2016. Sites
selected for implementation funding will be notified in February 2016.
Data Collection and Research
As a Safety and Justice Challenge Network site, you are participating in a process that will be
transparent and data-driven. To assist with performance management, we have engaged the City
University of New York’s Institute for State and Local Governance (ISLG). To oversee a larger evaluation
of the initiative, we have engaged RTI International. In addition, the Foundation intends to fund
research that will take advantage of the numerous opportunities for learning presented by Safety and
Justice Challenge Network activities. Your jurisdiction and its planning team will be expected to work
constructively with ISLG, RTI, and any additional research partners as part of an active and engaged
learning community.
Initially, as you generate plans and set goals for the changes you want to make, ISLG will work with
you to assess local data capacity for tracking and assessing these changes, develop concrete outcome
measures and targets, and establish data use agreements to secure access to the necessary data. Later,
during the implementation phase, when sites put their implementation plans into action, ISLG will
formally request the data and use it to track and report progress on a regular basis.
During the planning phase, ISLG will conduct one site visit—or data diagnostic—in all 20 selected sites
(all data diagnostics will be completed by September 2015). The purpose of the diagnostic is to assess
the capacity of key agencies to meet data needs for the initiative’s research and analysis components
(performance measurement, evaluation, jail projections, etc.). During the diagnostic, ISLG will meet with

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data representatives in key agencies to review data systems and capture a detailed picture of what data
is available to support performance management during the implementation phase. At a minimum, these
agencies will include the police, prosecutor, court, and jail (depending on the locality, they may include
other agencies as well). Following the diagnostic, ISLG will provide each site with a written assessment,
to summarize core conclusions and inform future planning around criminal justice data collection.
During the implementation phase of the work, ISLG’s role will shift from assessing data capacity to
using local data to monitor progress on the key goals and objectives of the initiative. To facilitate this,
at the beginning of the phase, ISLG will finalize and sign data use agreements with sites that advance
to the implementation stage, and submit formal requests for data necessary to create performance
indicators. ISLG will also establish a baseline for each site that reflects the starting point against which
progress will be measured. Over the course of the implementation phase, in turn, the organization will
track and report performance measures on a regular basis, so that progress toward targets can be
assessed and understood ongoing and in real time. This feedback loop will provide sites an opportunity
to address challenges as they arise and refine course as necessary.
The Foundation has engaged RTI International, a leading research institution, as an independent
evaluator for the Safety and Justice Challenge. RTI’s role will be to baseline and document initiative
activities at the site, network, and national levels, and to assess the impact of the initiative as a whole.

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Center for Court Innovation
Website www.courtinnovation.org
Main phone number (646) 386-3100
Address 520 8th Avenue
18th Floor
New York, NY 10018
The mission of the Center for Court Innovation is to help create a more effective and humane justice
system by designing and implementing operating programs, performing original research, and providing
reformers around the world with the tools they need to launch new strategies. The overarching goals of
the agency include:
• To prevent crime, improve public safety, and strengthen neighborhoods.
• To enhance the legitimacy of the justice system and strengthen public trust in justice.
• To expand the use of effective alternatives to incarceration where appropriate.
• To help victims of crime or abuse find safety, support, and services.
• To encourage the justice system to make more informed decisions in individual cases and in matters
of policy.
• To work in collaboration with both government and community partners to advance
meaningful change.
The Center accomplishes its goals in three primary ways:
1. Operating Programs. The Center conceives, plans, and operates programs that seek to test new
ideas, solve difficult problems, and achieve system change. In so doing, the Center wrestles with thorny
planning and implementation challenges. This experience grounds the organization in the realities of how
difficult it is to alter the behavior of individuals, communities, and government bureaucracies. Examples
of operating programs designed and implemented by the Center include the Midtown Community
Court, the Red Hook Community Justice Center, the Brooklyn Mental Health Court, Newark Community
Solutions, the Queens Youth Justice Center, Save Our Streets (SOS) Anti-Violence Programs, and
Brooklyn Justice Initiatives.
2. Advancing Knowledge. The Center conducts rigorous and independent research, documenting what
works and what does not in order to advance the field of evidence-based practice as well as to test new
ideas where existing evidence may be limited. National-scope studies concern a range of cutting-edge
topics, such as prosecutor-led pretrial diversion, police-led diversion, children’s exposure to violence,
minority youth violence prevention, the commercial sexual exploitation of children, and separate national
studies of specialized drug courts, domestic violence, and reentry courts. The Center is also currently
conducting a wide range of research and evaluation projects regarding the use of risk-needs assessment
tools to inform criminal justice decision-making; indigent defense reform; and gun violence prevention.
3. Helping Reformers. The Center provides training and assistance to justice reformers inside and outside
of government, both domestically and internationally. Experts from the Center help innovators plan and
implement new policies, practices, and technologies. The Center both advises on proven evidence-based
strategies that have been tested elsewhere and guides the process of experimentation—informed by
the Center’s own practical experience implementing real-world operating programs that involve multiple
partners. Current national-scope technical assistance projects include the MacArthur Foundation’s
Safety and Justice Challenge, the Office of Minority Health (OMH) Minority Youth Violent Prevention
initiative; state-level drug court systems; specialized domestic violence courts; and human trafficking
initiatives grounded in the justice system.

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City University of New York Institute for
State and Local Governance
Website islg.cuny.edu
Address 10 East 34th Street, 5th floor
New York, NY 10016
About
The Institute for State and Local Governance was created in 2013 by The City University of New York.
Its mission is to assist current and future leaders in government and non-government organizations,
nationally and internationally, by offering research, technical assistance, and training and education to
help achieve improvements in the structure, financing, delivery, measurement, and evaluation of critical
public services. The Institute works with state and local governments, public benefit organizations, non-
profit organizations, public charities, and the private sector.
Expertise
The Institute offers methodological and substantive expertise in several areas. Our methodological
expertise includes:
• Research that is scientifically rigorous, yet accessible to broader audiences, practical in its
implementation, and sensitive to timelines and the political realities within which governments and
non-governmental organizations operate;
• Technical assistance to help government and non-governmental organizations implement data-
driven and results-oriented practices and improve performance; and
• Training and education for current and future leaders to build successful careers and to improve the
management capabilities and the effectiveness of the organizations they support.
The Institute’s substantive expertise covers a range of public policy areas as well. Primary among those
areas are criminal justice, health care, governmental budgeting, transportation, infrastructure, and
education. As an institute nested within CUNY, ISLG staff have access to and ongoing relationships with
leading experts in public policy and social science research.
The Institute is led by founding Executive Director Michael Jacobson, whose career in public service
includes holding senior positions in the New York City (NYC) Office of Management and Budget, serving
as NYC Commissioner of Probation and Corrections, as a tenured professor at John Jay College and
the Graduate Center of CUNY, and running the nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice (Vera). An active
10-member Advisory Board comprised of professionals in government, academia, and the private sector
also provides expert guidance, and ISLG staff consist of research and policy experts with a range of
experience in government, nonprofit, and academic settings.
While the Institute is newly formed, its current portfolio of work includes a range of projects at the
national and local level, among them the Criminal Justice Investment Initiative, a technical assistance
and investment initiative with the New York County District Attorney’s Office; the Safety and Justice
Challenge; a Pay for Success (PFS) initiative with The National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD),
in which the Institute will help assess the potential for PFS in three jurisdictions; and the development of
inequality indicators for the City of New York.

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Justice Management Institute
Website www.jmijustice.org
Address 3033 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 700
Arlington, VA 22201
The Justice Management Institute (JMI) has provided direct technical assistance (TA) to local justice
policymakers and practitioners for 20 years. Our experience is broad-based—working with criminal,
juvenile, family, and civil justice systems. We have worked with numerous reform efforts, Including
Justice Reinvestment, the Evidence-Based Decision Making Initiative, the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change Initiative, the Smart Suite initiatives, and now MacArthur’s
Safety and Justice Challenge.
One of JMI’s hallmarks is not only helping justice systems “do the right thing” but also helping them to
“do it right.” JMI’s approach is system-oriented, bringing criminal justice stakeholders together around
a common purpose and helping each to align its policies and practices. We have become expert at
building these multi-disciplinary teams, often called Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils (CJCC), from
the ground up. We partner with teams representing the judiciary and court management, prosecutors,
defenders, sheriffs and law enforcement, and probation and community supervision to build consensus,
to plan strategically for the short and long term, and to build sustainable plans that are measurable and
flexible to the changing political and social demands on criminal justice systems. Over the past several
years, JMI has written authoritatively about approach to justice leadership and formed the National
Network of Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils to continue to develop national understanding of how
these collaborations work and are sustained.
Through needs assessment, case studies, system mapping, strategic planning, and process and outcome
evaluation, JMI has successfully worked with courts, prosecutors, defense agencies, sheriffs and law
enforcement, and probation and community supervision to identify specific, quantifiable goals and
realize just, fair, efficient, and equitable systems. We have advised, trained, and provided technical
assistance in key areas of evidence-based practice in criminal justice, such as screening and assessment,
diversion and deferred prosecution, treatment models with or without accountability courts, and others.
Although we often describe our work as fitting into three, interdependent categories, our approach
depends on drawing from all three and using each to enhance the others:
Research Evaluation Education Training Technical Assistance
We are a
learning, thinking
organization. Our
original research and evaluation
is designed to help leaders,
managers, and practitioners
make better decisions to reach
intended outcomes, respond to
cultural and legal issues, and
to address both systemic and
episodic problems.
Education and training
are the cornerstones
of our work. We have a rich
history of developing content
and delivering transformative
learning experiences that
empower leaders and
practitioners to apply proven
practices in their work
environment to achieve
positive change.
Technical assistance
promotes change
and improvement.
We collaborate with justice
professionals to shape systems
that are responsive, outcome-
driven, fairer, more equitable, and
more efficient by implementing
and integrating a variety of
evidence-based practices,
including proven strategies to
reduce jail overcrowding.

17
Justice System Partners
Website www.justicesystempartners.org
Address
P.O. Box 970
South Easton, MA 02375-0970
Justice System Partners (JSP) makes justice systems more effective, fair, and humane to improve the
safety and quality of life for system-involved individuals and their communities. Consulting services from
JSP are unique due to the considerable experience of its team members in developing and implementing
models of technical assistance provision and building long-lasting collaborations, and a commitment to
translating the latest research into improved outcomes for public safety systems. As former public sector
leaders, JSP team members have seen firsthand the impact of jail population growth. We understand
the challenges of comprehensive system reform, and have also been successful at changing policy and
practice in local jurisdictions as managers and consultants.
JSP’s team members bring decades of experience in public sector management and system reform
consulting. Each JSP team member brings unique experience and specific areas of expertise, but all of
our staff are skilled facilitators with broad content knowledge and project management skills and have
worked within numerous state and county systems. As a result of the efforts of JSP team members,
states have passed evidence-based legislative reforms, counties have promulgated policy to reduce
juvenile detention and adult incarceration rates, and agencies have implemented evidence-based
reforms to reduce recidivism.
Justice System Partners:
• Educates criminal and juvenile justice systems regarding the efficacy of evidence-based approaches,
data-based decisions and practices,
• Implements evidence-based strategies and systems that reduce over-reliance on incarceration,
• Assists agencies and jurisdictions who use incarceration to develop and implement programs that
provide offenders the skills needed to reduce their risk of recidivism,
• Furthers the improvement of the administration of criminal and juvenile justice by serving as a
resource to public and private sector agencies on policy and program design, implementation,
training, research, and evaluation, and
• Promotes and advocates rational public policy and practical strategies for criminal and social justice
issues.
JSP accomplishes its purpose by providing consulting and technical assistance to local and state
criminal and juvenile justice agencies who desire to improve the effectiveness and quality of their justice
programs, or when significant change requires adopting new practices. We work with our clients to
incorporate data-driven and evidence-based management techniques and decision-making processes
into their organizational processes to support sustainability.

18
RTI International
Website www.rti.org
Address
3040 East Cornwallis Road
Post Office Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC
RTI International, established in 1958, is one of the world’s leading research institutes, dedicated to
improving the human condition by turning knowledge into practice. As an independent nonprofit research
organization, RTI’s primary objective is to provide clients with the highest quality research and technical
services while adhering to the highest standards of scientific integrity, impartiality, and objectivity. The
staff of more than 3,700 provides research and technical expertise to governments and businesses in more
than 75 countries in the areas of health and pharmaceuticals, education and training, surveys and statistics,
advanced technology, international development, economic and social policy, energy and the environment,
and laboratory and chemistry services. RTI has significant experience managing complex multi-state,
national, and international projects, including some of the largest studies in the United States (e.g., the
Multi-site Evaluation of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative, the National Survey on Drug
Use and Health, and the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being).
RTI’s Center for Justice, Safety, and Resilience is founded on the idea that justice, safety, resilience, and
related issues are best understood in the context of the surrounding social ills, systems, and policies.
The Center’s staff hold advanced degrees in criminology, psychology, sociology, economics, public health,
social work, public administration, and information science and conduct innovative and high-quality
research covering a broad array of topics. Drawing on expertise from multiple disciplines and using a
broad array of methods, ongoing Center efforts are addressing programs and services for correctional
populations, sexual victimization in prisons and jails, arrest-related deaths and deaths in custody,
intimate partner violence and sexual assault, human trafficking, police use of data and technology,
backlogs in forensic evidence processing, community-based crime prevention and neighborhood
revitalization programs, prevention of school violence and student substance use, promotion of positive
youth development, and substance use prevention in states and communities.
The Center currently leads major initiatives and evaluations for the U.S. Department of Justice,
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. These studies and projects
include epidemiological measurement of problems; process and outcome evaluations of prevention
and intervention programs; randomized control trials; cost benefit and cost effectiveness analyses;
qualitative methods; and complex statistical analysis of primary and secondary data, including
processing and analysis of criminal records data and re-analysis of data from previous studies.

19
Vera Institute of Justice
Website www.vera.org
Address
233 Broadway, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10279
For more than 50 years, the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) has worked with government and civil society
to improve the systems people rely on for justice and safety. Vera has active projects in 48 states and
ten countries, assisting local, state, and national government partners with a range of issues, including
pretrial reform and jail overcrowding, policing practices, conditions of confinement and sentencing
reform, as well as immigration and juvenile justice policy. Vera conducts research and analysis, develops
and tests solutions, uses its publications and expertise to engage stakeholders and the public, and
collaborates with government leaders and communities to make justice systems fairer and more
effective. Vera is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization with offices in New York City,
Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and New Orleans.
Vera’s work to address over-reliance on jail incarceration began in 1961 with the Manhattan Bail Project,
which demonstrated that, when guided by appropriate assessment, courts could safely release many
defendants without financial conditions and achieve better appearance rates than those released on
bond. Since then, Vera has worked with more than 200 jurisdictions to analyze the challenges facing
local justice systems and develop practical and transformative responses. More recent work at the local
level has included research and recommendations to reduce jail overcrowding and improve jail reentry
services in Los Angeles County; the establishment of the first comprehensive pretrial services program in
New Orleans; research and analysis to inform Alabama’s Cooperative Community Alternative Sentencing
Project; and the creation of a multi-agency database in Washington, D.C. to support treatment services
and healthcare coverage for people with mental illness involved in the justice system.
In addition to engagement at the local level, Vera works on the state and national level to provide
guidance to government partners on sentencing law and policy, conditions of confinement, juvenile
justice, community corrections, and reentry. Vera provides technical assistance to states participating in
the federal Justice Reinvestment Initiative, including Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Oregon, South Carolina, and South Dakota, and provides research and support for the Governor’s Task
Force on Sentencing and Corrections in Tennessee. Other initiatives include the Safe Alternatives to
Segregation Initiative, helping state and local jurisdictions reduce their use of punitive and administrative
segregation; the Pathways from Prison to Post-Secondary Education, which provides incentive funding
and technical assistance to expand access to higher education for people in prison and those recently
released; and the Justice Reform for Healthy Communities Initiative, which aims to improve the health
and well-being of individuals and communities most affected by over incarceration.

20
Appendix B: Getting Started Checklist

21
Your site coordinator will reach out to you the week of May 11th and will be available as your team steps
through the Getting Started activities, all to be completed by May 27th.
✔ Activities
❏ Hold kick-off call with site coordinator
❏
Assemble an interdisciplinary planning team that will be reliable and responsible for driving
your site’s efforts during the planning stage, including representatives from the judiciary,
prosecution, defense bar, law enforcement, the jail, and the courts
❏
Identify Planning Liaison to serve as primary contact for your jurisdiction’s Challenge
activities
❏ Identify 4-7 representatives of your planning team to attend May 27-29 Launch
❏
Notify Pretrial Justice Institute (via Jeanine@pretrial.org and mauro@pretrial.org) of
attendees for May 27-29 Launch Meeting by May 13th
❏ Book travel arrangements for attendees
❏ Complete the “site visit scheduling tool” and return it to your assigned Site Coordinator
❏ Ensure all members of the planning team have blocked site visit dates on their calendars
❏ Review the Communications Toolkit provided as part of the Orientation Package
❏
Speak with Meredith Klein from the MacArthur Foundation and BerlinRosen regarding
communications guidelines
❏ Finalize grant budget by May 15th

22
Appendix C: Site Visit Scheduling Tool

23
Activity Target Dates
Site Visit #1 June 8-30
Site Visit #2 July 6-31
Site Visit #3 August 10-September 30
All Sites Meeting #2 October 7-8
Site Visit #4 October 19-November 30
Round 2 application deadline January 6
Site visit 1:
June 8-30, 2015
Please choose your top three dates for a 2-4 day meeting of your
planning team in this timeframe:
1.
2.
3.
Site visit 2:
July 6-31, 2015
1.
2.
3.
Site visit 3:
August 10-September 30, 2015
1.
2.
3.
Site visit 4:
October 19-November 30, 2015
1.
2.
3.

24
Appendix D: Communications Toolkit

25
Introductory Note
This toolkit provides materials to support Safety and Justice Challenge sites for the initiative’s public
announcement on May 27. Please note that the news that you have been selected as a Safety and
Justice Challenge site is confidential until the MacArthur Foundation’s public announcement at 12:01am
ET on May 27. These materials are intended to assist your communications efforts and help prepare you
for your interactions with the press and public. In the pages that follow, please find:
• Media Protocols: Reporters may contact you before and after the public announcement of
the grantees. These protocols indicate what you should do if a reporter reaches out to you,
what information is public at what time, and the timeline for press outreach. Please review the
protocols to ensure that you are prepared if you receive a press inquiry.
• FrequentlyAsked Questions/Initiative Talking Points: These talking points provide suggested
responses to questions that you may receive from journalists and members of the public. The talking
points include information about the Safety and Justice Challenge and how the Challenge works.
• Sample Digital Language: The sample digital language is intended to be a guide for announcing
the news about being a Safety and Justice Challenge site on or after May 27. We have provided
sample text for you to tailor for your location, including: sample tweets, a sample Facebook post,
and language to use on your website, in newsletters, and in email announcements.
• Template Press Release for Local Media: The Foundation is conducting outreach to national press
and some local press, but we encourage you to contact your local media outlets as well. To aid
in that outreach, we have provided a template press release with placeholders for you to fill in
information tailored to your location. It would be appreciated if you would run your release by
your site coordinator prior to distribution. Please do not contact any members of the press until
after the public announcement at 12:01am ET on May 27.
To further assist your communications outreach and help prepare you for possible interviews with press,
we will be arranging a call for you with Meredith Klein, the Foundation’s communications lead for the
Challenge, and BerlinRosen, our communications partner for this work. They will reach out to you to
arrange the call, during which you’ll have the opportunity to ask any questions about communications
protocols. If you have any inquiries in the meantime, please contact Meredith Klein at
mklein@macfound.org and BerlinRosen at MacArthurJails@berlinrosen.com.

26
Media Protocols
The news that you have been selected as a Safety and Justice Challenge site is confidential until the
public announcement at 12:01am ET on May 27. Please refrain from communicating the news of your
selection until that date. Doing so will help ensure a successful public announcement.
Please note that because a handful of top-tier press outlets will receive embargoed information about
selected Challenge sites in advance of the announcement, the Foundation or its communications partner,
BerlinRosen, may be in touch with you before May 27 to arrange media interviews. If you receive a
media request before May 27 that has not been arranged by the Foundation or BerlinRosen, please alert
Meredith Klein immediately and refrain from responding until you hear from her or from BerlinRosen.
After May 27, please contact Meredith Klein if you receive a media request from a national outlet. Doing
so will ensure that the Foundation and BerlinRosen are aware of media activity in progress and can
coordinate with other sites, if appropriate. If you receive a media request from a local outlet, please
handle internally as you see fit and alert your Site Coordinator via email as you’re arranging local media
interviews.
If you have any questions about incoming press requests, please contact Meredith Klein at
mklein@macfound.org and BerlinRosen at MacArthurJails@berlinrosen.com.

27
Frequently Asked Questions Initiative Talking Points
What is the Safety and Justice Challenge?
The Safety and Justice Challenge is a major new initiative supported by the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation aimed at reducing over-incarceration by changing the way America thinks about and
uses jails. Through the Challenge, the Foundation is making an initial five-year, $75 million investment in
local reform, research, experimentation, and communications support. The goal is to improve local criminal
justice systems in jurisdictions across the country and safely reduce jail incarceration—particularly the
disproportionate incarceration of low-income individuals and people of color.
Why is the Safety and Justice Challenge focused on local jurisdictions?
The Safety and Justice Challenge is focused on local criminal justice systems because that is where most
people’s contact with the justice system starts. Despite growing national attention to the large number of
Americans confined in state and federal prisons, significantly less attention has been paid to local justice
systems, where the criminal justice system primarily operates and where over-incarceration begins. The
initiative will stimulate, support, and spread locally generated, practical solutions.
How does the competition work?
The Safety and Justice Challenge competition will unfold in two rounds. We were chosen out of nearly
200 applications for the first round, along with 19 other sites, to receive a grant of $150,000 to support
an intensive planning process to improve our local justice system and to safely reduce our jail population.
Beginning in 2016, as many as 10 of the selected sites will be chosen for a second round of funding of up to $2
million per year to support the implementation of their plans.
How will you use the grant money?
The $150,000 grant will be used to support an intensive six-month planning process. We will be working
with an expert technical assistance partner to develop an actionable plan for reducing the community’s jail
population without compromising public safety.
What happens if [Grantee] is not chosen for a second round of funding?
Whether or not [Grantee] is chosen for the next round of funding, we are committed to stopping the misuse
of jails and to improving our local justice system, and will continue to work to find effective and cost-efficient
ways to do so.
Will the MacArthur Foundation control how jails are run at each site?
No. The [Grantee] jails system will continue to be run by the [city/county/state/tribe name], as it always has
been. The Foundation’s funding is simply being used to support a planning process for local justice system
improvement.
Where can I find more information about the Safety and Justice Challenge?
Please visit the initiative website for more information: www.SafetyAndJusticeChallenge.org.

28
Sample Digital Language
Template email, website and newsletter language
We are proud to announce that [Grantee] is one of twenty jurisdictions selected to participate in the
Safety and Justice Challenge, a major new initiative supported by the MacArthur Foundation to address
over-incarceration by changing the way America thinks about and uses jails. [Grantee] was chosen from
among nearly 200 applicants from 45 states.
Our selection in the Challenge will allow us to focus on local justice system reform and to be an
important piece in nationwide momentum for change. Over the next six months, we’ll use the $150,000
grant from the Foundation to develop a plan for reducing our jail population without compromising
public safety. Throughout this process, we will have the support of expert technical assistance partners
and independent evaluators.
This grant is an opportunity for us to create a fairer and more effective justice system in our town/
county/city. We are excited to be a part of the Safety and Justice Challenge and look forward to sharing
our progress with you.
To find out more about the initiative, please visit www.SafetyAndJusticeChallenge.org.
Suggested tweets
• [Grantee] selected as 1 of 20 @safety_justice Challenge sites nationwide [link to press release]
• [Grantee] is excited to work with @MacFound and @safety_justice to safely improve our local
criminal justice system www.SafetyAndJusticeChallenge.org
• With @safety_justice, [Grantee] will work to create a fairer, more effective local criminal justice
system [link to press release]
• It’s time to safely reduce jail incarceration. @MacFound’s selection of [Grantee] for the @safety_
justice will help us get there
Suggested Facebook posts
• [Grantee] is honored to have been chosen for the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice
Challenge, which will allow us to safely improve our local criminal justice system. www.
SafetyAndJusticeChallenge.org

29
Template Press Release for Local Media
For immediate release: May 27, 2015
[GRANTEE] WINS MACARTHUR FOUNDATION SUPPORTTO
REDUCE THE USE OF JAILS
Grant is part of MacArthur’s $75M Safety and Justice Challenge, which supports innovation in
local criminal justice systems
[CITY, STATE] – The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today announced that
[Grantee] is one of 20 jurisdictions selected to receive a $150,000 grant to create a fairer,
more effective local justice system. The grant is a part of the Safety and Justice Challenge, the
Foundation’s $75 million initiative to reduce over-incarceration by changing the way America
thinks about and uses jails. [Grantee] will use the support to [describe overarching goal of the
proposal in 5-10 words].
[Grantee] was chosen following a highly competitive selection process that drew applications
from nearly 200 jurisdictions from 45 states. The Safety and Justice Challenge competition
supports jurisdictions across the country seeking to create more just and effective local
justice systems that improve public safety, save taxpayer money, and yield better outcomes.
The 20 jurisdictions selected will work with expert consultants to develop a plan for local
justice system improvement. In 2016, as many as 10 of these jurisdictions will receive a
second round of funding – between $500,000 to $2 million annually – to implement their
plans over two years.
“Nearly 200 diverse jurisdictions responded to our challenge, reflecting nationwide interest in
reducing over-incarceration,” said Julia Stasch, President of the MacArthur Foundation. “Each of
the sites selected has demonstrated the motivation, collaboration, and commitment needed to
make real change in their local justice systems. We hope their local efforts will model effective
and safe alternatives to the incarceration status quo for the rest of the country.”
[Insert grantee quote (e.g., expressing how the support will allow the jurisdiction to improve
public safety, save taxpayer money, and/or lead to better social outcomes).]
Despite growing national attention to the large number of Americans confined in state and
federal prisons, significantly less attention has been paid to local justice systems, where the
criminal justice system primarily operates and where over-incarceration begins. Jail populations
have more than tripled since the 1980s, as have cumulative expenditures related to building
and running them. According to recent research from the Vera Institute of Justice, nearly 75
percent of the population of both sentenced offenders and pretrial detainees are in jail for
nonviolent offenses such as traffic, property, drug, or public order violations. Further, low-
income individuals and communities of color disproportionately experience the negative
consequences of incarceration.
In [Grantee], [If possible and appropriate, insert local data or key points about the state of
local incarceration. Then explain the potential goals/desired impact of the jurisdiction to
address these issues.]

30
Information about the selected jurisdictions, as well as news, research, and events related to
the Safety and Justice Challenge, will be published on www.SafetyandJusticeChallenge.org.
About the MacArthur Foundation
The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed
to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur
Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and
security, make cities better places, and understand how technology affects children and society.
More information about the Foundation’s work, including in the justice field, is available at
www.macfound.org.
Contact:
[Grantee contact name, email address, and phone number]

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