Moving Beyond the Low-Hanging Fruit: Implementing System-wide Reforms in the Safety and Justice Challenge

• In Event: Reducing Mass Incarceration at the Local Level: Strategies for Downsizing Jails

Abstract

The Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC) is the MacArthur Foundation’s $100 million initiative to reduce over-incarceration by changing the way America thinks about and uses jails. Since 2015, the initiative has been supporting a network of competitively selected local jurisdictions committed to finding ways to safely reduce jail incarceration, while also addressing racial and ethnic disparities. Through the SJC, the CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance (ISLG) and other technical assistance providers are helping the selected sites conduct in-depth examinations of local data and operations to reduce their jail populations by 15 to 34 percent. Over the course of the SJC, many sites have learned that in order to achieve these ambitious goals, they cannot simply focus on low-risk and/or low- charge individuals who could presumably be safely served in the community, or “low hanging fruit, ” as they are often called. Rather, efforts to address more serious populations, such as those charged with felonies, moderate risk individuals, and those in jail because they violated the terms of their probation or parole, are critical to achieving ambitious population reductions. These individuals not only tend to stay in jail longer, but are often also more likely to be booked into jail in the first place. This presentation discusses the argument in more detail, and highlights strategies that go beyond “the low hanging fruit” that are being implemented as part of the SJC. Implications will be discussed in the context of broader efforts to reduce over-incarceration.

Authors

• Emily Hotez, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance

• Reagan Daly, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance

• Paula Mukwaya, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance

• Michael Jacobson, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance