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Program Officers Bria Gillum, Nida Abbasi, and NeAngela Dixon share progress we have seen in reducing the overuse of jails and hope for future work that brings in intersectional perspectives from individuals and communities impacted by the justice system.
As we embark on the final year of the Criminal Justice Big Bet and Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC), we are taking time to reflect on what this initiative has achieved, even as we look to the future of justice reform.
Over the last ten years, SJC has navigated changes to our political landscape, including three presidential elections and numerous state and local elections; the COVID-19 pandemic and its lasting impacts; and the killing of Michael Brown, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many other Black, Latine, and Indigenous people, which catalyzed movements for justice and equity. We witnessed greater consideration of diversity, equity, and inclusion in policy, but saw too many of these efforts attacked, reduced, or terminated altogether. And we experienced a resurgence of “tough on crime” approaches to public safety.
What We Have Accomplished
Throughout these changes, SJC has shown that this work requires purpose, persistence, patience, and flexibility.
Communities participating in SJC continue to work toward a common purpose that creates the opportunity, the mindset, and the humility to push for fairer, more just, and more equitable solutions. Our alignment around a shared purpose establishes the conditions necessary to change policies, practices, research, and reforms that reduce the number of people entering the justice system, strengthen support for individuals who are incarcerated, and provide better connections to services and resources for recovery and reintegration.
SJC participants have the persistence to develop meaningful relationships across government, communities, and organizations; across different professions; and across different community members. Through these relationships, SJC has cultivated authentic partnerships to change the narratives we tell ourselves about crime, safety, and justice.
SJC has cultivated authentic partnerships to change the narratives we tell ourselves about crime, safety, and justice.
Our grantees have the patience to work in a system that is deeply intertwined with our country’s history of slavery and address the legacy of federal and local policies that have reinforced racial inequities and led to mass incarceration. Unravelling a justice system rooted in oppression takes time. Yet SJC developed the infrastructure and methods to reveal the shadows of our history, to understand its implications, to heal from its trauma, and to embrace a new vision of community safety.
And SJC communities are flexible. As resources, staff, and policies change, the goal of transforming local justice systems remains our guiding star. We have accepted temporary setbacks, recovered from mistakes, and persevered during periods of uncertainty. SJC is proving to be agile, and it is reframing challenges as opportunities that illuminate different paths forward.
Where We Are Going
While SJC has much to be proud of, we still have much work to do. We will support often overlooked and under-resourced justice-impacted populations, including women and survivors of crime. Our country too often employs criminal justice policies, practices, and programs designed for men, without consideration or regard for women’s distinct needs.
We plan to use our final year to lay the foundation for justice reform that is designed and led by justice-impacted women and survivors.
We plan to use our final year to lay the foundation for justice reform that is designed and led by justice-impacted women and survivors. This includes:
- developing more and better interventions to keep women from entering the justice system; expanding pathways for women leaving the justice system;
- expanding pathways for women leaving the justice system;
- designing resources, services, research, and reforms that are driven by the experiences of women; and
- gathering stories that better reflect and uplift the voices of women.
Our intersectional framework, acknowledges and connects identities and experiences to ensure true inclusion in justice reform, includes this important approach.
We will use our final year to better support and empower the workforce on the frontlines, in the courtrooms, and in communities, as well as the individuals impacted by incarceration, so they can continue to advocate for change and community-led solutions. We hope to inspire the next generation of leaders in our movement to disrupt our traditional ways of thinking about justice and equity, to identify new champions for justice reform, and to generate new storytellers and ways of storytelling to compel change.
After ten years of SJC, so much more is possible than when we started. We have a bigger circle, stronger solutions, and a clearer vision. Communities are safer and more resilient. More importantly, our capacity to accept change and work with others is stronger, and our hearts are hopeful that we will achieve a new vision of justice.
