Jails are often de facto warehouses for people without money or stable housing.
Report
Data Analysis Homelessness Human Toll of Jail August 12, 2020
The time has come for local justice systems to take immediate action to halt the cycle of homelessness and jail incarceration.
Report
Data Analysis Jail Populations Pretrial and Bail August 26, 2019
Police and jails are supposed to promote public safety. Increasingly, however, law enforcement is called upon to respond punitively to medical and economic problems unrelated to public safety issues. As a result, local jails are filled with people who need medical care and social services, many of whom cycle in and out of jail without ever receiving the help they need. Conversations about this problem are becoming more frequent, but until now, these conversations have been missing three fundamental data points: how many people go to jail each year, how many return, and which underlying problems fuel this cycle. This report fills that troubling data gap.
Issue Brief
Data Analysis Human Toll of Jail Young Adults August 1, 2019
These reports are part of a series that explores policies that affect the front end of the criminal justice system. Each brief looks at who is entering the “front door” of the criminal justice system and gives examples of legislation, national initiatives, best practices, promising programs and key research on timely issues. The series provides legislatures with the tools they need to consider cost-effective policies that protect public safety. This report examines young adults’ (age 18-24) overrepresentation in the criminal justice system. Emerging research is shedding light on the distinct developmental and behavioral health needs of this age group. The report looks at innovative justice-system responses used by jurisdictions to redirect the trajectory for justice-involved young adults. Legislators will find tools to assist them in identifying specific young adult needs in their jurisdictions and to advance informed policy responses effective in helping this age group.
Report
Courts Data Analysis Interagency Collaboration April 3, 2017
Public defenders play a critical role in preventing unnecessary, unjust and expensive incarceration. The National Legal Aid & Defender Association developed this communications toolkit for defenders in the Safety and Justice Challenge so that they may articulate what effective public defense systems uniquely offer to pretrial reform.
