Topic: Featured Jurisdictions

There is new hope in St. Louis County for people afraid to move on with their lives or engage with the criminal justice system because of unresolved warrants, municipal code violations, or having missed a court date.

The center, which is part of a national effort to lower jail populations in jurisdictions across the country as part of the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC), aids in responding to concerns raised by the Department of Justice (DOJ) about racial injustice related to municipal court practices in its 2015 investigation into the Ferguson Police Department—which is located in the northern part of St. Louis County.

The DOJ commissioned a report in the wake of the 2015 police killing of Michael Brown, which spawned a series of racial justice protests in Ferguson, attracting international attention. The report found that police practices were often unconstitutional and that municipal court practices imposed substantial barriers to the challenge or resolution of municipal code violations. The court also imposed “unduly harsh penalties for missed payments or appearances,” the report said. It also said the law enforcement practices in Ferguson were driven in part by racial bias and that they disproportionately harmed African American residents. So, it is evident that in St. Louis County any efforts to lower the jail population must go hand in hand with intentional efforts towards racial equity.

Minor legal issues are often part of the reason people “tap out” of trusting the criminal justice system. They stop people feeling proactively and collectively engaged with their community’s safety and security. But the new “Tap In Center” aims to rebuild trust between community members and the criminal justice system, with racial equity at its core. The goal is to help people to have a brief conversation and to help them re-engage with court cases and, more importantly, legal assistance.

Data helped with identifying the location for Tap In. It is taking place in the zip code where most African American people in the county’s jail system live. It is also located in a neighborhood that has historically been underserved in transit access, social services, and community supports. The center aims to take a humanitarian approach to the issues that people face when they must go to a court date every month, often for an extended period of time, until their case might be resolved.

The “Tap In Center” is more than just a place for people to resolve warrants. People can also meet with an attorney, learn their case status, apply for help from a public defender, or even access a cellphone. The center also connects people with other wrap-around services to help them with various challenges in their lives, from temporary housing to clothing to help with food.

Residents have spoken positively about their experience with the center, saying it allows them to continue their lives without fear of bench warrants or fear of arrest for this. Wakesha Cook told St. Louis Public Radio that after getting connected with a public defender and setting up a new court date, “I feel free.”

“When I first got to the center, I was a little nervous since I had this warrant on me, but when I started talking with the people, I was relieved,” said Earnest Holt, another person who visited the center, in an interview with the St. Louis American.

The Tap In Center is a community-based space in a public library. It’s located in a safe, neutral, calm, welcoming spot and is designed to remove barriers and worries that a person might have about going into a courthouse. It welcomes people who come in with warrant issues—people who have historically been wary about engaging with the justice system because they are afraid of, for example, serving jail time.

The center is the result of a partnership between the St. Louis County Library system, The Bail Project, the Missouri State Public Defender, and the St. Louis County Prosecutor, with support from the St. Louis County Courts 21^st Judicial Circuit.

Criminal Justice reform strategies in St. Louis County go beyond the Tap In Center. They have focused on systemic case processing, including a population review team, enhanced pretrial reform, pretrial assessment, legal representation, and expedited probation handling. Each of the county’s reform strategies is meant to decrease the disproportionate burden that people of color face in the criminal justice system. St. Louis County is also advised by its own Ethnic and Racial Disparities committee, made up of criminal justice stakeholders, representatives from community advocacy groups, and individuals with lived experiences.

At the time of writing, St. Louis County had reduced the average daily population of its jail by 24% since joining the Safety and Justice Challenge in 2016. Nevertheless, racial disparities do persist. The average daily population of Black people in the jail has reduced by 15% from 2016 to 2021, according to the numbers, and the average daily population of White people has reduced by 41%. Length of stay has reduced for Black individuals who are seeing a 44% decline in the length of stay compared with 41% for White individuals. COVID has slowed progress because of court closures and other related delays. Now that things are reopening, the county is ready to continue its work.

The Tap In Center represents progress and provides motivation for the continued work to be done to address long-standing issues. We hope that other communities across the country will learn from the Tap In Center as they attempt to address their own racial equity issues and more.

For decades, the United States has responded to social issues like mental health and substance use crises, chronic homelessness, and ongoing cycles of interpersonal violence with jail incarceration rather than pursuing innovative strategies that are better suited to address the root causes of these issues. Jail incarceration has disrupted the lives of millions of people—disproportionately harming Black, Indigenous, and people of color—without improving public safety. There is a better way.

Communities can instead invest in agencies and organizations that address these issues outside the criminal justice system. The proven solutions highlighted in a new report released by the Vera Institute of Justice with support from the Safety and Justice Challenge look beyond jails to promote safe and thriving communities.

To be responsive to residents’ needs and account for the harm caused by incarceration, jurisdictions across the country must look for public safety solutions outside of the criminal justice system. Effectively ending the current dependence on jail incarceration requires an ecosystem of services and supports that enhance the mental, physical, and socioeconomic well-being of the people who have been most marginalized.

The report looks in depth at what methods are working to reduce jail use. They include responding to behavioral health crises without incarceration, using crisis call centers, mobile crisis response teams, crisis stabilization measures and other services instead of police and jails. Incarceration will not address chronic homelessness, but permanent supportive housing can. And some jurisdictions are interrupting cycles of violence without incarceration by adopting a public health approach that includes investment in community violence intervention programs.

Some example programs in cities and counties participating in the SJC include:

• Started in 2021, the Portland Street Response (PSR) in Multnomah County, Oregon, is a specialized mobile crisis response program designed to reduce police interaction with people who are experiencing homelessness and/or behavioral health issues. When a 911 call involving these issues comes in, PSR dispatches specially trained medics alongside peer support specialists who have direct experience with similar challenges. In addition to providing care for non–life-threatening medical issues and connecting people to services, the team may provide transportation to shelters, clinics, or another destination the person being helped selects.
• In Cook County, Illinois, the Westside Community Triage and Wellness Center provides urgent behavioral health care and serves as a hub to connect the neighborhood’s largely Black and Latinx residents to ongoing behavioral health services. In Pima County, Arizona, the Crisis Response Center offers 24/7 access to care resources for people who are experiencing behavioral health crises to avoid jail or emergency room settings.
• In Baltimore, Maryland, the Baltimore Community Mediation Center provides mediation services for people experiencing any stage of conflict, including mediation within jails and prisons for people approaching reentry. To ensure mediation services are accessible, the center partners with other public services and community-based organizations. In 2018, with help from around 60 volunteers, the center held close to 600 mediation sessions at more than 130 different locations around the city.
• In multiple cities around the United States, Cure Violence has reduced shootings by adopting a public health approach called Community Violence Intervention (CVI). It conducts public education campaigns to change attitudes about violence, seeking to build relationships with people who are most likely to engage in violent behavior. It relies on “credible messengers,” people who have lived experience with violence in neighborhoods, to perform outreach and intervention.

The report also focuses on grassroots strategies to elevate community expertise, and on effective collaboration with community-based organizations.

• For example, JustLeadershipUSA in New York City—a strategic ally of the Safety and Justice Challenge—is a power-building movement led by organizers directly impacted by the criminal justice system. In 2020, the organization created the #buildCommunities Platform 2.0, a large-scale vision-building exercise conducted in association with the #CLOSErikers campaign. Over three months, the collaborative convened assemblies in eight different neighborhoods in New York City that had been heavily impacted by incarceration and divestment. Conveners facilitated sessions for groups of residents to present, discuss, and workshop ideas together to identify where investment is needed to improve safety and well-being. The vision contributed to a multi-campaign effort that generated a $391 million city commitment to non–criminal justice system programming and resources.
• In 2019, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors established a public-private Work Group on Alternatives to Incarceration. The group convened dozens of representatives from nonprofit organizations, service providers, and state and local governments to explore better responses to the “human conditions” of homelessness, poverty, and behavioral health issues. Their work involved creating a roadmap for solutions that provide care and services first and make jail a last resort, a process that engaged government and community residents to think broadly and boldly about strategies for public safety. The group produced more than 100 recommendations to minimize the use of police and jails.

Vera’s report also highlights why criminal justice system responses to these social issues are not enough. Many current approaches to reducing the use of jails fail to address many of the underlying drivers of jail incarceration that would be better addressed through other agencies, organizations, and community-led efforts—unstable housing, poverty, limited educational opportunities, poor health, and inadequate access to services. Moreover, most current local justice reform approaches also fail to account for the racialized harm caused by decades of investments prioritizing criminal justice system agencies over community-based services and often ignore problematic system practices. These shortcomings limit both the efficacy and the reach of many reform efforts.

Ultimately, a network of community-based services and supports could go a long way to address criminalized behaviors in ways safer and more effective than jails.

As we approach the sixth year of our collective effort to reduce jail populations through the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC), we have a lot of success and experience to build on.

Average daily populations declined 18% during the SJC’s first three years, across 14 cities and counties contributing data to a recent analysis by the Institute for State and Local Governance. Fewer people are being held in jail before they go to trial, the data showed. It’s important to document and herald these successes, as they show that with comprehensive systems change, real progress can be made in reforming the criminal justice system.

But how can we make sure that participating cities and counties sustain their positive momentum into the future? How do we keep positive changes moving forward, and expand on our lessons learned?

The Safety and Justice Challenge issued guidance recently. It highlights five key elements for a successful approach to sustainability for cities and counties:

1. Decision-making reflection and strategic planning for sustainability:
2. Data capacity and accountability;
3. Fiscal sustainability;
4. Partnerships and buy-in;
5. Adaptability.

Introducing Our New “Site Sustainability” Blog Series

Over the next few months, JFA Institute will be touching on each of these areas in blog posts that highlight cities and counties that have been successful in each area. We will herald successful initiatives in an effort to connect cities and counties across the network facing similar challenges, as they move toward sustainability.

1. Decision-Making Reflection and Strategic Planning.

The first element for successful sustainability is the capacity for decision-making reflection and strategic planning.

Decision-making reflection relates to the ability of a local jurisdiction to assess current trends in how the key components of their criminal justice system are performing–from law enforcement to courts and corrections.

This assessment takes the form of monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting systems that measure criminal justice performance. Based on that information, cities and counties can make short and long-term strategic plans, and budget for them.

Over the course of the Challenge, we have seen strategic planning and decision-making reflection take many forms. Most SJC cities and counties have created and implemented Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils (CJCC) or similar bodies, whose goal is to bring stakeholders together and establish the jurisdictions’ overall criminal justice goals, align them with SJC strategies and monitor implementation of strategies.

An efficient CJCC can be instrumental in creating and maintaining a jurisdiction’s criminal justice strategic plan. It captures a jurisdiction’s high-level mission and most important strategies. Strategic plans can vary widely in breadth and scope, but they will always reflect how priorities established through the SJC work will interact and be complementary to non-SJC criminal justice initiatives.

SJC participants Charleston and Lucas have well-developed CJCCs and advisory boards that meet on a regular basis to digest numerous performance measures. Spokane County also created a Justice Task Force with the charge of developing and recommending guiding principles and initiatives for funding. It is intended to support a criminal justice system that increases safety, improves equity, and results in better outcomes for the entire community.

Maggie Yates, Community Justice Administrator for Spokane County, said: “The Justice Task Force brought together leaders from local government, business, service agencies, and community advocacy organizations to create a strategic vision for the future of Spokane’s criminal justice system. With support from SJC network partners, the JFA Institute, and the Vera Institute of Justice, we developed well-researched, data-driven recommendations—several of which we have already implemented.”

One of the goals of SJC is the equitable reduction of jail populations. But this can be more complicated than it seems. Overall reduction of the jail population is one metric, but what about the pretrial population compared to the sentenced population? And what about racial disparities?

To help unpack these issues, many CJCCs have created Jail Population Management Teams. 

Jail Population Management Teams routinely evaluate the detailed attributes of people admitted to and released from the jail population as well as the current jail population. Based on agreed criteria, the team reviews people in the jail regularly. The criteria could include the number and type of charges a person faces, their risk and needs assessment, their mental health status, legal status, and length of stay.

The team has the authority to expediate release of detainees who have been held longer than necessary under the criteria. Examples of jail management teams among SJC cities and counties include those in Orleans Parish, Lucas County and Harris County.

Lucas County has developed a population review team to look at its pretrial population on a weekly basis. The focus is on expedited case resolution and bond revisions. There is a public defender and city prosecutor assigned to the team. It is able to access affidavits and incident reports. If a plea deal is reached during the meeting, the public defender will meet with their client and make the offer. If the offer is accepted, an order to bring the person back to court will be issued the next day, and if the judge accepts the plea agreement the case is resolved. Additionally, bond recommendations are being reviewed and are sometimes revisited with the judge. In 2020, Lucas County held 20 meetings, made 20 case recommendations, and prevented 136 nights from being spent in jail.

“We often speak of the silos that can develop in the criminal justice system,” said Sean McNulty, Chief Public Defender at the Toledo Legal Aid Society, and a member of the Lucas County “Population Review Team” (PRT), which is what the county is calling its Jail Population Management Team. “These silos can limit the communication and problem solving that could otherwise occur.  The PRT helps break down those silos by developing relationships and cooperation between different actors within our local criminal justice system.”

“We knew that we would be helping clients by providing additional options and better case outcomes,” said Mr. McNulty. “Additionally, though, we have seen that the PRT has prevented cases from slipping through cracks and it has identified categories of cases that could move through our system more efficiently.  By looking closely, as a team, we have been able to change practices and improve the fairness and efficiency of our local criminal justice system.”

Evaluating success

Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils are also key in evaluating a jurisdiction’s strategic initiatives and using data-driven metrics to monitor effectiveness.

Not all initiatives will be successful at first with their changes. CJCCs should serve as the hub and evaluating body for these performance metrics, enabling them to collaboratively reflect and adapt as necessary.

Then, a jurisdiction can develop new goals and metrics for ongoing sustainability.

Next time, we’ll look at data capacity and accountability.

Marshall Project Staff Writer Jamiles Lartey hosted a recent Twitter chat on strategies for addressing racial equity in our criminal justice system as part of the Safety and Justice Challenge’s commemoration of Black History Month.

From ending cash bail to empowering impacted communities in criminal justice reform, to replacing police with community response models for crimes better handled without a law enforcement response, the conversation emphasized ways to hold the system more accountable for racial disparities and to reduce them.

A broad group of participants joined the chat from prosecutors to defenders, and from academics to activists. It took place under the hashtag #RethinkJailsChat, and you can review the whole thing by going to Twitter and searching for the hashtag or simply clicking here.

Some attendees included:

@RashadRobinson — Color of Change President Rashad Robinson
@ResLegalDiva — Melba Pierson, Policy Director at the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University
@DrAprylA — Dr. Apryl Alexander, Associate Professor at the University of Denver Grad School
@JustLeadersUSA — Just Leadership USA — a national nonprofit led directly by impacted people
@PhillyDefenders — the Defender Association of Philadelphia
@CUNYISLG — the Institute for State and Local Governance at City University of New York
@JamiraBurley — activist and social impact strategist Jamira Burley
@APAinc —the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys
@NLADA — National Legal Aid and Defender Association
@AA_Consults — Consultant and trainer for education, empowerment and equity, Alexandra Arrington
@AntiRecidivism — The anti-recidivism coalition

Mr. Lartey set the tone by citing sobering recent research on Black imprisonment in the United States.

Despite declinings incarceration rates over the last decade-plus, the US remains in the midst of a racialized
incarceration crisis, with Black Americans being jailed at five times the rate of their white counterparts.https://t.co/eNkbGrOXMu

— Jamiles Lartey (@Jamiles) February 24, 2021

To open, Mr. Lartey linked to a recent report published by the Institute for State and Local Governance showing that overall booking rates are down, but that racial disparities persist. He asked how we can make criminal justice reform more inclusive.

Color of Change President Rashad Robinson, @RashadRobinson, emphasized the importance of holding key decision makers accountable for how they enable a system “designed to incarcerate BIPOC at higher rates.”

The justice system was designed to incarcerate BIPOC at higher rates – from the militarization of our schools to police brutality, the system works as intended. Holding key decision makers accountable for how they enable this system is the clear path forward. #RethinkJailsChat https://t.co/uOEgwkR5JJ

— Rashad Robinson (@rashadrobinson) February 25, 2021

The Defender Association of Philadelphia, @PhillyDefenders, stressed the importance of empowering and encouraging involvement from people in most-impacted communities in criminal justice reform.

#CJReform is only effective when we empower and encourage involvement from the people in communities most impacted, through programs like #ParticipatoryDefense hubs https://t.co/wYZBKetaVy #RethinkJailsChat https://t.co/C9zjTNhAyT

— Defender Association of Philadelphia (@PhillyDefenders) February 25, 2021

The next question focused on a 2018 report from the Prison Policy Initiative that found the “prison penalty” in unemployment disproportionately punishes formerly incarcerated Black men and women, Mr. Lartey asked: “Where are some other places we see this kind of racial disparity play out?”

Responses included disproportionate stops by the police of BIPOC individuals, jail populations, housing and education prospects, all contributing to a “cycle of desperation.”

It begins with contact with police. Black people are disproportionately stopped on the street by police and among those who have contact with police, BIPOC are more likely to experience the use of force. We need to reimagine policing. #RethinkJailsChat https://t.co/gf9hM0SvSP https://t.co/57ituPaUgF

— CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance (@CUNYISLG) February 25, 2021

Contact with the justice system impacts not just employment, but also housing and education prospects. This creates a cycle of desperation that has huge, negative ramifications for Black communities #CJRerform #RethinkJailsChat https://t.co/Ty7iNey1Y4 https://t.co/nevXQhrvfS

— Defender Association of Philadelphia (@PhillyDefenders) February 25, 2021

It plays out in housing, where people w/convictions are unable to live in certain buildings, as well as not being allowed to get student loans. The employment aspect is massive — if you can’t work or go to school, there is no legal path to follow. #RethinkJailsChat https://t.co/ylXRhiJuGW

— Melba Pearson (@ResLegalDiva) February 25, 2021

A3: The lifetime federal ban on public assistance, including food stamps, for people convicted of drug felonies demonizes and reduces benefits for BIPOC who have been disproportionately targeted and incarcerated for drug law violations. #RethinkJailsChat https://t.co/QKqSROLHOV

— JustLeadershipUSA (@JustLeadersUSA) February 25, 2021

Next, the discussion moved to focus on civilian responder models. A 2020 study from Police For Reform and the Center for American Progress found that between 33 and 68 percent of police calls for service could be handled without sending an armed officer to the scene.

“Many feel civilian first responders can help reduce overreliance on police & racial disparities in policing + arrests. The “CAHOOTS” program is a popular example,” Mr. Lartey wrote, linking to an article at The Marshall Project on the program in Eugene, Oregon.

He asked: “Do these kinds of civilian responder programs hold promise for reducing the disparate impact of the criminal justice system? What are some other possible solutions you think are worth mentioning?”

There was broad support for such models, and also, a call for deeper investment in the social safety net.
As stated in @MarshallProj’s The System, “rollbacks in the social safety net, growing income inequality & deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill” have all played into our current policing issues. We have to invest in alternative systems of care & support.#RethinkJailsChat https://t.co/ZFl97qVm29

— Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (@APAinc) February 25, 2021

Yes! Programs like Cahoots in OR have been shown to be effective. Denver is doing something similar. Sweden has been doing this for years. Connecting people with services is better for the community to address underlying concerns; a jail cell solves nothing. #RethinkJailsChat https://t.co/0qQLtzM8a2

— Melba Pearson (@ResLegalDiva) February 25, 2021

A4: Denver’s STAR program has successfully aided in sending mental health providers and social workers to calls instead of police. Over 600 calls they’ve addressed and did not need law enforcement intervention. #RethinkJailsChathttps://t.co/Al7MtCfflG https://t.co/NfIWUypDlP

— Dr. Apryl Alexander (@DrAprylA) February 25, 2021

Next, the conversation concluded by pivoting to bail reform, citing a recent report by Loyola University, which found that bail reform measures in Cook County increased the number of people released pretrial & was not associated with any significant change in the rate of criminal activity.

Mr Lartey asked:  What could findings like this mean for the prospect of bolder action on bail moving forward, or the spread of reform efforts? Could more findings like this stem the political backlash that reform efforts often meet?

The question drew an emphatic response:

A5: The evidence is clear that bail reform does not increase crime and poses no threat to public safety. We cannot let fearmongering continue to drive policy around the cash bail system. #RethinkJailsChat https://t.co/VVrjAAmAjM

— JustLeadershipUSA (@JustLeadersUSA) February 25, 2021

Across the country, we’ve seen Black voters elect prosecutors who ran on platforms to #EndCashBail, decline to prosecute low-level offenses and more. And, we’ve also seen historic levels of backlash, particularly when these reforms are brought by Black women. #RethinkJailsChat https://t.co/StVtE0UdgJ

— Rashad Robinson (@rashadrobinson) February 25, 2021

We have to fight the false narrative of bail reform = unsafe communities. It helps communities by reducing people losing jobs, families instability, & long term consequences of being justice involved. If we believe innocent until proven guilty- let’s act like it #RethinkJailsChat https://t.co/WqgmvX82wA

— Melba Pearson (@ResLegalDiva) February 25, 2021

—Matt Davis is a communications consultant supporting the Safety and Justice Challenge blog.