Projects

Research suggests that individuals with intellectual disabilities and a criminal history may represent the most complex of cases of clients needing multifaceted supports both within criminal institutions and community-based settings. In order to better serve this population while protecting public safety, we must understand how to use evidence-based practices to identify and serve their targeted needs.

Educating and mobilizing chief justices and other state court leaders in support of sentencing and corrections reforms in alignment with the project's goals and focus, and helping to create national visibility and awareness of the need for such reforms.

CJI collaborated with Cornerstones for Kids and CPS Human Resource Services to conduct a national assessment of the condition of the juvenile justice workforce, to explore the impact of juvenile justice reform on the workforce, and to produce a report on aligning workforce efforts with reform goals.

CJI is pleased to be working with the Greater Lowell Workforce Investment Board (GLWIB), and the Career Center of Lowell, in the development of a strategic plan that will lead to a formal coordinated process enabling multiple local, state and federal partners in the Greater Lowell Area to better prepare ex-offenders in their education and job placement success post incarceration.

CJI, with support from The Boston Foundation and the Gardiner Howland Shaw Foundation, has embarked on a statewide effort to improve outcomes in the Massachusetts criminal justice system. This project has a number of components geared toward identifying problems and gaps in the system, developing solutions and assisting in the implementation of reforms designed to increase public safety and reduce the costs of the corrections system.

The State of Massachusetts, through the Department of Youth Services (DYS) and with other Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) partners, is in the process of implementing detention reform in four Massachusetts counties with technical assistance from CJI.

With support from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, CJI conducted a three-county examination of the preparation of prisoners for employment upon release.

A study to measure the impact of caseload size and the implementation of evidence-based probation interventions on offender recidivism.