NCJ Number
251069
Date Published
July 2017
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This report describes the features and effects of Missouri's Justice Reinvestment Initiative, which has been designed to address the challenges of an increase in violent crime, a rapidly increasing female prison population, and a high percentage of prison admissions due to correctional supervision failures.
Abstract
In May 2017, Missouri State leaders requested support from the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and The Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew) to assist in designing and implementing a justice reinvestment approach to address the aforementioned challenges. This request was approved, and BJA and Pew commissioned the Council of State Government Justice Center to provide intensive technical assistance under the Justice reinvestment Initiative (JRI). This involved collecting and analyzing data and the development of policy options for containing corrections spending and reinvesting in strategies that can reduce recidivism. The Missouri State Justice Reinvestment Task Force was established to manage the reform. Based on findings from extensive quantitative and qualitative analysis, the task force will develop options for the legislature's consideration that are designed to increase public safety and contain the cost of corrections. The task force will also explore opportunities to reinvest in strategies that will increase public safety and cost savings. The Council of State Governments Justice Center will continue to assist Missouri officials in identifying measures for assessing the impact of enacted policies on pretrial, probation, parole, and incarcerated populations. This will facilitate the tracking of the changes that occur in various components of the State's criminal justice system as a result of reforms. 1 figure