Funding Guidelines

Criminal Justice

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The Criminal Justice Committee was established in 2008 to support the work of organizations and systems serving individuals involved with the criminal justice system. The Committee supports innovative programs that improve outcomes for New Yorkers as they emerge from justice involvement, and looks to support efforts to improve the effectiveness of the significant investment of public resources used to transition adults and young people from justice involvement to productive, stable, and healthy lives.

We pursue this strategy in the following ways:

• Investing in innovative direct services in New York City neighborhoods that can serve as alternatives to the placement of juveniles or adults in jail or prison.
• Supporting innovative direct services for adults and/or juveniles returning to their communities from jail or prison (employment, education, housing, substance abuse and mental health counseling, case management, etc.).
• Supporting policy work at the state and/or city level that directly leads to more efficient and effective use of public resources.
• Supporting research and demonstration efforts through private and public partnerships that serve as catalysts for building and/or scaling programs and system improvements.

We consider the following indicators of success when evaluating programs working within the criminal justice area:

• Decreased recidivism (from re-arrest, re-conviction, and re-incarceration)
• Job acquisition and retention
• Access to stable housing
• Improved family-functioning (reunification with children or parents)
• Educational gains
• Attention to mental health or substance abuse needs
• Decreased costs for successful outcomes
• Demonstrated willingness to shift practice and policies when outcomes are not positive
• Better understanding of the costs and benefits of individual services or system-wide responses
• Positive individual outcomes that are coupled with improvements to public safety

View Our Criminal Justice Grantees