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Our Vision
The United States has long relied on criminalization and incarceration to achieve public safety rather than adequately investing in the health and well-being of all our communities.
The broad reach of our criminal legal system has led to the world’s highest incarceration rates and exacerbated poverty and inequality, particularly for communities of color. This criminalization of poverty has only pushed people deeper into poverty, perpetuating a cycle that makes communities less safe.
Change requires more than reform. It requires investing in better ways to keep people healthy and safe, and reducing the size and scope of our criminal legal system. And it will only happen once we begin to repair the harm caused by mass incarceration through investing more in individuals and communities.
By focusing on these efforts, we can improve public safety, secure real justice and advance racial and economic equity for all Americans.
Quote from Kassandra Frederique
We all deserve to lead our lives with dignity, within whole and loving communities, with compassion and support in our times of need, and without threat or violence. That is the vision of humanity we are building toward.
Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance
The Opportunity
The dramatic growth in criminalization and incarceration over the past half century is built on unjust policies and practices that have devastated individuals, families and communities—particularly Black, brown and low-income communities.
Our country has used criminalization to respond to complex social issues—such as poverty, substance abuse, mental health and homelessness—rather than investing in the public supports and services that make communities healthy and safe.
Today, as a result of overcriminalization, nearly one in four people in the U.S. has a criminal record, and millions more interact with the justice system each year. Even a small interaction can make it difficult for a person to regain economic stability and create lifelong hardship for the families impacted.
Advocates and policymakers have shown that there is a path to ending overcriminalization while also prioritizing communal health and safety. Through our work, we aim to address the complex web of laws and practices that drive too many people into the system in the first place. We prioritize strategies that aim to end overcriminalization, scale community-centered approaches to health and safety, and support the successful reentry and leadership of formerly incarcerated people.
We do this by investing in a range of partners—many of whom have been directly impacted by the criminal legal system—who work to change our approach to public safety. As part of the broader movement for criminal justice reform, our partners’ efforts have driven meaningful policy shifts and expanded public support for alternatives to criminalization. We celebrate this progress even as we remain committed to the work that remains to build a system that provides justice and safety for all.
1.9M
People who are locked up in U.S. prisons, jails and other detention centers—more people per capita than in any other country in the world. (Source)
4x
The rate at which Black Americans are incarcerated in state prisons in the U.S. compared with white Americans. (Source)
16x
The rate at which people with untreated serious mental illness are likely to be killed in a police encounter compared with other civilians. (Source)
46%
The percent by which Black imprisonment rates dropped from 2009 to 2019, as crime fell in 37 states, demonstrating that justice and public safety go hand in hand. (Source)
Our Focus Areas
We focus on strategies that seek to shrink the size and reach of the criminal legal system, advance the health and well-being of communities, and build the economic and political power of people harmed by mass incarceration, particularly within Black, brown and low-income communities.
Ending Overcriminalization
Supporting efforts that aim to stop the overcriminalization that has driven the growth of the criminal legal system.
Achieving Community-Centered Health and Safety
Building safe communities by scaling effective responses to community health and safety needs that don't rely on the criminal legal system.
Reducing and Repairing Harm
Ending cycles of harm perpetuating mass incarceration by supporting successful reentry and leadership of formerly incarcerated people.
Our Grantees
We invest in national and local organizations, projects, and campaigns committed to achieving justice and safety in our criminal legal system. We also partner with other philanthropic organizations, including through funder collaboratives, to pool and invest resources in an important and underinvested issue area.
View more grantees in our Criminal Justice Grantmaking portfolio
Eliminating the Criminalization of Poverty
The Fines and Fees Justice Center (FFJC) works with affected communities and stakeholders to eliminate fees in the justice system, ensure that fines are equitably imposed and enforced, and end abusive collection practices.
Covering the Stories That Matter
The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that exposes unconstitutional and discriminatory practices in the criminal legal system and sets an example for other media to cover criminal justice issues fairly and responsibly.
Promoting New Responses to Violence
Working at the intersection of criminal justice, public health and racial justice, Equal Justice USA strives to transform the justice system by promoting responses to violence that break cycles of trauma.
Advancing Justice for Women and Girls
The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, founded by a group of justice-impacted women, works to end the forced separation of women, girls and mothers from their communities and loved ones through hyper-local organizing, public awareness education and movement lawyering.
Increasing Housing Access for Formerly Incarcerated People
Justice 4 Housing is a grassroots organization committed to ending housing discrimination and homelessness for individuals impacted by incarceration, and individuals criminalized for being a victim of domestic violence.
Fostering Safer Communities for All
The Coalition to Advance Public Safety (CAPS) is a collaborative effort focused on reducing near-term violence by expanding and strengthening the community violence intervention (CVI) ecosystem in cities across the U.S.
FEATURED RESOURCE
What is Community Violence Intervention?
Traditional law enforcement alone isn’t enough to stop community violence. Community Violence Intervention (CVI) complements law enforcement by taking a community-centered approach that provides direct support to at-risk individuals and addresses the root causes of conflict. In recent years, CVI has gained more attention, funding and support, creating opportunities for broader implementation and impact. In this explainer, learn more about the history of CVI, how CVI builds trust and promotes safety and key leaders shaping the field.
