Public Safety Innovations

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Boston Metro Innovations

G.R.E.A.T. Cooking Class
Boston E-Lert System
Women in Transition
Reentry Case Managers
Join Together Online

National/International Innovation

Juvenile Restitution Program
CJCJ Connections Program
WellSpring
Inside Out Trust
Kolbe Foundation: Belize Central Prison

Public Safety -- Boston Metro    

The G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance Education Training) Cooking Class program is the result of a new partnership between the Boston Police Department and Bread & Circus Markets.  Youth service officers bring students already participating in G.R.E.A.T. programming to a Bread & Circus Market for a weekly cooking session in an on-site, cooking demonstration classroom.  This teaches students valuable skills and allows the service officers to reach them in new and non-threatening ways.

• Eight-week program at schools and at Bread & Circus Markets
• Collaboration of Boston Police Department and Bread & Circus Markets
• Integrated into Gang Resistance Education Training (G.R.E.A.T)

Public Safety -- Boston Metro    

An E-lert system allows police a mechanism to communicate with local residents in real time, which helps to spread awareness and stop preventable crimes.  Residents in Columbia-Savin Hill are the first in Boston to try out out the E-lert system, an e-mailed summary that will go out regularly to keep residents abreast of the latest incidents. The pilot program limits its scope to four "preventable" crimes - auto theft, vandalism, and auto and house break-ins. After a six month trial, the E-lert program will be evaluated for its effectiveness and may be expanded to other Boston neighborhoods.

• Generated from police reports
• Goes out 3 to 5 times a week
• Over 100 citizens on the system

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Public Safety -- Boston Metro    

The first pre-release facility in the US to offer re-entry support services designed specifically for women offenders.

The Women in Transition (WIT) pre-release facility opened in January 2001 to serve women offenders before their release. It targets women who are non-violent offenders with minimal criminal histories. WIT offers a range of programs to prepare the women for life on the outside and teach them skills and strategies to avoid returning to prison. Programs include counseling, parenting skills instruction, domestic violence support groups, substance abuse and anger management programs, and classes in nutrition and health. WIT collaborates with local high schools and community colleges that supply tutors who work one-on-one with the inmates.

• Houses 24 women with drug and alcohol addictions
• Serves 14 women on electronic monitoring status
• Data shows that a four month stay significantly reduces recidivism

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Public Safety -- Boston Metro    

The Essex County Sheriff's Department has a unique and innovative program to prepare inmates for life on the outside. All of the county's correctional facilities employ reentry case managers who develop and support an individual reentry plan for each inmate. The reentry case managers interview every inmate within days of sentencing and create an activity log report to keep track of the inmate's progress while he or she is incarcerated. The activity log records information about the inmate's behavior while in prison, the clinical and educational programming he or she participates in, and any disciplinary issues that develop. The log records are shared with everyone who will be involved with the inmate once he or she is released, from parole officers to service providers. All these representatives are included in the process of creating an individualized treatment and reintegration plan from the time the inmate first enters prison. 

• Interview for each inmate within 72 hours of entry
• Clinical programs include drug & alcohol counseling, anger management and programs on HIV/AIDS
• Educational programs include GED instruction, ESL, computer skills and vocational training

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Public Safety -- Boston Metro      

Originating as a project of the Boston University School of Public Health, Join Together Online (JTO) has long been a pioneer in using the Internet to support people working on substance abuse and gun violence issues. Every month, three-quarters of a million JTO web pages are viewed by over 350,000 people - users of its principal site, subscribers to its e-mail news services, and visitors to websites in its syndication network. Recently, it began focusing attention on strengthening community capacity to expand the supplyof and demand for high quality drug and alcohol treatment.

• Used weekly by over 100,000 people
• Over three-quarters of a million hits per month
• Supports community programs to reduce gun violence, substance abuse, and alcohol treatment
• Partnership services in 29 cities

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Public Safety -- National/International    

This program, begun in 1998, gives juvenile offenders on probation an opportunity to earn money owed to their victims by completing community work projects.  The probationers earn minimum wage, which is credited to a restitution account given to the ex-offenders' victims.  The program teaches accountability and reintegrates the probationer into the community by requiring participation in community service. 

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Public Safety -- National/International      

In 2001, San Francisco realized that many people with mental illnesses who had not committed serious crimes were being denied pretrial release because their special needs made them too difficult to supervise in the community.  In response, the city created the Connections program, a joint project of the California State Sheriff's Association and the Mental Health Association.  The program is funded by California's Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction Grant (MIOCRG).  The goal of the program is to reduce crime, decrease the continued re-incarceration of the mentally ill, and reduce criminal justice costs and overcrowding.

• Provides case managers
• Arranges for temporary housing
• Helps with treatment, vocational training, and education 

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 WellSpring 

Public Safety -- National/International   

Innovation

A community approach to rehabilitating young offenders through skills enhancement, positive role models, and victim engagement.

Description

WellSpring is a residential program for serious or chronic male juvenile offenders with the goal of helping young offenders develop personal responsibility and competency skills by engaging them with families, victims, and the community. The program relies on individualized and group counseling (including family sessions), skill-building classes, and exposure to positive adult role models.

• Male offenders between 12 and 17 enter the program for six months to a year
• Also serves youth from neighboring Crook and Jefferson Counties
• Funded by Deschutes County general funds and federal Medicaid resources in partnership with the Oregon Youth Authority

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 Inside Out Trust 

Public Safety -- National/International   

Innovation

United Kingdom's vocational skills programs for prisoners that have a positive impact on communities and people in need.

Description

The Inside Out Trust develops community service projects that teach prisoners vocational skills and give them opportunities to compensate for their crimes by helping communities.  Projects include refurbishing and repairing wheelchairs, upgrading computers, making Braille and large-print books, and building wooden toys for disadvantaged children.  By participating in these projects, prisoners can help people in need while learning valuable skills that will ease their transition back into society.  The Inside Out Trust currently runs over 140 projects in 75 prisons in the UK.  Other projects include:

• Repairing bicycles that are donated to children in developing countries
• Sewing clothing and blankets for refugees and the homeless
• Making art for community spaces

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 Kolbe Foundation: Belize Central Prison 

Public Safety -- National/International   

Belize Central Prison

Innovation

The Kolbe Foundation transformed a failing prison into a model for successful inmate rehabilitation.

Description

In August 2002, Belize turned over management of its Central Prison to the Kolbe Foundation, a nonprofit organization made up of members of the Rotary Club of Belize.  At the time, the prison's cells were dangerously overcrowded (only 1/3 of the inmates had beds), food and medical services were poor, and no rehabilitation services were offered.  The Kolbe Foundation rebuilt a clinical facility, a learning center with classrooms and a computer lab, and separate housing for youth and female inmates.  Prisoners run the various rehabilitation programs and serve on an Inmate Advisory Board that meets weekly with prison administrators.  Since the Kolbe Foundation took over management, recidivism rates and escape attempts have significantly dropped.

• Jerimiah 33.3, an inmate-run radio station, broadcasts a message of hope and healing
• Some minimum security buildings are run more like open dormitories to show trust in prisoners
• Since 2002, recidivism rates have dropped from 60% to 25%

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