2013 Partner: New York, NY[BETA]

“New York City has long been at the forefront of using data and technology to direct public resources more effectively and deliver services more efficiently. We are proud to partner with Code for America and the Arnold Foundation to announce the next chapter in this effort – a new project to bring new reliable real-time information to our courtrooms to help ensure judgments are well-informed and justice is swift.” –  John Feinblatt, Chief Policy Advisor to New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

Similar to the Louisville Project (in fact, both funded by the Arnold Foundation) CfA Fellows will work with the NYC office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator to identify opportunities that enhance and improve the quality, consistency, and accuracy of data used to inform policy and assess programmatic outcomes for pre-trial justice reform. The fellows will guide the development of technology tools and interfaces to facilitate data driven decision-making and tracking of defendants in pretrial status, and will increase the knowledge and skills of system personnel and criminal justice agency heads on jail and pretrial-based technological applications.

Goal: enhance local efforts in pre-trial justice reform

Key Outcomes:

• Improved data collection system capabilities and data accuracy related to pre-trial decision-making
• Improved use of data-driven decision making for pre-trial defendants
• Increased knowledge and skills for system personnel and criminal justice agency heads on jail and pretrial-based technological applications

Primary City Contacts:  Jordan Dressler

Core Partners: The Arnold Foundation

The Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF) played a uniquely important role in the 2013 fellowship program.  Early this year, LJAF proposed partnering with CfA to design and fund projects in criminal justice.  LJAF not only provided critical funding for the first two criminal justice fellowship projects in Louisville and New York City, but also worked extensively with potential applicant cities to ensure that the selected jurisdictions were positioned to make the most of this unique opportunity.