Pennsylvania
Implementing the Strategy
Step 1: Analyze data and develop policy options
The CSG Justice Center will comprehensively analyze crime, arrest, conviction, sentencing, diversion program, jail, prison, behavioral health, probation and parole, and community corrections data. The analyses will complete an examination of movements through Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system, producing findings regarding capacity, pressures, and effectiveness. Outcomes will be evaluated concerning effectiveness at preventing future crime, lowering recidivism, and meaningfully holding offenders accountable.
To incorporate perspectives and recommendations from across Pennsylvania, the CSG Justice Center will collect input and recommendations from criminal justice system stakeholders, including: district attorneys; the defense bar; judges; state and local corrections; law enforcement executives; service providers and community leaders; victims, survivors, and their advocates; local officials; state and county probation and parole; and more.
In collaboration with the Justice Reinvestment Working Group, which will review analysis and share recommendations, the CSG Justice Center will develop data-driven policy options that increase public safety and reduce spending on corrections.
Step 2: Adopt new policies and put reinvestment strategies into place
Once the policy options have been enacted, Pennsylvania policymakers will need to verify that the policies are adopted effectively. The CSG Justice Center will assist Pennsylvania with translating the new policies into practice and ensuring related programs and system investments achieve projected outcomes. This assistance includes developing implementation plans with state and local officials and keeping policymakers apprised through frequent progress reports and testimony to relevant legislative committees.
Step 3: Measure Performance
Finally, the CSG Justice Center will ensure that Pennsylvania officials receive brief, user-friendly, and up-to-date information that explains the impact of enacted policies on jail and prison populations, and on rates of re-incarceration and criminal activity. Typically, this includes a “dashboard” of multiple indicators that make it easy for policymakers to track—in real time—the changes in various components of the criminal justice system.