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Overview

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Executive Summary

This microsite updates and expands upon Guidelines for Developing a Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee, originally published in 2002, and includes accomplishments produced by existing CJCCs and other research-based resources developed by project partners over the last 18 years. It is designed to help local criminal justice stakeholders, including government officials, enhance public safety through improved justice planning, analysis, and collaboration. It responds to an ongoing need identified by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) to provide resources to localities that want to develop an effective decision-making structure to build collaboration, improve communication, and foster greater understanding among stakeholders about each other’s roles, responsibilities, practices, and policies.

Throughout this microsite, NIC references several of the "Core Activities" developed under the Evidence Based Decision-Making (EBDM) Phase II Planning Process. These activities were implemented to help EBDM sites build and strengthen their EBDM Policy Teams, but they can also be used to help localities develop effective decision-making structures in local their criminal justice systems.

How to use this website

This microsite will be useful to anyone who wishes to establish or strengthen a criminal justice coordinating council (CJCC) or learn how a CJCC can accomplish criminal justice system improvements. While this guide acknowledges and recognizes over 200 CJCCs formally created at city and county levels across the country, “criminal justice coordinating council” is an inclusive term applied to informal and formal decision-making structures where key justice system agency officials and other officials of general government discuss and address justice system issues.

This microsite:

  • Explains how to start and sustain a CJCC local government,
  • Describes a range of planning and coordination activities that a CJCC might take,
  • Describes alternative organizational forms for CJCCs,
  • Presents guidelines for operating a CJCC,
  • Highlights the benefits local governments can expect to derive from these activities,
  • Provides templates and examples documents that can be used for implementing a CJCC.