Spotlight Announcement

5/5/2008: CSG Justice Center Convenes Focus Group on Improving Collaborations between State Governments and Community and Faith-Based Organizations

The Council of State Governments Justice Center convened a focus group meeting of officials from state departments of correction and representatives of community and faith-based organizations in April. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a draft guide, which recommends strategies for increasing collaboration between state departments of corrections and community and faith-based organizations. The meeting was held in conjunction with a conference in Arlington, VA hosted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, for the 2007 grantees of the Presidential Prisoner Reentry Initiative.

The Justice Center convened the meeting with support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, and the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, U.S. Department of Labor.

The forthcoming policy guide will describe ways state agencies can:

• identify and tap existing networks of organizations;
• simplify pathways to funding for smaller and newly established community and faith-based organizations;
• address cultural differences between government agencies and community and faith-based groups;
• align the target population of service providers’ clientele with the target population of state-led reentry initiatives; and
• ensure grantees are able to track and report data and meet performance measurement requirements.

The guide will also highlight efforts underway in states across the country that illustrate how particular state governments and community and faith based organizations have implemented recommendations provided in the guide.

For more information about the Justice Center's work on community and faith-based partnerships, contact Jamie Yoon or view the full project description on the Reentry Policy Council website.