In 1970, there were roughly 357,000 people in jails and prisons in the United States. Today, 48 years later, there are more than 2.3 million people in jails and prisons in the United States.
This staggering increased rate of incarceration in America has made us the “incarceration nation” of the world. No other nation on earth incarcerates more of its people in jails and prisons than the United States of America. In recent years, states throughout the country have concluded that this unfettered incarceration growth is not sustainable. There are many people in jails and prisons for fairly minor, non-violent offenses who, in many instances, would not be there if a viable alternative was available to them and to the justice system. Increasingly, Alternative To Incarceration efforts have become part of the criminal justice landscape. On the front end of the system, the number of Accountability Courts (i.e., Drug Courts, Family Treatment Courts, Veterans Courts, Mental Health Courts, and Community Courts) has been growing throughout the country for more than 25 years.
On the back end of the system, Reentry, Sustainability and Desistence are tied to offenders making better life choices and having access to community resources that assist them in avoiding repeat offenses. Reliable & Sustainable Solutions’ Restorative Justice Initiative is an Alternative To Incarceration effort that provides case managed, programmatic options to criminal justice officials (judges, sheriffs, probation departments and court administrators) who want to use Pre-trial Services, Work Release, and/or Home Detention/House Arrest as a viable alternative to continued incarceration.
Our Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Rodney A. Sprauve, J.D., has worked in the field of Restorative Justice since the mid-1990s. He was a member of the founding research, development & implementation team as a project planner for the Center for Court Innovation (www.courtinnovation.org) in New York City and the founding Project Director of the Harlem Community Justice Center in East Harlem, N.Y. He now leads these restorative justice efforts for Reliable & Sustainable Solutions.
To obtain more detailed information on this initiative, just send a message along to: rodney@randssolutions.com. We will be sure to get back to you as quickly as possible.
