The Arnold Ventures Philanthropic Foundation
is sponsoring a new grant program for
Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research (APPR) in Trial Courts

The Laura and John Arnold Founda􏰀on (a/k/a Arnold Ventures Philanthropic Founda􏰀on), founded in 2010, has a mission to improve lives through evidence-based solu􏰀ons in the fields of criminal jus􏰀ce, health care, educa􏰀on and public finance. One of the Founda􏰀on’s primary interests has been funding technical assistance to courts, judges, prosecutors and public defenders to imple- ment and evaluate transforma􏰀ve new prac􏰀ces to eliminate unjust pretrial deten􏰀on. In doing so, the Founda􏰀on supports a group of reputable nonprofit consultancies, researchers, policy experts and advocates known as the Na􏰀onal Partnership for Pretrial Jus􏰀ce. Partnership members include such organiza􏰀ons as the Na􏰀onal Center for State Courts, Center for Effec􏰀ve Public Policy, ABA, Center for Court Innova􏰀on, Rand Corpora􏰀on, and various universi􏰀es (i.e. Stanford, University of Notre Dame, University of California, Berkeley, etc.)

Trial court jurisdic􏰀ons interested in revamping and upgrading their pretrial services func􏰀ons through working with technical assistance (TA) providers and peer prac􏰀􏰀oners, who have success- fully implemented various pretrial jus􏰀ce reforms, are invited to apply to be “Learning Sites.” Each learning site selected will receive at no cost 16-months of TA and coaching that will examine their pretrial system, iden􏰀fy improvements, and implement the Arnold-developed Public Safety Assess- ment (PSA) tool, a pretrial risk assessment instrument for use by judicial officers that produces a score represen􏰀ng the likelihood an arrested defendant will commit a new crime or will fail to appear for a future court appearance.

The Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research (APPR) technical assistance teams began working with the first Learning Sites in July 2020. Those pilot sites included Douglas County, Nebraska (Omaha); Dade County, Florida (Miami); Williamson County, Texas (Aus􏰀n suburb); Wake County, North Carolina (Raleigh); and the City of Youngstown, Ohio.

APPR will be presen􏰀ng an informa􏰀onal, no obliga􏰀on webinar on December 15, 2020 at 3:00 PM (EST) to discuss the Learning Sites project, answer ques􏰀ons about the assistance offered, and review the process for jurisdic􏰀ons in applying to become a project site. If interested, applica- 􏰀ons must be submi􏰁ed by January 15, 2021 or February 26, 2021 to be considered for the program that will begin in early 2021. Jurisdic􏰀ons selected will work with TA providers and peer prac􏰀􏰀oners through an online workspace.

more informa􏰀on? | register for the upcoming webinar? | request an applica􏰀on?

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h􏰁ps://advancingpretrial.org/implementa􏰀on/ge􏰂ng-started/learning-sites/