New Thinking, from the Center for Justice Innovation

QUEST Futures is a juvenile mental health initiative that seeks to establish a comprehensive, coordinated response to youth with mental illness involved in the juvenile justice system in Queens, New York. Here, researcher Josephine Hahn discusses the findings of an impact evaluation of the program. (February 2014)

Judges Carolyn Minder and James Cawthon preside over the Ada County Domestic Violence Court in Boise, Idaho. The court is one of three domestic violence courts in the U.S. selected by the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women to serve as a mentor court, helping other courts develop more effective responses to domestic violence. In this episode of New Thinking, the judges explain...

The Harlem Justice Corps is an intensive career development and service program for justice-involved young men and women. Project Manager Tai Alex explains how the initiative works, and participants Elijah Blount and Anthony Brown discuss what they've learned so far.

Cynthia G. Lee and David B. Rottman, researchers from the National Center for State Courts, discuss some of the key findings in their new report, A Community Court Grows in Brooklyn: A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Red Hook Community Justice Center . (November 2013)

The Center for Court Innovation celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Midtown Community Court with speeches by New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, Center for Court Innovation Director Greg Berman, and others.

Andree Mattix, director of social services at Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office , discusses how a customized technology application helps her staff track data and clients in the D.A.'s diversion, victim-witness, and domestic violence programs.

Judge Michael Bordallo of the Family Violence Court in Guam discusses his specialized court, including challenges and opportunities faced by the court and stakeholders. The judge also offers a unique perspective on responding to domestic violence in an island community. (September 2013)

The National Drug Court Online Learning System at www.drugcourtline.org offers free training modules on a wide range of topics by national experts. In this podcast, Valerie Raine and Dennis Reilly, both of the Center for Court Innovation, explain how drug courts can use the system to educate new employees and keep their teams up to date on developments in the field. (August 2013)

Chief Magistrate Judge Berryl Anderson of DeKalb County, Georgia discusses the lessons she has learned over the course of 21 years as an attorney and 13 years as a judge about working with victims of domestic violence and improving the justice system's response to intimate partner violence.  July 2013

Co-authors Michael Rempel and Suvi Hynynen Lambson discuss the findings of their study, The Adolescent Diversion Program: A First Year Evaluation of Alternatives to Conventional Case Processing for Defendants Ages 16 and 17 in New York . The study examines the  Adolescent Diversion Program , finding that diverting youth to services does not increase recidivism rates and, in fact, reduces recidivis...

Family Court judges should consider the impact of violence on families when making decisions about child custody and visitation, according to Kristine Lizdas, a managing attorney at the Battered Women's Justice Project . In this podcast, Lizdas discusses the Justice Project's four-part model for helping judges make more informed decisions.

Shannon M. Carey of NPC Research discusses the impact of the Rockefeller Drug Law Reform, which in 2009 eliminated New York's mandatory prison sentences for most felony drug offenders. According to a study she co-authored, court-ordered treatment enrollment after the reform was implemented in 2009 increased by 77 percent. Also, the study estimated that there would be a potential $2 of newly availa...

Acting Supreme Court Judge Kelly O'Neill Levy discusses her transition from Bronx Family Court to the Harlem Community Justice Center , where she applies problem-solving strategies to both family and housing cases.  May 2013 Judge Kelly O'Neill Levy discusses a case with her law clerk and resource coordinator.

Christine H. Lindquist, a senior research sociologist at RTI International , talks about reentry courts, recidivism, and what she's learned so far from a multi-year study funded by the US Department of Justice.  April 2013

Tania Sourdin , a professor of law and dispute resolution at Monash University in Melbourne, explains how the Australian Centre for Justice Innovation , which she directs, supports reform through research and experimental projects.

Kevin G. Kelly, deputy commissioner of NYC Business Customer Service in the New York City Mayor's Office, discusses how the city uses technology to improve efficiency and radically restructure how businesses interact with government.  January 2013

Authors of new research about gun violence in Brooklyn, New York, Sarah Picard-Fritsche and Lenore Cerniglia discuss findings on Save Our Streets (SOS) Crown Heights, an approach to gun violence prevention in the Crown Heights neighborhood. The new report, “ Testing a Public Health Approach to Gun Violence ,” details a comprehensive impact and process evaluation of Save Our Streets, which is based...

Judge Joseph Gubbay, who presides over one of nine pilot sites of the Adolescent Diversion Program , explains how the initiative is expanding the justice system's options for dealing with 16- and 17-year-old defendants, who are currently treated under New York law as adults, even  for non-violent offenses . Kings County (N.Y.) Justice Joseph Gubbay presides over the Brooklyn pilot of the Adolescen...

While on a visit to observe practices in New York City, Heather Munro, the chief executive of the London Probation Trust, takes a break to discuss the challenges facing probation in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom and new initiatives, including experiments in England and Wales with high-intensity community sentence projects (which is also the subject of a monograph by Centre for Justice Innov...

Phil Bowen, co-author of Payback with a Purpose  and director of the Centre for Justice Innovation in the  U.K., discusses what good "community payback" ("community service" in the U.S.) should look like, comparing the experience in the U.K. with New York City . The debate about what community payback ought to be comes at a crucial time for probation services in England and Wales, where the Govern...

Dr. Mara Schiff, an associate professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University, focuses her work on restorative justice, community justice, and juvenile justice. Here, she gives on overview of restorative practices and discusses why a restorative approach can be particularly valuable for youth.  October 2012

Under Chief Michael A. Davis, the police officers of Brooklyn Park, a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul, pursue community building.

A multi-faceted partnership to lower violence in one of Brooklyn’s most beleaguered neighborhoods gets a major boost with the announcement of $599,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Justice. Among those speaking at a press conference to announce the grant are Denise E. O’Donnell, director of the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, U.S. Att...

Angela Irvine, director of research in the Criminal Justice Division of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, sat down for this podcast interview after participating in a research roundtable on youth courts that was sponsored by the Center for Court Innovation and the Lowenstein Family Foundation on July 18, 2012.  Irvine also discusses research into lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender...

The graduation of seven fathers serves as a jumping off point for Liberty Aldrich, director of the Center for Court Innovation's family and domestic violence programming, to discuss the Kings County Parent Support Program , which links non-custodial parents with needed services to increase child support payments and maintain healthy parent-child relationships.