Connected Communities
JMI’s connected communities are designed to provide a platform for justice system stakeholders to network with others around justice policy and practice. Each of the networks that make up our connected communities offer the unique opportunity for peer learning and information sharing as well as the opportunity to engage in the development of tools and resources to help guide justice stakeholders in their day-to-day work.
National Network of Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils
Criminal justice coordinating councils (CJCCs) emerged as early as the 1970s as a means to create systemic responses to specific problems facing local jurisdictions such as jail crowding and domestic violence but waned over time. The concept of the CJCC has begun to emerge again as an effective means for improving public safety, creating system-based approaches to justice issues, reducing duplication of effort and conflicting practices, and improving how local jurisdictions allocate limited justice system resources. The National Network of Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils (NNCJCC) is a formal network of staff and leadership of local CJCCs that provides a forum for peer-to-peer learning among Network members and information sharing nationally to build capacity for CJCCs around the country.
CasePro Network
The CasePro Network was created by JMI, under funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC). The goal of the network is to bring together jurisdictions to address criminal case processing challenges to improve justice system outcomes. The network is designed for prosecutors, judges, and defense counsel as well as other justice professionals with an interest in improving case processing.
Native American Network (Wičhóyanke Network)
The Native American Network was created by JMI, under funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC) and renamed to the Wičhóyaŋke Network. Wičhóyaŋke [wičhá-oyáŋke] is a Lakota word that means “strengthening community.” The Wičhóyaŋke Network is a convening of Indigenous leaders from both the community and the criminal justice system, who have lived experience of implementing strategies to assist Indigenous communities to overcome the traumas and effects of racial disparities within the criminal justice system. The network is designed for community leaders and justice professionals with an interest in eliminiating racial disparities and combating the intergenerational impact of oppression within local criminal justice systems.