 |
Located in New York City, the Center for Court Innovation is an action research institute that works to improve public confidence in justice, both in New York and nationally. The winner of an Innovations in American Government Award from the Ford Foundation and Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, the Center seeks to make courts more problem-solving and consumer-oriented. Is it possible to promote greater civic involvement in justice? Could new resources, new technologies and new partners help courts improve the way they do business? And how should courts measure their success as they play new roles? These are a few of the questions that the Center for Court Innovation seeks to answer. In New York, the Center functions as the New York State Unified Court System's independent research and development arm, investigating chronic problems, devising new solutions and field-testing their effectiveness. In this capacity, the Center builds demonstration projects that test new approaches to problems like addiction, family dysfunction, juvenile delinquency and domestic violence that have proven resistant to traditional judicial strategies. The Center's innovations are not designed to remain the exclusive property of New York. The Center uses its demonstration projects as laboratories, testing new ideas, evaluating the results and spreading the word about what works and what doesn't. With the support of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Center disseminates the lessons learned from its demonstration projects across the country, through web sites (including www.courtinnovation.org, www.communitycourts.org and www.communityjustice.org), publications, site visits and workshops. The Center's model projects include:
For more information, visit the Center's web site, www.courtinnovation.org, or call 1-877-373-7300. |
 |
The OJP Drug Courts Program Office was established to administer the drug court grant program and to provide financial and technical assistance, training, related programmatic guidance, and leadership. Drug Courts leverage the coercive power of the criminal justice system to achieve abstinence and alter criminal behavior through the combination of judicial supervision, treatment, drug testing, incentives, sanctions, and case management. The Drug Court Grant Program offers grants to jurisdictions to plan, implement or enhance drug courts. In conjunction with the National Institute of Justice, the Drug Courts Program Office also will conduct comparative evaluations of drug court programs to identify the most effective program elements and designs to combat drug abuse and crime. For more information, please visit the Drug Courts Program Office's web site, www.ojp.usdoj.gov/dcpo. |