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How to Make an Impact on Criminal Justice Reform

Open Philanthropy Project Dec 12, 2018
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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Chloe Cockburn: How to Make an Impact on Criminal Justice Reform Giving Compass
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Giving Compass’ Take:

• This post from the Open Philanthropy Project explores several opportunities for donors, including a Bronx nonprofit that connects people to legal advice 24/7 and a New Orleans court watching program.

• How might these organizations empower those impacted by the criminal justice system? What are the biggest challenges in this particular area that are of greatest concern?

• Another donation outlet to consider: The Unlocked Futures Fund.


Good Call

What is it? Good Call is a nonprofit that runs a free 24/7 arrest hotline in the Bronx, allowing anyone to connect with a free lawyer right away if they or a loved one are arrested. There are over 14 million arrests in the US every year, concentrated in low-income communities. Good Call’s service helps prevent costly, unnecessary pretrial jail time by ensuring that people who are arrested and their families get legal advice as quickly as possible.

Why I suggest it: Spending even one night in jail can have significant detrimental effects — making it more likely that a person will plead guilty, and putting their housing, employment, parental status, and other key components of their lives in jeopardy.

Court Watch Nola

What is it: Court Watch Nola (CWN) is a New Orleans based court watching program that engages 100-200 volunteers on an annual basis (having trained over 1000 over the past 10 years) to witness court proceedings and take detailed notes on what they observe. CWN compiles data from these notes into reports issued regularly. In 2017, information gathered by CWN contributed to substantially increased scrutiny of the New Orleans District Attorney, Leon Cannizzaro, who was found to be issuing fake subpoenas and jailing sexual assault victims for refusing to testify.

Why support it: CWN believes, and I agree, that systemic change comes if directly-impacted people and the community at large are actively engaged in the process of legal education, direct observation and data collection. Court monitoring, observation and the collection of data can empower the people most affected by the criminal justice system to ultimately lead movements to improve the policies that affect their lives.

Read the full article on criminal justice reform by Chole Cockburn at Open Philanthropy Project.

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Impact Philanthropy is a complex topic, and others found these selections from the Impact Giving archive from Giving Compass to be good resources.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    WASH Service: Financial Viability vs. User Affordability

    Giving Compass' Take: • WASH Funders examines the financial soundness of  six different service delivery models in the sector, specifically looking for institutions that can scale properly. • Which models were most effective and how can they be replicated? One big takeaway is to never lose sight of the needs for consumers, especially those in low-income areas. • Here's why women are often hit hardest by adequate WASH access. In a new publication we explore the financial viability of six urban WASH service delivery models. Each case study had three common features: 1) service delivery is overseen by a locally mandated institution, directly or through public-private partnership; 2) a significant portion of the target customer base (in most cases the entire customer base) live in low-income areas of the city; and 3) the model has demonstrated financial viability over a sustained period, with the result that the service provider can be confident of recovering costs and in some cases generating profit. Ensuring that WASH services recover costs while remaining affordable for low-income households, and reaching the city’s most vulnerable residents, is a constant balancing act. Our publication, Balancing financial viability and user affordability, shows it can be done. In this blog we share some key insights. Combined with the right incentives, targeted institutional support can bring a huge return on investment in terms of benefits to low-income consumers. A case in point is the institutional reform implemented by JIRAMA, the water utility in Madagascar. Since 2010 WSUP and JIRAMA have worked in partnership to implement a Non-Revenue Water (NRW) reduction program, aimed at improving the utility’s financial efficiency and overall performance. By prioritizing leakage detection among other measures, the utility has made huge efficiency savings which have been used to strengthen water supply across the city. WSUP estimates that more than 700,000 low-income consumers have benefitted from the program, with a projected net financial gain to JIRAMA of US$ 2.4 million for the period 2011-2020 for reinvestment into services in low-income communities. Read the full article about financial viability in WASH service delivery models by Sam Drabble at WASHfunders.


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