Ideating Research to Practice Strategies for Opportunity & Justice-Impacted Youth
Criminal Justice Reform Prevention (CJRP) Community Regrant Initiative
The CJRP Community Regrant Initiative is a new effort to build and strengthen research-to-practice partnerships with community and direct service organizations committed to criminal justice prevention.
Over a three-month period, awarded organizations will work with the University of Southern California (USC) project team and a technical assistance coordinator to develop strategic plans that enhance youth and community engagement - with a particular focus on opportunity youth - address systemic inequities, and create prevention-focused solutions tailored to the needs of system-impacted individuals and communities.
Through this collaborative process, organizations will define actionable goals, analyze the influence of current events, build strategic partnerships, identify funding opportunities, and use data-driven strategies to communicate effectively with key audiences.
Selected participants will receive:
$7,500 grant: To support the implementation and expansion of your innovative solutions for addressing the root causes of crime and the inequities disproportionately impacting marginalized communities.
3-month research partnership: Collaborate with USC Rossier faculty and researchers to document your work and share your findings with the broader field.
Applications Open: February 11, 2025
Applications Due: March 23, 2025
Applicant Organizations Notified: April 13, 2025
Join us in creating a more just and equitable criminal justice prevention landscape.
This project builds on a prior project that surveyed two decades of federal prevention policy and built a national network of prevention-focused scholars. Outcomes from the prior project led to the identification of key dimensions of criminal justice prevention that speak to the areas of policy, programming, and research that we can leverage to mitigate or eliminate interaction with the criminal legal system through reforms in education, economics, environment, health, and safety.
Expanding Criminal Justice Reform Critical Policy Research
About the Regrant Initiative
Grounded in the belief that effective policy is designed by those closest to the issues, this initiative prioritizes collaboration with communities to reverse traditional top-down policymaking. By centering the voices of marginalized populations, the initiative aims to foster impactful, sustainable solutions.
Applying for the Regrant Initiative
The Community Regrant Initiative is open to non-profit organizations working to improve conditions for youth and communities in the United States across one or more dimensions of prevention. Eligible applicant organizations must work directly with one or more of the following groups: racially and ethnically minoritized groups, individuals from low-income or indigent backgrounds, youth involved in or aging out of the foster care system, organizations serving youth and young adults (ages 16–24), populations in urban or rural communities, and/or individuals with disabilities.
Learn more about the current landscape of federal policy, research, and events focused on criminal justice prevention
Researchers from USC conducted a systematic review in 2024 of the landscape of federal policy, policy research, scholarly articles, and contemporary events focused on criminal justice prevention reform across our dimensions of prevention (education, economics, environment, workforce, and health).
Our landscape analysis provides a summary of outcomes and recommendation for key constituencies (community organizations, institutions of higher education, K-12 leaders, local and city governments, educational and CJR researchers).
