The Vera Institute’s Beyond Jails Initiative is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) from community-led organizations and local government leaders in Kentucky, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Tennessee. Selected partners will receive no-cost support, research, and technical assistance for the co-creation of county-level strategies to reduce jail incarceration by safely reducing the use of pretrial detention and money bail. This could include expanding community-based pretrial services and reducing pretrial length of stay.  

Strategies that further reduce jail incarceration by integrating an additional focus on the following policy areas will also be considered: 

 

We will prioritize strategies that include investment in community-based services, responses and resources, including reinvestment of savings from reducing jail incarceration. Community-based organizations are eligible to receive financial assistance to complete this work, in addition to in-kind support. 

Local jails are the “front door” to mass incarceration. Nearly everyone who goes to state or federal prison passes through a local jail first, and millions of people cycle in and out of jails each year. Vera’s Beyond Jails Initiative works at the state and local level to reduce jail incarceration and prioritize community-based responses to public health and public safety challenges. We focus on three primary drivers of jail incarceration: pretrial detention, supervision, and bookings for poverty-related offenses.  

 

Pretrial Detention: A staggering increase in pretrial detention has fueled jail growth across the country over the past several decades, particularly in smaller cities and rural communities. Approximately two-thirds of people held in local jails are unconvicted and presumed innocent—many of whom are simply too poor to pay money bail. Not only does our system of wealth-based detention fail to make communities safer, but it can also undermine public safety by making people more likely to plead guilty, more likely to receive harsher sentences, and more likely to be re-arrested in the future.  

 

Pretrial Supervision & Probation: People who are released pretrial or put on probation after the disposition of their cases often face onerous, expensive conditions of release. Increasingly, this includes various forms of GPS surveillance. Conditions like frequent check-ins during working hours, restrictions on mobility, and drug testing can hinder success after incarceration and land people back in jail for violating the rules of their supervision—even if they are not charged with a new offense.  

 

Criminalization of Poverty: The system can have a particularly devastating impact on poor and marginalized people. When people are arrested and charged for things like driving without a license, sleeping outside, or the inability to pay outstanding court and jail debt, they can be further impoverished by bail, fines and fees, making it even harder to find or maintain employment, housing, education, and transportation. This compounds the impact of poverty and can push people to turn to illegal activities to survive. There are opportunities to prevent people from being booked into jail on these offenses in the first place, further reducing unnecessary pretrial detention.  

 

Vera’s Beyond Jails team works at the intersection of community and government to think beyond jails and create local solutions including ordinances, court rules, policies, programs, and investment priorities that reduce the use of detention and supervision and improve community safety. We support the creation of policies and practices that address inequities and racial disparities in incarceration and ensure that systems are accountable to community members, particularly those impacted by crime and the criminal legal system. We know that the impact of incarceration extends beyond the jailhouse door.  

 

In most of the states in which we select local partners, Vera's Beyond Jails Initiative will also be engaged in statewide legislative change efforts. We will engage our partners in conversations about our statewide strategy and approach.  

Vera’s Beyond Jails Initiative team will select proposals for a year-long technical assistance partnership. The approach will be guided by the particular needs, assets, and context of each community, but Vera’s support can include:  

Eligible community-based organizations are:  

 

We will also consider organizations that have not explicitly focused on reforming the criminal legal system but propose projects that deepen their engagement after a history of intersectional work and holistic approach including anti-poverty, housing, harm reduction and other justice focused work. 

Community-based organizations will be eligible to receive funding to support this work. This is based on the recognition that devoting time to this work may not be covered by existing funding streams. Vera can also work with community and government partners to identify state and federal funding opportunities to sustain long-term investment in resources and programming that safely reduces jail incarceration. 

Any subgrants awarded may not be used to support lobbying of any kind, nor to support or oppose candidates for office. Issue advocacy that focuses on executive action—such as change to a city or county agency policy—is acceptable, since it is not considered lobbying under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Additionally, funds may be used to educate or brief elected officials about key issues, convene impartial candidate forums to address criminal justice, or for other forms of public and policymaker engagement. Grant money might also be used for a broad range of additional activities that support the above goals, including the creation and dissemination of materials, events, public initiatives, direct actions, salaries of personnel who manage or direct activities meant to achieve the goals of the grant, production of audiovisual content and storytelling initiatives, trainings, and canvassing. 

Examples of previous partnerships 

We will be hosting two webinars to answer any questions you may have. 

Vera has the right to amend or cancel this RFP at any time. Vera reserves the right, at the time of evaluation of any Response, to request any additional information that it deems necessary. Vera further reserves the right to reject any or all Responses after evaluation, and to be the sole judge of the merits of those received. Vera will not be responsible for late or incomplete responses. Any Response which does not comply with this RFP may not be considered. Vera will not return any materials it receives, and will not reimburse applicants for any costs incurred in developing a Response. Master agreements will have a term of five years or less, as determined by Vera. 

(212) 710-8158