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Connecticut To Study Alternatives To Incarceration Using $150K Grant

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. – Connecticut has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the Safety and Justice Challenge, a program of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Connecticut has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the Safety and Justice Challenge, a program of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Connecticut has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the Safety and Justice Challenge, a program of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Photo Credit: macfound.org

The grant is part of the foundation’s $75 million effort to implement more alternatives to incarceration, according to a press release.

Connecticut officials plan to use the funds for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s Second Chance Society.

That initiative would improve non-violent criminal offenders’ opportunities to find housing and jobs.

The MacArthur Foundation received applications from 200 government jurisdictions in 45 states; only 20 applications were accepted.

Next year, 10 of those 20 government bodies will be awarded anywhere from $500,000 to $2 million in additional funding for programs providing alternatives to incarceration.

“Each of the sites selected has demonstrated the motivation, collaboration, and commitment needed to make real change in their local justice systems,” Julia Stasch, president of the MacArthur Foundation, said in a press release.

Nearly 75 percent of people serving time or awaiting trial in local jails throughout the United States are held for non-violent offenses, according to research from the Vera Institute of Justice.

“In Connecticut, we have proven you can be both tough on crime while being smart about it,” Malloy said in a press release. “We have seen our crime rates drop to a 40-year low while we have reduced our prison population to an all-time low.”

“We are also working to give our non-violent offenders a second chance at a better job, better housing and better opportunities for their family to break the cycle of poverty and crime.”

“We are proud to receive this award because it highlights that Connecticut is on the leading edge for criminal justice reform.”

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