Current Thinking
a forum for ideas, opinions, and strategies on justice policy and practice
Jun 14, 2013 This week, the New York State court system was selected by the National Guardianship Network (NGN) to receive one of four state court incentive and technical assistance grants to create innovative, consensus-driven Working Interdisciplinary Networks of Guardianship Stakeholders (WINGS). Funding for the grants comes from the State Justice Institute and the Albert and Elaine Borchard Foundation Center on Law and Aging. Working with Vera’s Guardianship...
Jun 3, 2013 This is the second in a two-part series.
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PA DOC) operates and contracts with an extensive network of Community Corrections Centers (CCCs) and Community Contract Facilities (CCFs), often referred to as halfway houses. About half of inmates paroled from state prison in Pennsylvania will transition through one of these halfway houses. Approximately 75 percent of these halfway house...
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Staff profile
Staff profile
Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
History
Staff profile
Staff profile
Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics, Pennsylvania Department of CorrectionsHistory
May 30, 2013 Earlier this month, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law HB 242—a complete rewrite of the state’s juvenile code. The revisions, which emerged from a multi-year reform process and were passed unanimously in the state House and Senate, represent a fundamental shift in the philosophy that underpins the state’s juvenile justice system. Aligned with best practice in the field, the new code emphasizes risk assessment and attorney presence in court...
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Staff profile
Staff profile
ameyer@vera.org
(212) 376-4061
Program Associate, Center on Youth Justice
Alessandra Meyer returned to Vera as a program associate in the Center on Youth Justice in October 2012. She previously worked with CYJ, leaving in July 2009 to pursue a double masters degree in social work and public policy at Columbia University. During her first year at Vera, she helped staff then-New York Governor Paterson’s Task Force on Transforming Juvenile Justice, conducting dozens of interviews with state officials and national experts on placement reform. Over the past three years, she’s worked on various initiatives focused on juvenile and criminal justice policy, including internships with the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Services Unit, the Red Hook Community Justice Center, and the Drug Policy Alliance. She also helped to co-produce the 2012 Sundance Award-winning documentary The House I Live In, an examination of the U.S. war on drugs.
Centers and Programs: Topics:
History
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Staff profile
Staff profile
vananthakrishnan@vera.org
(212) 376-3117
Senior Program Associate, Center on Youth Justice
Vidhya joined Vera as a senior program associate in 2008. In this role, she designs and manages an array of projects aimed at reforming juvenile justice systems. In recent years, her work has included planning and conducting diagnostic assessments of juvenile justice systems; reviewing promising programs, policies, and funding mechanisms for serving youth at different system points; and providing implementation assistance to government partners pursuing new initiatives. Among her projects have included managing CYJ’s assistance to Governor Paterson’s Task Force on Transforming Juvenile Justice in New York State; developing an intake and assessment process to match youth placed in local custody to private facilities in NYC; and creating an online resource center to help jurisdictions rethink their approach to working with youth who have engaged in noncriminal behavior (such as being truant or running away).
Before joining the center, Vidhya worked at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, where she conducted evaluations of different federal workforce and transit programs. Earlier in her career, she served as a youth policy advocate at the Neighborhood Family Services Coalition, where she directed a campaign to secure funding for summer jobs in New York City. Vidhya has a bachelor's degree in economics and international studies from Northwestern University and a master's degree in public policy from George Washington University.
Centers and Programs: Topics:
History
Staff profile
Staff profile
ameyer@vera.org
(212) 376-4061Program Associate, Center on Youth JusticeAlessandra Meyer returned to Vera as a program associate in the Center on Youth Justice in October 2012. She previously worked with CYJ, leaving in July 2009 to pursue a double masters degree in social work and public policy at Columbia University. During her first year at Vera, she helped staff then-New York Governor Paterson’s Task Force on Transforming Juvenile Justice, conducting dozens of interviews with state officials and national experts on placement reform. Over the past three years, she’s worked on various initiatives focused on juvenile and criminal justice policy, including internships with the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Services Unit, the Red Hook Community Justice Center, and the Drug Policy Alliance. She also helped to co-produce the 2012 Sundance Award-winning documentary The House I Live In, an examination of the U.S. war on drugs.Centers and Programs:Topics:History
Staff profile
Staff profile
vananthakrishnan@vera.org
(212) 376-3117Senior Program Associate, Center on Youth JusticeVidhya joined Vera as a senior program associate in 2008. In this role, she designs and manages an array of projects aimed at reforming juvenile justice systems. In recent years, her work has included planning and conducting diagnostic assessments of juvenile justice systems; reviewing promising programs, policies, and funding mechanisms for serving youth at different system points; and providing implementation assistance to government partners pursuing new initiatives. Among her projects have included managing CYJ’s assistance to Governor Paterson’s Task Force on Transforming Juvenile Justice in New York State; developing an intake and assessment process to match youth placed in local custody to private facilities in NYC; and creating an online resource center to help jurisdictions rethink their approach to working with youth who have engaged in noncriminal behavior (such as being truant or running away). Before joining the center, Vidhya worked at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, where she conducted evaluations of different federal workforce and transit programs. Earlier in her career, she served as a youth policy advocate at the Neighborhood Family Services Coalition, where she directed a campaign to secure funding for summer jobs in New York City. Vidhya has a bachelor's degree in economics and international studies from Northwestern University and a master's degree in public policy from George Washington University.Centers and Programs:Topics:History
May 28, 2013 Call me naïve. When someone mentions "sentencing and corrections"—a popular term in the age of mass incarceration—I assume they are describing a system of justice that does what the name suggests: sentence and correct. In other words, sentencing that hold offenders accountable, and a corrections system that implements sanctions and prepares people for reintegration back into society. Without the latter, we risk perpetually cycling people in and out of the...
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Staff profile
Staff profile
mmehler@vera.org
(212) 376-3146
Web and Communications Manager
Michael joined Vera’s communication department in January 2008. Previously, he worked for the Brennan Center for Justice where he played a major role in building the organization’s internet operations and establishing its web presence. He led Vera’s web redesign project, transforming the site into a leading-edge website in the criminal justice space. Michael is currently responsible for developing and implementing Vera’s online communications strategy.
History
Staff profile
Staff profile
mmehler@vera.org
(212) 376-3146
Web and Communications ManagerMichael joined Vera’s communication department in January 2008. Previously, he worked for the Brennan Center for Justice where he played a major role in building the organization’s internet operations and establishing its web presence. He led Vera’s web redesign project, transforming the site into a leading-edge website in the criminal justice space. Michael is currently responsible for developing and implementing Vera’s online communications strategy.History
May 24, 2013 I met Rick Kern soon after I started working at Vera in 2008. Rick had a long-standing relationship with Vera, and he served as an associate with Vera’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections for many, many years. Rick was our “go-to guy” on just about every sentencing and corrections topic—sentencing commissions, risk assessments, pre-sentence investigations, sentencing guidelines, and fiscal impact statements, among others. When I routinely called him...
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Expert profile
Expert profile
ashames@vera.org(212) 376-3075
Associate Director, Center on Sentencing and Corrections
As associate director of the Center on Sentencing and Corrections since 2008, Alison manages staff, oversees budgets, develops grant proposals, and directs projects. Her recent work has included helping Illinois pass and implement its Crime Reduction Act of 2009, which legislated the use of evidence-based practices throughout the criminal justice system; facilitating county and state steering committees in Alabama to improve community-based supervision practices and address prison overcrowding; drafting and editing Vera reports on the fiscal crisis and sentencing trends; convening a national conference on performance incentive funding programs; and managing the Justice Reinvestment Initiative for Vera. Previously, Alison worked in Sydney, Australia, where she served as executive officer to the Committee of Criminal Justice CEOs in the Attorney General’s Department of New South Wales. Before that, Alison was the state copyright manager for the state of New South Wales and corporate counsel for Fairfax Media, one of Australia’s largest media companies. Immediately following law school, Alison clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Vance in New Orleans. Alison has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from New York University School of Law.
Centers and Programs: Topics:
History
Expert profile
Expert profile
ashames@vera.org(212) 376-3075
Associate Director, Center on Sentencing and CorrectionsAs associate director of the Center on Sentencing and Corrections since 2008, Alison manages staff, oversees budgets, develops grant proposals, and directs projects. Her recent work has included helping Illinois pass and implement its Crime Reduction Act of 2009, which legislated the use of evidence-based practices throughout the criminal justice system; facilitating county and state steering committees in Alabama to improve community-based supervision practices and address prison overcrowding; drafting and editing Vera reports on the fiscal crisis and sentencing trends; convening a national conference on performance incentive funding programs; and managing the Justice Reinvestment Initiative for Vera. Previously, Alison worked in Sydney, Australia, where she served as executive officer to the Committee of Criminal Justice CEOs in the Attorney General’s Department of New South Wales. Before that, Alison was the state copyright manager for the state of New South Wales and corporate counsel for Fairfax Media, one of Australia’s largest media companies. Immediately following law school, Alison clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Vance in New Orleans. Alison has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from New York University School of Law.
Centers and Programs:Topics:History
May 22, 2013 By Olivia Sideman, research analyst, Substance Use and Mental Health Program
In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Gideon v Wainwright that the states are required to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants who cannot afford to pay for a private attorney. In the 50 years since the Gideon ruling, there have been far-reaching improvements to representation for indigent defendants. Increased state,...
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2 comments
May 20, 2013 This is the first in a two-part series.
In Pennsylvania, approximately one in every 200 adults is incarcerated in state prison, and more than 90 percent of those incarcerated will one day be released from prison. At the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PA DOC), we recently completed a comprehensive report on recidivism. We believe that recidivism should be a primary measure of...
2 comments
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Staff profile
Staff profile
Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
History
Staff profile
Staff profile
Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics, Pennsylvania Department of CorrectionsHistory
2 comments