The Substance Use and Mental Health Program (SUMH) is studying the impact of recent changes to New York State drug laws that allow shorter sentences and alternatives to incarceration for certain felony drug charges. The reform is a shift from mandatory sentencing guidelines limiting judicial discretion that came into effect in 1973 during the tenure of then-governor Nelson A. Rockefeller and were popularly known as the Rockefeller drug laws. The study will describe the reform’s implementation and explore its implications for public safety and criminal-justice-system costs.

As a critical step in New York State’s juvenile justice reform process, Vera is assisting the Cuomo administration in examining and identifying strengths and weaknesses in the state’s juvenile justice funding structure. The aim is to create an effective funding system that will support and encourage best practices in juvenile justice on the ground, ensure positive outcomes for youth, families, and communities, and save money for both the state and counties.

Vera's Cost-Benefit Analysis Unit (CBAU), in conjunction with the Center on Youth Justice, is working with the North Carolina Youth Accountability Planning Task Force to estimate the costs and benefits associated with raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction.

Vera's Cost-Benefit Analysis Unit has developed a national knowledge bank for cost-benefit analysis in criminal justice to help practitioners and policymakers better understand the budgetary impact of criminal justice policy choices.

Vera’s Cost-Benefit Analysis Unit and Center on Sentencing and Corrections, in collaboration with the Public Safety Performance Project of the Pew Center on the States, have developed a methodology to guide a complete accounting of the cost of prisons.