Improving the systems people rely on for justice and safety can be challenging. Policymakers and practitioners must address a host of issues, including

• understanding the nature, extent, and causes of the problems their jurisdictions are facing;
• finding, developing, and implementing feasible solutions;
• persuading other stakeholders to advance reforms; and
• managing the reform process among numerous stakeholders.

Vera offers a range of technical assistance services to help government partners address these issues. We provide decision makers at the local, state, and national level with expertise and nonpartisan advice to help them craft practical solutions that are viable, effective, and sustainable.

How We Can Help

Vera works closely with partners to tailor our technical assistance to support their specific reform goals. We combine subject matter expertise, research and analytical capacity, and knowledge of government systems with skilled facilitation and process consultation to help our partners

• identify and prioritize systems problems; 
• learn from relevant policies, practices, and programs elsewhere;
• think through policy options; 
• foster dialogue and build consensus across stakeholder groups;
• design and implement new systems and programs;
• make existing systems and programs more effective;
• introduce or facilitate institutional or systems change; and 
• build institutional capacity.

To help clients navigate the political, financial, and bureaucratic obstacles that can block meaningful reform, Vera provides peer-to-peer assistance via our associates—active practitioners with reform experience. Our associates include judges, legislators, prosecutors, defenders, victim advocates, service providers, and other professionals who know firsthand both what it takes to change systems and what is and is not transferable across jurisdictions. Vera also arranges peer-to-peer assistance through multi-jurisdictional convenings and trainings.

Our Results

Vera has worked in more than 35 states and more than 100 localities assisting blue ribbon panels, sentencing commissions, county and statewide working groups, legislative committees, nonprofit organizations, and others. Highlights from recent projects include:

• Helping New York City juvenile justice officials to develop, validate, and implement a juvenile detention risk assessment instrument to help judges make objective decisions about whether arrested youth should be released, referred to supervisory programming in the community, or detained while they await their trial.
• Working with the Office of Refugee Resettlement to develop standardized decision-making protocols to guide initial placements of unaccompanied children placed into federal custody.
• Developing tools to help prosecutors identify and address patterns of racial disparity in decision making.

For more information, contact the director of technical assistance, Tina Chiu.