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History
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Although Vera did not have a department devoted to cultivating work outside New York until 1997, we have always kept the broader perspective on reform in mind. Vera became nationally known through its very first effort, the Manhattan Bail Project, which ultimately led to President Johnson's signing of the Bail Reform Act. In subsequent years we helped officials from Ohio to Arizona experiment with pretrial services, supported work for ex-offenders, youth diversion programs, and community-based sanctions—building our network of associates along the way. Our past efforts, much like those today, were successful only where Vera's experience and techniques were combined with local officials' knowledge, commitment, and political support.
Vera began a longstanding partnership with the Justice Department's Violence Against Women Office (VAWO, now the Office on Violence Against Women, or OVW) in 1996. Initially, we helped some of VAWO's grantees develop computerized information systems. Complementing this work, Vera published a review of a well-known computerized victim notification system, When Victims Have a Right to Know: Automating Notification with VINE®. Later, we helped VAWO create a database so that the office's staff could efficiently track and manage their growing number of grants. Finally, in a third project we worked with VAWO to develop a prototype for software that would allow jurisdictions to more effectively enforce out-of-state protection orders for abused women and families.
Our national programs also shed light on emerging disciplines. Three years ago, the Annie E. Casey Foundation launched an initiative in several urban neighborhoods struggling with crime and violence. To help the foundation's staff foster collaboration between local justice systems and members of these communities, Vera compiled a resource guide of successful types of community justice efforts already in progress around the country. The guide contains an inventory of community-run organizations and government agencies that share responsibility for safety and justice, and suggests ways to develop new contacts and build on existing assets.
Another new area of practice Vera recently examined is services for fathers in prison or recently released to the community. Time in prison distances thousands of incarcerated fathers from their families and limits their ability to offer financial and emotional support. This unintended consequence has prompted a growing interest in the creation of in-prison and community-based programs that show fathers how they can effectively contribute to their families' well-being. Vera launched the Incarcerated Fathers Initiative in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance and with support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Released in 2001, Serving Incarcerated and Ex-Offender Fathers and Their Families: A Review of the Field surveys existing research and presents our findings from visits and from discussions with fathers who participate in these programs and with program directors, prison administrators, and social service providers.
In addition to generating knowledge in various fields, our associates have trained criminal justice professionals. The National Defender Leadership Project, started in 1999 with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, was designed to draw public defenders in from the fringes of policy making and help them play an equal role alongside their colleagues working in other parts of the criminal justice system.
For two years NDLP held training seminars for groups of public defender managers on concepts such as strategic management, reflective practice, asset-based management, and other problem-solving tools. Ultimate Advocacy [ Vol. 1,
Vol. 2,
Vol. 3,
Vol. 4,] a series of four booklets on leadership in the field of indigent defense, captures NDLP's lessons.
[ last modified 3/30/2005 ]
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