Safety Justice Challenge Seeks Community Members

Community engagement is an essential component of justice system reform, and the Safety Justice Challenge (SJC) is seeking 10 community members to serve on a workgroup.

In February 2021, Buncombe County received a $1.75 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to continue building on efforts in collaboration with local leaders and the community to rethink the local criminal justice system, safely reduce Buncombe County’s jail population, and eliminate racial inequities.

Community engagement for the Safety Justice Challenge is designed to involve people who are directly and indirectly affected by government policies and practices. A community member is defined as someone who is impacted by the justice system and is not affiliated with, or being paid by, an organization to participate in the workgroup. However, community members who serve will receive a stipend funded by the MacArthur Foundation grant.

The application deadline is May 28, 2021. Applications are available at the Buncombe County website at www.buncombecounty.org/common/justice-services/2021-SJC-Community-Engagement-Application-May-2021.pdf

Workgroup activities will include:

• Continuing to plan, facilitate, and host activities such as town halls, focus groups, listening session, criminal justice info sessions, and community meetings
• Reviewing content and material related to public education campaigns, information sessions, and community meetings
• Developing communication strategies between community and criminal justice system organizations

The current grant brings the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s total investment in Buncombe County to $3.55 million to date, and is part of the Safety and Justice Challenge, a $246 million national initiative to reduce over-incarceration and advance racial equity in local criminal justice systems by changing the way America thinks about and uses jails.

Visit buncombecounty.org/justiceservices to learn more about the Safety Justice Challenge in Buncombe County.