With our museum partners, A Guide to Arts and Diversion can help communities respond to low-level offenses in new, less harmful ways.

At every step, we support dignity, intersectionality, and identity.

Whether in a court-based setting, after release from incarceration, or before people ever come into contact with the justice system, our approach to mental wellness focuses on identifying the individual needs of every person.

Better Served by Treatment than Incarceration

Manuel Lariño has been with the Center for Court Innovation for over 18 years. Now in his role as associate director of Placemaking and Workforce Development, Manuel supports the teams that operate Brownsville Community Justice Center’s placemaking and mobility-from-poverty initiatives, which focus on public safety, community organizing, and neighborhood revitalization.

Mental Health Awareness Month and our Communities: Fighting Stigma and Overincarceration

A Night Honoring Justice Innovators

“I’m sort of like a drug court mechanic trying to upgrade the field’s standard practices to help reduce potential harms.” Before joining the Center for Court Innovation three years ago, Dave Lucas was an addiction therapist in Toronto, Canada for nearly a decade. Dave has brought his experience working with drug court clients to the Center’s Technical Assistance team where he serves as a clinical advisor for treatment courts, working with judges, attorneys, law enforcement, and clinicians across the country to share substance use treatment best practices and foster health equity.

“I feel called to advocate for the dignity and health of individuals, families, and communities.” Alejandra Garcia works to build strong communities, fulfilling a lifelong goal of transforming the criminal justice system. As a senior program manager with the Center for Court Innovation’s treatment courts team, Alejandra partners with local and national justice system practitioners to improve their drug treatment courts, develop statewide plans to address substance use, and implement opioid courts.