Community Justice

Community justice circle
We put communities at the heart of delivering justice and safety.

Community Justice is a full-spectrum approach to building safety and racial justice that runs from communities to systems and back again, reducing the harms of both crime and overreliance on traditional responses like incarceration. Community Justice bridges courts, government, and communities, increasing communication, understanding, and trust. Building on the foundation of our first community court in Midtown, we have co-created solutions with a wide range of partners—courts, community members, local businesses, service providers, and people with lived experience in the justice system.

From alternatives to incarceration for people charged with serious offenses to initiatives that empower communities economically, we bring everyone to the table to find evidence-based solutions to complex problems while boosting public trust in the justice system. Our decades of experience working hand in hand with courts and communities in New York and New Jersey help us drive Community Justice nationwide and around the world.

Initiatives

  • Bronx Community Solutions

    Bronx Community Solutions provides community-based alternatives to jail, restores community relationships, and helps participants avoid further criminal justice involvement.

  • Brooklyn Young Adult Court

    The Brooklyn Young Adult Court seeks to provide meaningful alternatives to conventional prosecution for young people, ages 18 to 24, charged with misdemeanors.

  • Brownsville Community Justice Center

    The Brownsville Community Justice Center strives to identify and combat the socioeconomic challenges impacting the neighborhood, community, and residents of Brownsville, Brooklyn, in New York.

  • Harlem Community Justice Center

    The Harlem Community Justice Center is a neighborhood-based community court committed to bridging the gap between the court and community to achieve fairness and systematic equity in housing, commu

  • Midtown Community Justice Center

    The award-winning Midtown Community Justice Center (formerly Midtown Community Court) is one of the country’s first problem-solving courts.

  • Newark Community Solutions

    Newark Community Solutions improves public safety in Newark, NJ, through alternative sentencing programs in the Newark Municipal Court, youth-based services, housing justice initiatives, and other

  • Red Hook Community Justice Center

    The nation's first multi-jurisdictional community court, the Red Hook Community Justice Center seeks to solve neighborhood problems in southwest Brooklyn.

Publications & Digital Media

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News

  • The Human Costs of Fines and Fees

    Fines and fees add to the burden on people navigating the justice system, making it harder to get back on their feet. There’s a better path to safety.

  • Opinion: We’ll Never Address NYC’s Mental Health Crisis Until We Stop Funneling People to Jails & Prisons

    January 21, 2025
    City Limits

    After years of struggling with a cycle of mental health crises and criminal justice involvement, Ibrahim Ayu—a community activist, attorney, and author—graduated from our Manhattan Misdemeanor Mental Health Court program with a stable job, supportive housing, and robust mental health care. Mental health courts provide a pathway out of the justice system while addressing the underlying needs that brought people into it. In this op-ed for City Limits, Ayu shares his story and makes a case for expanding these vital programs across New York. “Far more people should be getting the genuine care and treatment that I got,” he writes.

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We work with reformers around the world.

Do you need help solving a problem, launching a new initiative or improving an old one?

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