In December 2022, the Criminal Justice Reform Action Team (CJAT) released a 200-page report outlining recommendations for the Pennsylvania Criminal Justice System. The report was led by Executive Deputy Attorney General Robert Reed and Pamela Howard, the Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Early Intervention Administrator of Montgomery County. The report was developed based on six defining characteristics of the Criminal Justice System, which required recommendations. Six subcommittees were created to address each characteristic: Prevention, Juvenile Justice, Policing, Courts, Corrections, and Probation and Parole. The committees consisted of 107 volunteers, including criminal justice professionals, academics, service providers, individuals with lived experiences in the criminal and juvenile justice systems, and student interns. The report contains over 150 recommendations, aimed at transforming the state's justice system, with a focus on trauma-informed care. The report acknowledges the widespread experience of trauma, its negative impact on individuals within the system, and the need for healing and recovery.
At the first-ever HEAL PA Conference, the Criminal Justice Action Team recieved the Healing Award presented by HEAL PA and the Governor's Office of Advocacy and Reform for the work on this report.
To read read the report, visit the Criminal Justice Action Team's page at: https://www.healpa.org/criminal-justice-reform
