The Front Line: The criminal justice system is getting a front-end makeover.

• Author: Widgery, Amber
• Position: CRIMINAL JUSTICE

State and local policymakers are turning their attention from the back end of the criminal justice system--who goes to prison and for how long--to the front end. They are focusing on helping people avoid involvement in the system altogether, rerouting those who get caught up in it but don't belong, and helping those already involved from getting in even deeper.

Back-end changes over the last decade have led to cost savings and a decline in prison populations in many states, but they've addressed only one lever in the complex machinery of the American justice system. And they haven't stemmed the tide of individuals coming through the system's front door.

Nearly 12 million people are booked into county jails each year--almost 19 times the admissions to state and federal prisons combined. Nationally, our jails are bursting at the seams and most people--sentenced offenders and those detained before trial--are there for nonviolent traffic, property, drug or other public order offenses.

Research shows that even a few days in jail can harm an individual's employment prospects and health and can increase the chances they will reoffend or be incarcerated in the future, making jails a virtual gateway to further crime and punishment.

Front-end reforms are aimed at reducing this influx. They require rethinking the way America uses jails, including:

* Expanding community-based services like housing programs and treatment for mental health and addiction to prevent justice involvement and to help jail inmates successfully reenter the community.

* Supporting programs like LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion), which allows law enforcement officers to redirect low-level drug offenders to community-based services, instead of jail and prosecution.

* Changing bail/pretrial release policies to create a system that's person-based, not wealth-based.

Starting With the Facts

Many front-end justice reforms have been kick-started by the need to address jail overcrowding. With jails across the nation operating at or above capacity, officials have been forced to improvise, double- or triple-bunking inmates and turning common areas into makeshift dormitories.

These extreme conditions have prompted some local officials to take a closer look at who is in jail, why they are there and whether their detention promotes or hinders public safety.

National data show that people having a mental health crisis are more likely to encounter law enforcement than medical...