Enhancing Public Safety | The AIR Equity Initiative
Justice in public safety and policing is essential to creating more equitable opportunities and outcomes in education, work, and health. The AIR Equity Initiative awards grants to support high-quality implementation and impact evaluations of initiatives that aim to redefine the relationship between law enforcement and communities; redeploy resources; and improve training, policies, laws, interventions, standards, and practices for promoting equitable and fair public safety and policing practices.
Funded projects provide evaluation, research-informed technical assistance, and measures to aid public safety and harm reduction efforts.
Project Highlight
Evaluation of Oakland and Richmond’s Neighborhood Opportunity and Accountability Board (NOAB)
Restorative diversion programs may hold promise for minimizing youth contact with the justice system and engendering accountability by engaging community members to holistically address community safety.
The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform’s Neighborhood Opportunity and Accountability Board (NOAB) diverts youth at the point of arrest, and offers youth the opportunity to participate in community- and strengths-based diversion services based in restorative justice and conducted in collaboration with members of youth’s family and community. AIR is evaluating the implementation of NOAB and its impact on youth and their communities.
