Rigorous & Relevant

Through our collaboration with a broad, intersystem network of partners, we promote evidence-informed decision-making and center equity, inclusivity, and cultural responsiveness in all our work.

National thought-leaders

With nationwide reach, we help implement and evaluate efforts to promote positive youth development, physical health, and well-being.

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Non-partisan, Evidence-driven

We apply evidence to support efforts to prevent crime and violence, increase safety, improve justice systems, and enhance public health by preventing substance abuse and other high-risk behaviors.

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The Justice and Prevention Research Center at WestEd focuses on safety, justice systems, and public health. We are a non-partisan source of rigorous and policy-relevant research, evaluation, and technical assistance for government leaders, policymakers, foundations, researchers, media, and community-based leaders.

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Our Focus

School Safety

Our team leads technical assistance, research, and evaluation to improve school safety in partnership with schools, districts, and communities across the country.

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Justice Systems

We are a source for research, evaluation, and evidence-informed technical assistance that emphasizes equity and the value of lived experience to guide research and systems improvement efforts.

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Violence Prevention

We aim to solve today’s pressing challenges by working to reduce current violence, prevent future violence, and co-create sustainable systems that improve outcomes for communities.

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Public Health

We bring deep expertise in areas related to substance abuse prevention and other public health issues including the prevention of teen pregnancy and risky sexual behavior, and mental and behavioral health challenges.

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Featured Work

American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Violence Prevention for Youth in Massachusetts

The JPRC continues its nearly decade-long partnership with American Institutes for Research (AIR) and Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Health and Human Services to study and evaluate the Commonwealth’s cornerstone statewide violence prevention initiative—the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative (SSYI). Read More

Violence Prevention

National

Alternatives to Juvenile Incarceration

Data on incarceration indicate that despite decreases in enrollment in juvenile institutions, the United States incarcerates more youth per capita than any other developed nation. Research continues to show racial and ethnic disparities between who is incarcerated versus who is not and reinforces the harm of incarceration. Read More

Justice Systems

U.S. Department of Justice

Providing Behavioral Threat Assessment Training and Implementation Support

We are committed to helping schools, districts, and state departments of education address school violence. In collaboration with Navigate360, we are partnering on eight U.S. Department of Justice (via the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance) school safety grants under the STOP School Violence Program.

School Safety

Elementary school students sit on a carpet waiting for a chance to speak with their hands raised.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Evaluating Healthy Children and Families Portfolio

The JPRC, in collaboration with researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, will conduct 5–10 evaluation studies over a three-year period to inform Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and grantees about selected program implementation and progress.

Public Health

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Rigorous & Relevant

National thought-leaders

Non-partisan, Evidence-driven