The Smart Decarceration Initiative’s Inaugural Conference: ‘From Mass Incarceration to Effective and Sustainable Decarceration’

Date: September 24-27, 2015
Location: Washington University in St. Louis

Mass incarceration is no longer sustainable or socially acceptable. As a result the U.S. early in the 21st century faces the immense challenge of rethinking and transforming our criminal justice system in ways that will achieve decarceration by:​​​

• Reducing our national overreliance on incarceration
• Ameliorating racial and economic disparities in the criminal justice system
• Promoting public safety in more socially just and effective ways

In order for effective and sustainable decarceration to occur we must:

• Establish conceptual frameworks of decarceration that are theoretically and empirically driven
• Build effective alternatives to incarceration, from behavioral interventions to policy reforms
• Allocate resources for social innovations that advance decarceration
• Form cross-sector and cross-disciplinary collaborations to foster criminal justice system transformation

The inaugural conference of the Smart Decarceration Initiative will convene a diverse group of the best leaders and thinkers in policy, practice and research dedicated to criminal justice reforms. The conference will promote collaboration across disciplines and sectors and stimulate scientifically driven, practical, and applied policy and community-based innovations.The conference will feature prominent national speakers. In addition, national and local thought leaders will work together to outline conceptual frameworks of decarceration through transdisciplinary problem solving, innovation, research and action. One major outcome of the conference will be an edited volume that details evidence, conceptual frameworks, and an action plan for sustainable and effective decarceration. The volume will be widely distributed to facilitate thoughtful, effective action.The conference is full and registration has closed.The conference is organized by the Smart Decarceration Initiative and these partner organizations:

• JustLeadershipUSA
• Center for Court Innovation
• The Sentencing Project
• American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare
• Concordance Institute for Advancing Social Justice
• Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence!

Conference sponsors include:

• The Center for Social Development at Washington University‘s Brown School​
• The George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University
• The University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration
• The Maxine Clark and Bob Fox Policy Institute at Washington University
• The Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis
• The Center for Health Administration Studies at the University of Chicago
• The Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago
• The School of Law at Washington University
• The Assembly Series at Washington University 
• The Center for the Humanities at Washington University
• The College of Arts and Sciences at Washington University