About the Crime and Justice Institute

At Community Resources for Justice, we believe that society gains when all people are given the support and tools to lead responsible, productive, and dignified lives.

Whether transitioning inmates back into mainstream society, diverting troubled youth away from crime and towards productive and fulfilling lives, or providing those with developmental disabilities with a chance to grow and flourish in the community, Community Resources for Justice welcomes and fosters change.

Our research and consulting services advance evidence-based practices that inform systems-level change while our community-based programs promote public safety and individual growth for some of society's most challenged individuals.

Guided by excellence, creativity, and compassion, we have strengthened individuals, families, and communities for over one hundred years. We are Community Resources for Justice.

In support of CRJ's mission, CJI provides nonpartisan consulting, policy analysis, and research services to improve public safety throughout the country. Our primary goal is to make criminal and juvenile justice systems more efficient and cost effective to promote accountability for achieving better outcomes.

With a reputation built over many decades for innovative thinking, unbiased issue analysis, and effective policy advocacy, CJI's strength lies in our ability to bridge the gap between research and practice in public institutions and communities, and provide evidence-based, results-driven recommendations. With our creative, collaborative approaches to today's most pressing and complex social and public safety problems, CJI is improving public safety and human service delivery nationwide and in Massachusetts.

• Read a briefing on CJI’s Integrated Model of Corrections Founded on Evidence-Based Practices


• Learn about CJI's Technical Assistance Capacity (pdf)


• Visit our Resources Page to learn more about evidence-based practices, research, and recent developments in the field of crime and justice.


• Read a Letter from our Executive Director, Elyse Clawson


• View a Listing of our Staff


• Read about the agency's History, Vision, Values, and Expertise

Community Resources for Justice (CRJ) is a 131 year old Massachusetts organization that provides direct care and supportive services to some of our most challenged citizens. CRJ's direct service programs range from residential homes for developmentally disabled adults to programs serving troubled youth and men and women returning home from incarceration. CRJ currently operates 29 residential and day programs and provides services to more then 2,000 people annually. CRJ's public partners include federal, state and county agencies throughout New England.

The Social Justice Services Department encompasses the adult and youth programs of Community Resources for Justice (CRJ). Our youth programs serve juvenile offenders committed to the Department of Youth Services (DYS). The youth are from the greater Boston area and northeast Massachusetts (including Lowell, Lawrence, and Lynn). The Department also provides community reentry services to adult male and female offenders transitioning out of the local, state, and federal correctional systems back to their home communities in the greater Boston Metropolitan area. We firmly believe that justice applies to every aspect of society, and not solely to the administration of laws. We partner with social service agencies and the community to provide the best services possible, and are dedicated to having a positive impact on the clients in our care and on the neighborhoods in which we are located.

Community Strategies is located in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts and provides individuals with mental illness or mental retardation, severe psychiatric or developmental disabilities, or complex medical needs with specialized residential or community-based services. These services might take the shape of adult foster home care, or staffed adult-shared living, and are developed and adapted to meet the needs of the people in our programs. We bring a unique combination of a clear understanding of people with developmental disabilities or mental retardation as well as competence in treatment of psychiatric disorders. This expertise has allowed many people who would be living in institutional settings, the opportunity to live in the community in less restrictive settings. Through our models of care, our staff provides a balanced mix of supervision, treatment and freedom that helps these community settings be nurturing environments.