Ready to enhance the fairness, safety, and effectiveness of your pretrial system? Join Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research for a 90-minute webinar on our Pathways to Pretrial Advancement Strategic Planning and Implementation Readiness Opportunity—a year-long, hands-on program that helps local teams map current practices, set priorities, and build a practical plan to implement policy or practice changes. The webinar will be held on Thursday, October 22, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET.
About the Webinar
This session will introduce APPR’s Pathways to Pretrial Advancement Strategic Planning Technical Assistance—a 12-month, hands-on opportunity for county, municipal, and tribal partners and relevant agencies to examine how their pretrial systems are working and to build a clear, actionable plan to improve fairness, court appearance, and public safety. It’s designed to help jurisdictions and pretrial stakeholders understand what our initiative offers and decide whether it fits their local context.
We’ll walk through what participating sites do during the year—how teams map key decision points, compare their current policies and procedures to evidence-based best practices, develop practical changes, and create an implementation plan with roles, timelines, stakeholder engagement, and success measures. We’ll also preview how sites can learn evaluation concepts and explore feasibility for potential rigorous research with the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO).
During the webinar, presenters will answer your questions about:
- The strategic planning technical assistance opportunity—what it is and what you’ll receive as a participant
- The application process—how to apply, who should be on the team, timing
- Basic participation requirements—commitments, cadence, and expected deliverables
You’ll leave with a clear understanding of the work, the time commitment, and how this opportunity can help your local pretrial justice system set priorities, strengthen coordination, and implement meaningful changes.
Projected Outcomes
Through a competitive selection process, APPR will work with up to eight (8) localities to develop strategic plans and achieve the following outcomes:
- Identify critical decision points and assess policies and practices based on data, evidence, and best practices
- Explore policies and practices that strengthen foundational pretrial justice standards and best practices through the APPR Roadmap for Pretrial Advancement
- Select practical changes that enhance fairness, public safety, and effectiveness
- Develop an implementation plan that outlines roles, timelines, stakeholder engagement, and success metrics
- Assess readiness for potential rigorous research by learning evaluation concepts
Webinar Presenters
Dr. Kelvin L. Banks, associate director, Center for Effective Public Policy
Dr. Banks has over 25 years of experience in the justice system, with more than 10 years in pretrial justice. He previously served as director of pretrial services in Harris County, Texas, and for the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan.
Orleny Rojas, senior manager, Center for Effective Public Policy
Ms. Rojas supports the Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research initiative and helps expand CEPP’s community engagement portfolio. She has over 15 years of experience working with various criminal justice and community stakeholders to center and address the needs of vulnerable populations.
Registration Process
We invite all interested jurisdictions and pretrial justice stakeholders to register for the webinar.
Please direct any questions to Samuel Steed, operations assistant at the Center for Effective Public Policy, at ssteed@cepp.com.
