Community-based organizations include reentry and rehabilitation programs, victim services organizations, community-led violence prevention efforts, and other groups engaged with justice-involved populations. Formerly incarcerated people face significant barriers as they seek to resume life outside prison or jail. These include finding employment, securing housing, receiving substance use disorder (SUD) and behavioral health treatment, resuming education, and obtaining health care. These barriers have become even more formidable during the pandemic, given rising unemployment and support services strained by growing need. Typically, reentering citizens rely on community-based organizations to help them transition from prison.

Community-based organizations also supply vital assistance to victims and survivors of crime and abuse, including protecting their safety and security, facilitating their understanding of and participation in criminal or other legal processes, helping them recover from victimization and trauma, helping them collect restitution, and responding to other needs. While some victim service providers are embedded with criminal justice agencies, such as prosecutors’ offices and probation and parole agencies, many are nongovernmental and based in the community.

Nongovernmental organizations in the community also play an important role in preventing and reducing crime, violence, and justice system involvement. At-risk youth and adults often need help with avoiding poor choices that lead to delinquent or criminal behavior and involvement in the criminal justice system. This assistance can come in the form of mentoring, tutoring, training, education, SUD treatment, counseling, and other forms of support. For example, street outreach organizations engage those at the highest risk for gun violence, offering to mediate disputes and provide other services in order to prevent violent crime. Many of these organizations are now performing a dual function, preventing violence and promoting public health in disadvantaged neighborhoods where both crime and COVID-19 are concentrated.

While little data is available, community-based organizations have been under significant pressure due to COVID-19, the economic downturn, and increased demand for services, among other factors. Unlike law enforcement, courts, and corrections, community-based organizations are rarely permanent and must be periodically reauthorized. Discretionary community-based programming is frequently the first to be cut, but evidence-based community programming often has a large return on investment and is inexpensive in comparison to traditional crime responses. In addition, community-based approaches promote holistic, comprehensive approaches to public safety and may improve the perceived legitimacy of anti-crime efforts.