Capacity Building

LISC's collaborative, locally driven model relies on strong and capable leadership at the ground level. Therefore, we invest significantly in building the capacity of community-based organizations, local governments, and civic leaders to design and implement safety initiatives. Our capacity building assistance includes group training, one-on-one technical assistance, grant funding, knowledge resources, and peer-to-peer connections. The competencies we build include:

• How to collect and analyze different sources of data to identify a community's specific crime problems and where they are occurring
• How to engage residents and other community stakeholders as full participants in safety strategy planning and implementatation 
• How to partner effectively with public and private agencies, define clear roles, and ensure accountability
• How to use data to select safety strategies that are best suited to the community's needs and assets
• How to incorporate safety concerns into broader community revitalization approaches
• How to evaluate and continuously improve safety approaches and make the efforts sustainable 

Community Justice Accelerator

The Community Justice Accelerator is designed to build the capacity of small, grassroots organizations working in the Safety & Justice space. The program aims to provide organizations with the necessary skills and resources to help them scale their programming and plan for long-term sustainability. Healthy and growing nonprofits are a key resource for influencing local policies and systems change to ensure equitable criminal-legal responses.

ATI Incubation Academy

Expanding the capacity of service providers is foundational to justice reform efforts. LISC's Alternatives to Incarceration (ATI) Incubation Academy provides training and technical assistance to small, grassroots organizations that have historically provided diversion services but have faced challenges obtaining government contracts and funding.

Building Capacity for Community Violence Intervention and Prevention

Through funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance FY2022 Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CVIPI), LISC supports comprehensive, evidence-based violence intervention and prevention programs based on partnerships among community residents, local government agencies, victim service providers, community-based organizations, law enforcement, hospitals, researchers, and other community stakeholders.

HUD Capacity Building

With funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, LISC helps community-based nonprofits strengthen their organizations and improve their ability to implement safety initiatives in the context of comprehensive community revitalization.