Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research (APPR) is pleased to offer a four session virtual course on community engagement and criminal legal system policy and practice. The course will help participants understand the spectrum of community engagement and create a plan for meaningful community engagement. Four 90-minute sessions will be held on the following dates: April 13, April 27, May 11, and May 25, 2022, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. ET.
This virtual community engagement course is open to the public, and intended for people working within the criminal legal system careers as well as community leaders. Participants will explore what constitutes meaningful community engagement, learn about a range of engagement approaches, participate in an assessment to evaluate their local readiness for engaging the public, and work toward developing a plan for community engagement. We encourage participants to attend all four sessions if they are able. Although the sessions build upon each other, they are designed so that each session can stand alone.
Session 1
Wednesday, April 13, 1:00 – 2:30 EST
In this foundational workshop, participants will explore what defines meaningful, equitable community engagement. Presenters will share how engagement offers many benefits to criminal legal system practitioners, including better relationships with the community and more effective policies. This interactive workshop will also allow participants to explore the spectrum of community engagement, with presenters sharing examples of what different levels of engagement can look like in the system.
Session 2
Wednesday, April 27, 1:00 – 2:30 EST
This workshop will cover concepts of community engagement in more detail, exploring both deep, long-term engagement, such as dialogue, and fast, broad-scale engagement, such as tech platforms. Participants will explore different strategies along the community engagement spectrum to understand their advantages and limitations. This workshop will also present food for thought on how to change laws and policies to enable deeper engagement in the community.
Session 3
Wednesday, May 11, 1:00 – 2:30 EST
How do criminal legal system stakeholders know if they are “ready” to conduct community engagement? While there may be enthusiasm to engage the community, it’s important to consider the support that is needed to be successful. In this workshop, participants will complete a community engagement readiness assessment. Understanding who the community is that a locality wants to engage is also a critical aspect of being ready for this work. This workshop will model a stakeholder mapping exercise that participants can use to identify the populations they hope to involve in their work.
Session 4
Wednesday, May 25, 1:00 – 2:30 EST
In this final session, participants will learn how to develop their own strategy for community engagement. Participants will explore their goals for engagement, how to identify and recruit participants, and how to select engagement activities. The workshop will offer participants an engagement strategy template they can use in their future work.
The trainers for this session have many years of experience working alongside community, people impacted by the system, civic leaders, and criminal legal system stakeholders to improve system policies and practices.
Quixada Moore-Vissing, PhD, founder and principal, Public Engagement Partners
Quixada specializes in community engagement, helping public institutions and citizens collaborate to make equitable, representative decisions. She currently serves on the Racial Equity and Community Engagement Advisory Committee for APPR.
Ignatius But, engagement specialist, MODUS Planning & Engagement Inc.
Ignatius is an engagement specialist, planner, and researcher with more than five years of experience in civic engagement and community development. He is currently a member of the City of Vancouver’s Racial and Ethnocultural Equity Advisory Committee.
Orleny Rojas, senior manager for Racial Equity and Justice, Center for Effective Public Policy
Orleny supports the APPR initiative. She has over twelve years of experience working with various criminal legal system and community stakeholders to center and address the needs of populations that are vulnerable.
We encourage registrants to attend all sessions in this course. The registration deadline is Friday, April 1.
Please direct questions to Orleny Rojas, APPR Senior Manager, at orojas@cepp.com.