City of New Orleans granted $500K from MacArthur Foundation for safety, justice challenge

Yasmin Garaad
·1 min read

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The City of New Orleans received a capstone $500,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice challenge.

City officials said the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice Coordination, led by Commissioner Tenisha Stevens, has been awarded the grant and recognized for “eight years of progress by New Orleans towards safely reducing the local jail population while addressing inequities in the justice system.”

The foundation invested a total of $5.8 million in New Orleans as part of a $381.5 million initiative to reduce jail misuse, overuse, and eliminate racial inequity in local criminal justice systems.

“The MacArthur Foundation has provided critical support through both financial investment and strategic partnerships to strengthen our local justice reform efforts, and we are committed to continue working to promote community safety and prevent unnecessary incarceration in New Orleans,” said Mayor LaToya Cantrell.

According to city officials, since being selected to join the Safety and Justice Challenge in 2015, the City of New Orleans has remained committed to reducing mass incarceration and promoting public safety.

By working with data to figure out drivers of incarceration, the average amount of people held in jail was reduced by 30 percent from an average daily of 1,602 in 2016 to an average of 1,120 in 2023.

This round of funding will support OCJC to sustain long-term public safety initiatives and help the city continue the strategies developed.

Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter.

Latest Posts

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGNO.