Pepperdine and Department of Justice Announce Swift Certain Fair Resource Center

Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy is partnering with the United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance to launch the Swift Certain Fair (SCF) Resource Center based at Pepperdine’s Malibu campus.  Drawing on recent findings in crime control, the Center supports state, local, territorial, and tribal jurisdictions and agencies in implementing swift, certain, and fair responses (SCF/HOPE) in community corrections. The SCF Center provides free training and technical assistance and evaluation services to eligible programs. Currently, the center works with jurisdictions and agencies in more than 20 states and an Indian nation.

The SCF Center will be holding its first free SCF/HOPE workshops on July 17, 2015, at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California; and on August 4, 2015, at the University’s Washington, D.C. campus. Interested parties may register for the workshops at scfcenter.org.

The SCF Center is led by Dr. Angela Hawken, associate professor of economics and policy analysis and James Q. Wilson Fellow, and Dr. Jonathan Kulick, senior project director, at the School of Public Policy. Hawken is the principal investigator of several studies that test SCF strategies to reduce recidivism and incarceration. She led the randomized controlled trials of HOPE probation in Hawaii and the SCF pilot in Seattle and advised Washington State in its statewide rollout of Swift and Certain. 

“Our goal is to improve the legitimacy of the corrections system,” said Hawken. “It is possible to have less punishment and less crime but each component of SCF (Swiftness, Certainty, and Fairness) is central to that goal. We help jurisdictions improve the speed of their operations; no one should languish in jail unnecessarily pending a hearing. We help jurisdictions develop clearly articulated procedures so that responses are predictable. And equally important, we work on innovations to improve fairness and equal protection, with a goal to eliminate status quo race/ethnic disparities in sanctions.” 

BJA is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.  BJA’s mission is to provide leadership and services in grant administration and criminal justice policy development to support local, state, and tribal justice strategies to achieve safer communities.

Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy is built on a distinctive philosophy of nurturing leaders to use the tools of analysis and policy design to effect successful implementation and real change. This requires critical insights that only a broad exposure to great ideas, courageous thinkers, and extraordinary leaders can encourage.