This is a high-level summit that aims to highlight the range of alternative sentencing policies and programs that are currently operating in the U.S. and abroad, and look more deeply at their effectiveness and functional requirements. It will include a wide range of perspectives on these issues.

The summit will bring together an unprecedented number of current and former leaders and senior government officials who have served on the front lines of day-to-day operations in the criminal justice system, including law enforcement, government, judiciary, defense, forensic social workers and psychologists, and nonprofits, as well as formerly incarcerated people, victims and advocacy groups.

Beyond education, ASKS will use plenary, breakout and interactive sessions to generate substantive dialogue between all delegates and identify key priorities for:

• Expanding the use of effective alternative sentencing programs while enhancing public safety, including the mechanisms of discretion (police, prosecutorial and judicial) and legislative reforms;
• Addressing public safety concerns over its broadened use and practical barriers to expansion and launching effective new programs in new jurisdictions, including operational limitations, program evaluation and public education;
• NGOs that can help to support broader application of effective alternative sentencing, eg. ubiquity of access and other measures and peripheral programs to help ensure successful reentry.

The number of high-level participants; the balance between reformers and healthy skeptics; the interactive session; and the focus on making connections and producing outcomes that include the development of a database of best practices and an informal network for future coordination and support.