Boston – Community Resources for Justice has been awarded a grant of $60,000 by the Boston Foundation, CEO John Larivee said today.

According to Larivee, the grant is in support of a public opinion survey to be conducted by the agency’s think tank, the Crime &Justice Institute (CJI), headed by Elyse Clawson. Said Clawson, “The survey will assess the thinking of Greater Boston and Massachusetts residents about criminal justice policy as it relates to sentencing, corrections and prisoner reintegration. We believe it will be an important tool for understanding what options the public will support and for guiding government and private agencies alike in fashioning effective strategies.”

“Our agency has gotten the issue of prisoner reintegration on the radar screen locally and nationally,” said CRJ’s Larivee. “In Boston, we’ve partnered with the Boston Police Department and Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department to step up supervision and assistance for the more then 3,000 men and women annually who face daunting challenges as they reenter society. Nationally, we’ve contributed research, advocacy and consciousness-raising about applying evidence-based practices to more than 600,000 who must make the transition each year.”

Community Resources for Justice, Inc. (CRJ) celebrates 125 years this year, originally founded as “The New England Society for the Suppression of Vice” in 1878. Today we serve more than 1300 clients annually, through residential and non-residential programs for troubled youth, men and women offenders, and mentally retarded or developmentally disabled individuals in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. For more information about CRJ and CJI, visit our website at www.crjustice.org.

The Boston Foundation, one of the nation’s oldest and largest community foundations, has an endowment of $563 million and made grants of more than $50 million to nonprofit organizations this year in the Greater Boston area and beyond. The Boston Foundation also sponsors special initiatives, convenes groups of people to explore important issues, and works with other organizations and with government to find new ways to build community. For more information about the Boston Foundation and its grantmaking, visit their website at www.tbf.org.