Cohort 2023

San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project

A Transparent, Client-Centered Data Management System for Pretrial Services

San Francisco, CA

For the past 46 years, the San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project (SF Pretrial) has played a central role in preventing unnecessary incarceration in San Francisco. Bail reform has been a particularly salient policy issue in the city in recent years and multiple factors—both legal and litigative—have driven down the local jail population in favor of more releases to pretrial services. As SF Pretrial has received larger numbers of clients, it has expanded its programmatic scope; the organization provides more behavioral health, housing, and case management resources for its clients than ever before. With the evolving culture of pretrial justice in San Francisco and the corresponding growth in pretrial services, SF Pretrial has, in effect, outgrown its data management system. The disconnect between SF Pretrial’s programmatic nuances and data management capacity poses a range of challenges related to the comprehensiveness of daily data entry, the tools with which staff must monitor clients’ progress, and the efficacy of longer-term program evaluation.

With Catalyst Grant funding, SF Pretrial will build a Judicial Portal, which will be an extension of a brand-new client-data-management system. The portal will be a web-based platform, allowing judges to review pertinent client data based on each client’s needs and engagement with pretrial services. SF Pretrial will also use Catalyst funding to build a public-facing dashboard, which will convey outcomes related to community safety, court appearance, and client engagement. The goals for this dashboard are to establish an important measure of transparency and provide clear, accessible data related to public safety.

This project will enhance the sophistication of SF Pretrial’s data management and program evaluation practices, including by creating new, accessible ways for local partners and the public to consume data. With greater transparency and stronger program evaluation, SF Pretrial expects to improve outcomes for its clients, increase trust and understanding from its partners, and center equity in the larger pretrial justice system.