What Center For Effective Public Policy does

The Center For Effective Public Policy (CEPP) is a U.S. nonprofit technical assistance and policy organization founded in 1981 and headquartered in Kensington, Maryland. CEPP partners with state and local governments, courts, parole boards, federal agencies, and national justice organizations to deliver evidence-based criminal and juvenile justice reform. The organization has collaborated with all 50 states and 127 counties, and works with 125 public and private funders over its 40+ year history. Customer segments include state/local governments, courts, parole boards and agencies, federal agencies (DOJ, BJA, NIC), non-profit justice organizations, and agencies serving unique populations such as women and justice-involved youth.

CEPP's core product portfolio is anchored on a suite of research-based assessment tools and frameworks: the Public Safety Assessment (PSA), which CEPP manages and maintains as the leading provider; the Supervision Agency Gender-Responsive Evaluation (SAGE); the Gender-Informed Practices Assessment (GIPA), developed with NIC; and the Structured Decision-Making Framework (SDMF) for parole. These are delivered through multiple national initiatives, including the Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research (APPR) program, the National Parole Resource Center (NPRC), the National Resource Center on Justice-Involved Women (NRCJIW), and the Community Supervision Resource Center (CSRC). Supporting products include the Dosage Probation model, the Diversion 101 article series (with NAPSA), the Gender Justice Pretrial Toolkit, APPR Learning and APPR Community online platforms, and the Justice Policy Coding Lab (with Apple and Maine DOC). The underlying technology layer is research-informed assessment logic, content libraries, and web-based learning/community portals, rather than commercial software.

The business model is a grant-funded nonprofit services model. Revenue derives from federal grants and contracts (DOJ, BJA, NIC), private foundation grants (Arnold Ventures as primary sustained funder; Apple Racial Equity and Justice Initiative; Qualcomm Racial Justice Giving Initiative), earned contracts with state and local government clients (e.g., Illinois Supreme Court for FAIR/SAFE-T Act implementation, Virginia DCJS for PSA, Maine DOC for Coding Lab), training and technical assistance fees, and charitable donations. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales to government, with no public pricing disclosed and approximately 23 team members across Directors, Associate Directors, Senior Managers, Program Managers, and Operations staff.

Name

Center For Effective Public Policy

Legal name

Center for Effective Public Policy

Website

https://cepp.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Center For Effective Public Policy is a U.S. nonprofit founded in 1981 that provides research-based technical assistance, assessment tools, and training to all 50 states, federal agencies, courts, and parole boards to advance evidence-based criminal and juvenile justice reform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Kensington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Grants and Contracts: CEPP receives funding from federal agencies including Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, and National Institute of Corrections, as well as private foundations like Arnold Ventures, to fund justice reform initiatives.
2. Donations: The organization accepts charitable donations from individuals and organizations to support their mission of improving justice systems and advancing community well-being.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The Center for Effective Public Policy (CEPP) is a national nonprofit that provides technical assistance, training, and consulting services to state and local governments, courts, parole boards, correctional agencies, and federal agencies on criminal and juvenile justice reform. Its core offerings include implementation of evidence-based assessment tools (notably the Public Safety Assessment), national resource centers on pretrial justice, parole, and gender-responsive programming, training curricula, policy consultation, and toolkits for justice system stakeholders.

Product overview

The Center for Effective Public Policy (CEPP) offers a portfolio of justice-focused programs and initiatives rather than a unified software product. The core offerings include the Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research (APPR) initiative, which serves as CEPP's primary national platform for pretrial justice advancement, encompassing the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) implementation services, online learning communities (APPR Learning, APPR Community), and related training programs. Supporting this core are specialized assessment tools like SAGE and GIPA for gender-responsive evaluation, resource series such as Diversion 101, and community engagement programs including the Justice Policy Coding Lab and Justice Policy Consultants. CEPP's work is primarily delivered through consulting services, training, technical assistance, and published resources rather than software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research (APPR) A collaborative, multi-year national initiative that promotes and facilitates advancements in pretrial justice. APPR supports pretrial professionals and community members in data-informed pretrial justice through strategic planning, PSA implementation, training, and a national community of practice.
• Public Safety Assessment (PSA) Implementation Services Technical assistance and implementation services that help jurisdictions adopt the Public Safety Assessment, a research-based pretrial risk tool that evaluates the likelihood that a person charged with a crime will be arrested on a new offense or fail to appear in court during the pretrial period. CEPP maintains PSA Implementation Guides, the PSA Scoring App, and PSA-specific trainings.
• Gender Equity Work at CEPP Portfolio of initiatives that recognize and address the distinct needs of women in the justice system through gender-responsive, trauma-informed policies and practices, including assessment tools (SAGE and GIPA), resources, and training.
• Supervision Agency Gender-Responsive Evaluation (SAGE) A comprehensive, multi-method assessment framework grounded in research evidence on gender-responsive supervision, designed for community supervision agencies to evaluate and improve their practices across six key domains.
• Gender-Informed Practices Assessment (GIPA) A tool developed by CEPP and NIC that enables correctional facilities to evaluate the alignment of their policies and practices with research on women's needs, including on-site assessments, reports, and strategic planning support.
• Structured Decision-Making Framework (SDMF) A research-based tool designed to strengthen the quality, consistency, and transparency of parole release decisions by aligning professional judgment with validated risk considerations.
• Justice Policy Coding Lab Program providing currently and formerly incarcerated people with digital literacy opportunities to learn and apply coding skills using Apple technology to justice-related projects and policy changes.
• CEPP Justice Policy Consultants Initiative that ensures currently and formerly incarcerated people have opportunities to contribute their experience and skills to CEPP's projects, improving criminal legal policy and culture.
• Diversion 101 A 12-part peer-reviewed article series developed in partnership with NAPSA that synthesizes research from pretrial and corrections fields to provide clarity about what diversion is, its purposes, and processes.
• Gender Justice Pretrial Toolkit Toolkit with participatory pretrial tools including bench cards, self-advocacy guides, and intake templates designed to create a more equitable pretrial process for women and gender-diverse people.
• APPR Learning Virtual learning environment with resources on PSA scoring, release conditions, and pretrial decision-making, accessible to jurisdictions implementing improvements.
• APPR Community Online community where pretrial practitioners ask questions, share their experiences, and connect with peers.
• Community Supervision Resource Center National resource center advancing evidence-based supervision practices through training, tools, and technical assistance for probation and parole agencies nationwide.
• Advancing Evidence in Parole Reform Project partnering with parole boards in five states, supported by Arnold Ventures, to strengthen parole release decision-making through evidence-based approaches.

Quantifiable outcome

• Research shows educational and job training programs during incarceration improve reentry outcomes, reduce recidivism by 14.8%, and increase employment by 6.9%
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• Illinois Justice Project (ILJP)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Managing partner for the SAFE-T Act Policing Implementation workgroup, with CEPP contributing national expertise in evidence-based system change and facilitating the workgroup and subcommittees.
• National Institute of Corrections (NIC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal agency collaborating with CEPP on developing assessment tools including SAGE (Supervision Agency Gender-Responsive Evaluation) and GIPA (Gender-Informed Practices Assessment). NIC provides expertise and support for correctional and supervision reform.
• Council on State Governments (CSG) Justice CentermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational organization partner for justice reform initiatives including Justice Reinvestment work, Stepping Up initiative expansion with racial equity lens, and collaborative justice projects.
• National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with CEPP to develop Diversion 101, a 12-part article series about diversion, synthesizing research from pretrial and corrections fields.
• Washington County Community College (WCCC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducation partner for prison education programs, partnering on the Justice Policy Coding Lab and Expanding Digital Pathways project to provide technology-focused education for incarcerated learners in Maine.
• Maine Department of CorrectionsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partner for education and reentry programs including the Justice Policy Coding Lab at Maine Correctional Center and digital pathways initiatives.
• W. Haywood Burns InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization working with CEPP to build a racial equity agenda that centers community in the justice reform process.
• Council on Criminal JusticemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEPP contributes to the Women's Justice Commission bringing together leaders to develop evidence-based recommendations improving justice system's responses to women.
• Illinois Supreme Court and Administrative Office of the Illinois CourtsmajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerEngaged CEPP to provide structured planning, stakeholder engagement, and operational support for implementing the Illinois FAIR Act establishing statewide public defender system.
• 50 States (various state agencies)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCEPP has collaborated with every state in the U.S. including state parole boards, courts, and corrections departments for evidence-based and sustainable justice system change.
• 127 Counties (various local governments)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartnership with hundreds of local jurisdictions including county courts, community corrections, and therapeutic courts to support justice reform initiatives.
• Unlocked LabsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner in the Justice Policy Coding Lab providing currently and formerly incarcerated people with digital literacy and coding opportunities.
• Center for Justice at Columbia UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in developing resources for incarcerated women and staff working in facilities to improve reintegration process, including Returning Home: My Guide to Community Reentry.
• Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision (ICAOS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner to strengthen how states respond to supervision violations through interstate consistency initiatives.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves19 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA): Professional association for pretrial services agencies that partnered with CEPP on the Diversion 101 series; while member-association focused, it represents an adjacent pretrial ecosystem player with overlapping practitioner audience.

Direct peers

• Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ): Nonpartisan policy nonprofit producing research and convening stakeholders on criminal justice reform; CEPP partners with CCJ's Women's Justice Commission and shares the same policy/TA delivery model.
• Justice Policy Institute: Policy research and advocacy nonprofit working on reducing incarceration and advancing juvenile justice reform — comparable in scale, mission, and policy-focused output.
• National Criminal Justice Association: Membership organization representing state, tribal, and local criminal justice planners and practitioners; comparable audience and federal-grant-aligned mission to CEPP's TA work.
• Vera Institute of Justice: A national nonprofit that conducts research, technical assistance, and direct service to drive reform in sentencing, pretrial justice, and incarceration — directly comparable to CEPP's mission, federal/foundation funding model, and state-customer base.
• Pretrial Justice Institute: Nonprofit focused exclusively on pretrial reform research, training, and advocacy; overlaps directly with CEPP's APPR initiative and pretrial practitioner audience.
• Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center: National nonprofit providing TA and policy support to state and local governments on behavioral health, justice reinvestment, and pretrial reform — a direct CEPP peer and named partner on Stepping Up and Justice Reinvestment work.
• Crime and Justice Institute (CJI): Nonprofit providing research, TA, and training to corrections and community supervision agencies — directly comparable to CEPP's Community Supervision Resource Center and evidence-based supervision work.

Broad incumbents

• Brennan Center for Justice: Larger, broader-scope policy nonprofit working on criminal justice reform alongside democracy and constitutional issues; comparable research/advocacy posture but operates at greater scale and topic breadth than CEPP.
• Urban Institute (Justice Policy Center): Major social-policy research organization with a dedicated Justice Policy Center producing evaluation and TA for federal/state clients — comparable in federal grant reliance and evidence-based reform work, but with far broader scope and scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/APPRpretrial
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@advancingpretrial
• Facebookfacebook.com/CenterforEffectivePublicPolicy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-for-effective-public-policy/mycompany

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles23 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Center For Effective Public Policy