Article 15: From Streets to Systems: Community Violence as a Change Model in Community Corrections

Advancing Corrections Journal - Edition #21 - Effecting Change in Corrections | Article 15 (ACJ21-A015)

Correctional systems worldwide face persistent pressure to reform, yet evidence-informed change too often stalls between policy intent and ground-level practice. This paper examines community violence intervention as an underexamined but powerful model of change operating at the intersection of public health and community corrections. Drawing on organizational self-reports from two New Jersey-based CVI practitioners, Dr. Liza Chowdhury, Founder of Reimagining Justice Inc. and the Paterson Healing Collective, and Dr. Julie Chowdhury, Chief Operating Officer of the Newark Community Street Team, the paper analyzes how meaningful, sustained change unfolds in low-resource, predominantly Black and Latino urban communities. Using a qualitative cross-site case study design, the study examines the origins of each organization, implementation challenges, evidence of impact, and the structures that embed change in daily practice. Reimagining Justice has produced a 1.5 percent reinjury rate among gunshot survivors served. Newark recorded 31 homicides in 2025, the lowest figure since 1953 (City of Newark, 2025). The paper concludes with direct implications for correctional practitioners, arguing that CVI organizations offer corrections systems a model of community-centered, evidence-informed change that institutional practice alone cannot replicate.

Keywords: Community Violence Intervention, Community Corrections, Credible Messengers, Evidence-Informed Practice

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Authors

Jason Williams

Professor of Justice Studies, Montclair State University, United States

Dr. Jason M. Williams is an award-winning Professor of Justice Studies at Montclair State University and a passionate activist-criminologist committed to exposing and dismantling racial and gender disparities within the criminal legal system. A native of Passaic, New Jersey, he was raised by his grandmother in the Alfred Speer Village Housing Project, an upbringing that forged his lifelong commitment to social justice and that led him to earn his Ph.D. in Administration of Justice from Texas Southern University.

Dr. Williams has authored and co-edited seven books, including The Palgrave Handbook of Racial Injustice and Resistance (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026), Abolish Criminology (Routledge, 2023), and Over-Policing Black Bodies (Routledge, 2023). He has conducted ethnographic research in Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, MD in the wake of the police-involved deaths of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray. He is the Principal Investigator on a $100,000 grant from Open Society Foundations and a Co-Investigator on a $1.4 million Institute of Education Sciences grant.

Beyond the academy, Dr. Williams holds multiple government and civic appointments. He was instrumental in helping to pass New Jersey's Restorative and Transformative Justice for Youths and Communities Pilot Program, which secured over $8 million in state funding for community-based youth alternatives. He serves as co-chair of Passaic County's inaugural Restorative Justice Hub in Paterson and sits on the New Jersey Coordinating Council on Restorative Justice. He also serves on the Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement Committee for the Passaic County Vicinage of the NJ Judiciary and on the county's Gun Violence Reduction Initiative. His commentary has been quoted in The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and numerous other national outlets.

Liza Chowdhury

Founder and Executive Director, Reimagining Justice Inc. and the Paterson Healing Collective, United States

Dr. Liza Chowdhury, PhD is the Founder and Executive Director of Reimagining Justice Inc. (RJI) and the Project Director of the Paterson Healing Collective (PHC), a nationally recognized hospital-based and community violence intervention initiative serving Paterson and Passaic County, New Jersey. With more than 17 years of experience in higher education and a decade of service as a juvenile probation officer, Dr. Chowdhury has dedicated her career to advancing healing-centered, trauma-informed approaches to violence prevention and justice.

Since founding RJI in 2019, she has worked to build community-based alternatives that address the root causes of violence and promote healing, safety, and opportunity for individuals and families impacted by trauma. Under her leadership, the Paterson Healing Collective has provided intensive support to hundreds of survivors of violence while helping to reduce reinjury and strengthen pathways to recovery.

Dr. Chowdhury is an award-winning advocate, researcher, and educator whose work bridges public health, restorative justice, victim services, and community violence intervention. She has served as an assistant professor, published on issues of juvenile justice and violence prevention, and advises statewide and national initiatives focused on creating more equitable and effective responses to harm.

A recipient of the 2023 Giffords Life Savers Award, Dr. Chowdhury is widely recognized for her commitment to transforming systems, uplifting communities, and ensuring that those most impacted by violence are at the center of solutions. Her work is driven by a simple belief: healing, dignity, and safety are fundamental rights that every community deserves.

Julie Chowdhury

Chief Operating Officer, Newark Community Street Team, United States

Julie Chowdhury, PhD, is the Chief Operating Officer of the Newark Community Street Team (NCST), Newark’s leading community violence intervention and public safety organization. Since joining NCST in 2023, she demonstrated strong leadership, data-driven decision-making, and a deep commitment to building safer and healthier communities.

Julie began at NCST in data and special projects roles, where she led cross-departmental initiatives and developed systems that improved efficiency, accountability, and organizational performance. She now serves as the Chief Operating Officer. In this role, she oversees operations, finance, compliance, and grant management. She also provides executive oversight of the Trauma Recovery Center and Hospital Violence Intervention Program, leads budget development across all programs, and has played a key role in developing workflows and performance measures for the Community Crisis Response Team Pilot and the Harm Reduction Center.

Prior to joining NCST, Julie spent nine years working in probation, serving two years as a state probation officer in Bergen County and seven years as a United States Probation Officer for the District of New Jersey, covering Essex, Hudson, and Passaic counties. During her tenure with the federal judiciary, she served as the lead Reentry Court Officer, supervising high-risk individuals participating in a problem-solving court designed to support successful reintegration and reduce recidivism. These experiences provided her with firsthand insight into the barriers faced by justice-impacted individuals and their families and continue to inform her commitment to advancing equitable, community-based solutions.

Julie holds a PhD in Family Science and Human Development from Montclair State University. Her research focuses on reentry and community violence intervention, with an emphasis on understanding the structural and interpersonal factors that shape outcomes for justice-impacted individuals, families, and communities.

Article 15: From Streets to Systems: Community Violence as a Change Model in Community Corrections

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