Mission

The Burns Institute works to eliminate racial and ethnic disparity by building a community-centered response to youthful misbehavior that is equitable and restorative and advances the well-being of all children.

Though many areas of the juvenile justice system deserve reform efforts, the Burns Institute focuses on racial and ethnic disparity because we believe that when we focus on those most impacted, we improve outcomes for all.

We facilitate a collaborative environment where community and system stakeholders work strategically, using data to reduce racial and ethnic disparity.

What We Do

We work community and system stakeholders to craft policies that reduce racial and ethnic disparities, using collaborative and data-driven approaches. Although our primary focus has been the youth justice system, we have recently begun to expand our thinking and research into adult criminal justice and other public serving sectors.