Successful Adjudication Partnerships.

The Key Elements of Successful Adjudication Partnerships bulletin, produced by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), provides valuable information about the importance of establishing these partnerships, guidelines for setting up such cooperative efforts, and brief summaries of successful examples. The many complex problems, such as backlogged dockets, crowded jails, and recidivism of drug-addicted offenders, have led prosecutors, public defenders, and courts to join together to seek effective solutions. These formal or informal collaborative efforts bring key justice system agencies together in multiagency task forces, steering committees, or planning groups to identify problems, develop goals and strategies for addressing the problems, and oversee implementation plans to manage or solve the problems. The concept is not new; examples include criminal justice coordinating committees, drug courts, expedited case management programs, and community justice programs. The grassroots efforts of local criminal ju stice leaders committed to improving the operation and effectiveness of local criminal justice systems have resulted in the creation of most adjudication partnerships. However, these joint efforts are spreading throughout the United States.