Social Policies and Programs

Social issues—affordable housing, public safety, community diversity—can be especially challenging for policy-makers, often remaining unaddressed until moments of crisis. Frequently, resource constraints, long-standing public conflict, or procedural uncertainty confound well-intentioned efforts to manage social policy-making.

Working closely with our clients, CBI designs efficient public input processes, administers meetings of all kinds, helps groups understand current challenges and opportunities, and enables groups to achieve consensus.

We work on a variety of social policies and programs across the United States and beyond, including:

 

Housing
We have facilitated negotiated rulemaking and policy dialogue for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the National Low Income Housing Coalition; helped with creation of a national association for Community Land Trusts; trained resident leaders in public housing buildings; facilitated local homelessness prevention planning; and contributed to systems for resolving tenant-landlord disputes.


Criminal Justice
CBI has worked on a range of projects to promote effective reintegration of ex-offenders and risk reduction for young people. We have facilitated national collaboration to create best practice guidelines for ex-offender reentry; state ex-offender and juvenile justice policy and program commissions; forums on women reentering society, and discussions on employment challenges facing former prisoners.

 

Diversity
CBI has run diversity dialogues with high school students and facilitated a series of community dialogues addressing immigrant issues. Through our Workable Peace project, we have developed educational curricula for students to promote communication and understanding between diverse cultural, ethnic, and religious groups.

Whether working to change existing policies, address new social dynamics, or build leadership capacity, our clients benefit from CBI’s ability to facilitate effective stakeholder dialogues, build understanding, and create durable agreements.

 

For more information about CBI services and areas of expertise, please contact us online or call (617) 492-1414.