Yale Convenes State Leaders, Researchers, and Philanthropists for Data-Driven Decarceration Meeting

More than 50 leaders from state government, academia, philanthropy, health care, and community organizations convened at Yale University on April 10, 2026 for “Data-Driven Decarceration in Connecticut,” a working meeting hosted by the SEICHE Center for Health and Justice at Yale and sponsored by the Section of General Internal Medicine at Yale School of Medicine (YSM).

The convening focused on how Connecticut can strengthen data infrastructure, evaluate decarceration policies, and develop evidence-based interventions that improve both public health and public safety.

“Connecticut has a rare opportunity to become a national model for how states can pair decarceration efforts with rigorous evaluation and cross-sector collaboration,” says Emily Wang, MD, MAS, director of the SEICHE Center for Health and Justice at Yale. “What made this gathering remarkable was not only the breadth of expertise in the room, but the willingness of state agencies, researchers, and community leaders to work together in real time around shared public goals.”

Discussions centered on pretrial detention, social policy interventions, community-based crisis response, data infrastructure, and opportunities for rigorous policy evaluation.

The meeting was designed as an active working session rather than a traditional conference, encouraging participants from different disciplines, sectors, and agencies to identify opportunities for collaboration and shared learning.

Participants included representatives from the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, the Connecticut Office of the Treasurer, the Department of Social Services, local government leaders, researchers from across Yale, philanthropic organizations, and community-based organizations working in criminal justice reform and reentry.

The event featured researchers from across Yale and policy leaders discussing evidence-based interventions that may reduce incarceration and improve long-term community outcomes, including universal pre-kindergarten, Connecticut’s baby bonds initiative, medical-legal partnerships, community crisis response models, and unconditional cash transfer pilots for individuals returning from incarceration. Presenters emphasized the importance of embedding rigorous evaluation and cross-sector data partnerships into these initiatives from the outset.

In keynote remarks, Laura Arnold, JD, MPhil, co-founder and co-chair of Arnold Ventures, discussed the importance of evidence-based policymaking and rigorous evaluation in criminal justice reform.

“Criminal justice policy has too often advanced without the kind of rigorous experimental evaluation that we routinely expect in other areas of public policy,” Arnold says. “If we want to reduce incarceration while improving public safety and opportunity, we need to invest in evidence-driven policymaking, build the data infrastructure to support it, and create real partnerships between researchers, government, and communities to test what works.”

Organizers noted that the convening marked the advancement of statewide efforts to strengthen cross-sector partnerships, expand data-sharing infrastructure, and develop rigorous experimental and quasi-experimental studies to evaluate the health, public safety, and economic impacts of decarceration policies in Connecticut.

Speakers included: Laura Arnold, JD, MPhil; James Bhandary-Alexander, JD; Andréa Comer, MPA; Scott Gaul, MA; Derrick Gordon, PhD; Benjamin A. Howell, MD, MPH, MHS; Daniel Karpowitz, JD; Brittany LaMarr, JD, MPP; Yiran Liu, PhD, MS; Yaw Owusu-Boahen, MBA; Lisa Puglisi, MD; Sam Quinney, MPP; Destiny Tolliver, MD; Jacob Wallace, PhD; Emily Wang, MD, MAS; and Seth Zimmerman, PhD.