Pilot efforts expand the field’s knowledge base about what works (and what doesn’t).

We design and co-lead interventions in partnership with local, state-level, and national agencies to change practice and measure change. Our intervention efforts often include one or both of these trust-building components: collecting feedback from key users and training & implementation of trust-building & legitimacy practices. Pilot partnerships start by listening to staff about their priorities and needs, then exploring existing efforts and opportunities for enhancement.

Fairness Challenge Pilot Project (2024-current) and Court Voices Project (2021-2023), funded by the State Justice Institute, both of which collect and analyze court user feedback to inform practice and policy within pilot courts
Elevating Trust & Legitimacy Project (2020-current), led by the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, a multi-year pilot effort to co-design procedural justice practices within prosecutor’s offices, with an emphasis on gun violence response efforts
Evaluating the Impact of Virtual Proceedings in Family Law Matters (2022-current) study in partnership with Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School, 3rd Judicial District Court of Utah, and the State Justice Institute
Jail Climate and Legitimacy study (2024-current), led by CNA, a multi-year evaluation of procedural justice training for jail corrections officers and leadership at the Massachusetts Department of Correction
Yale Justice Collaboratory Concord Project (2021-2022), a training intervention and study with prison staff and leadership at the Connecticut Department of Correction

We invited some past partners and other trust-building experts to share their thoughts on what trust-building looks like and why it's important.