We are a premier strategic management, policy, and research organization.  We elevate institutions and agencies to new heights to better serve communities.  We provide accessible and translatable data-driven solutions in the fields of corrections and criminal justice. We recognize that our criminal justice and correctional agencies typically focus on back-end, reactive approaches.  And we know that in doing so, they often do not focus on many drivers of both incarceration and inadequate staffing in corrections. 

Consequently, we at KRJC focus on proactive, preventative work that provides support to institutions, agencies, and communities so they can meaningfully improve outcomes.  At the same time, we seek to offer support, guidance, and opportunities to improve chances of success and upward mobility, including youth who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

KRJC was founded by John E. Wetzel, the longest-serving former Pennsylvania Secretary of Corrections, from 2011 to 2021.  Under Wetzel's leadership, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections marked the first prison population reduction in more than forty years and saw the elimination of a 24-year average growth of 1,500 incarcerated people annually.  His work as Secretary of Corrections followed a 22-year career in county corrections which culminated in a position of warden at Franklin County Jail, where he oversaw a 20 percent population reduction.  

Our executive director is Greg Rowe, who spent nearly 14 years working with and for the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, most recently as its Executive Director and before that as the Senior Policy Manager for Public Safety for Governor Rendell.  Rowe’s work in public safety has covered the federal, state, and local levels. 

Wetzel and Rowe have each spent decades in public service, working with those from both sides of the political aisle.  Collectively, their work has reinforced public safety, while also improving outcomes for people incarcerated and the formerly incarcerated, as well as crime victims.

Our approach is unique.  Ideology does not drive us; good results do.  We do not come in with pre-determined, formulaic solutions but instead, focus on the specific issues and let data, best practices, and information gathered through collaboration drive recommendations and solutions.  We bring together the stakeholders and communities affected by the issues.  We ensure robust collaboration; meaningful analysis of data, policy, operations, the law, and community impact; serious thinking outside of the box; and specific identification and implementation of sustainable solutions.  

These are more than just words or lofty ideals.  They represent the core of our approach.  Throughout our careers, we have learned by experience and by doing; we have learned by analyzing data and by asking hard questions; and we have learned by having to answer hard questions and by making and advocating for changes from within.  This comprehensive approach requires stakeholders and other participants to ask and answer hard questions and requires them to think critically about their agencies and institutions.  The results yield forward-thinking, thoughtful, and effective solutions - solutions that improve the everyday lives of so many, including those who work in correctional facilities, those who are incarcerated, those who were incarcerated, victims, and communities generally.