CJA assists local jails by providing better and less costly inmate services than the local jails could provide on their own. CJA's Jail Inmate Classification System (JICS) provides sheriffs and jailers with an objective method to sort inmates into levels of security and programs. JICS is also used by judges and other actors in the criminal justice system. CJA's services include alternatives to jail, in-jail employment skills and substance abuse counseling programs, and job- and housing-finding and other services to enable inmates' smooth re-entry into the community. CJA's JIC has also been successfully implemented in the urban county jails of Macomb and Oakland. CJA's investment in research and development and its ability to link data analysis to policy making will be critically important.