The guide's first section provides an overview of a comprehensive planning process. The second section provides guidance for establishing the policy team and defining its work. Included in this section are guidelines for team-building technique that support collaborative decisionmaking; sample goals and agenda for the first Policy Team retreat; and an exercise for assessing the team's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The guide's third section suggests how to keep the focus of the team on outcomes. The four chapters in this section address the building of a vision for the criminal justice system, the creation of a mission and goals for the policy team, understanding and specifying the goals and outcomes of sanctions, and using evidence-based practices. Section four features six chapters on an assessment of the current criminal justice system. Guidelines are provided for obtaining all the necessary information on the current system, planning an assessment of the system, mapping the system, documenting and assessing current policies and practices, collecting information on the offender population, and documenting and assessing all of the resources currently available. The five chapters of section five focus on moving from the assessment to change that creates the envisioned criminal justice system. The chapters suggest how to use the data collected in the assessment to build the new system, how to connect with the community in the management of the change, the adoption of a problem solving approach, and the type of leadership required for managing the change. The concluding chapter provides guidelines for developing policies, procedures, and programs as strategies to achieve outcomes. Chapter exhibits, team exercises, and a resource list