About Us
Founded by a former prosecutor, the Initiative launched in 2020 to create an effective and compassionate criminal justice system for a Safer Virginia. Discover our Holistic History, Our Story, the 2020 Launch, Media Coverage, and Meet Our Staff & Board. Then, Get Involved!
Holistic History
Inspired by the work of public defenders from around the country, the Virginia Holistic Justice Initiative is developing a holistic, supportive intervention model of public safety for adoption by the entire criminal justice system. The purpose of this holistic model is to keep us safer by ending the incarceration of non-violent people, with the goal of reducing crime and the significant human and financial costs of incarceration.
Holistic criminal defense first emerged in the 1990s as a new paradigm of public defense, pioneered by the Bronx Defenders in New York. Since then, holistic models of criminal defense have been implemented successfully in other parts of the country by other public defenders, including the Knox County Community Law Office.
Our Story
Founded by a former prosecutor, the Initiative formed to forge a data-driven path through competing ideologies in criminal justice reform – by asking a single, innovative question:
Can we create a safer Virginia by reducing incarceration?
With the incredible support of Richmond's public defenders, the Initiative was created to pursue this answer:
Yes, we can – by connecting non-violent people to local services addressing the circumstances bringing them into the criminal justice system, we can move them out of it. We can reduce crime and the significant human and financial costs of incarceration.
In October, 2018, Tom Barbour, the Initiative's Founder & Executive Director, resigned as a prosecutor to form the Initiative. Tom then led the organization through a significant developmental year in 2019: forming as a Virginia Nonstock Corporation, creating a founding board, obtaining 501(c)(3) status from the IRS, and running a pilot program that served (15) non-violent people and confirmed the potential public safety value of the Initiative's holistic, supportive intervention model.
Can we create a safer Virginia by reducing incarceration?
Yes, we can – by connecting non-violent people to local services addressing the circumstances bringing them into the criminal justice system, we can move them out of it.
We can reduce crime and the significant human and financial costs of incarceration.
2020 Launch
In 2020, the Initiative launched by hiring it first, Holistic Justice Caseworker with charitable, financial support contributed graciously from Richmond’s public defenders, private defense attorneys, and many of our family members and friends. As a newly formed, criminal justice innovator, the Initiative was also accepted into Capital One’s 1717 Innovation Center as a member of StartUp Virginia.
From 1717, we expect in 2020 to provide holistic service to non-violent clients, fundraise for growth, continue building our operating and advisory boards, and advocate publicly for the adoption of a holistic, supportive intervention model of public safety and an end to the incarceration of non-violent people – all in pursuit of creating an effective and compassionate criminal justice system for a Safer Virginia.
Media Coverage
Coverage of the Initiative’s development in 2019 does much to tell the story of where we’ve come from and where we’re going in 2020:
Virginia Public Defenders Adopting ‘Holistic’ Approach to Combat Recidivism
Virginia Mercury, June 20, 2019
Rethinking Richmond’s Criminal Justice System
RVA Magazine, August 1, 2019
The Virginia Holistic Justice Initiative Goes Deeper
Boomer Magazine, October 15, 2019
Style Weekly’s 40 Under 40: Tom Barbour
Style Weekly (Richmond), October 22, 2019
UR Law Students Engage in Holistic Criminal Justice Non-Profit
The Collegian (University of Richmond), November 13, 2019
Richmond Magazine, April 3, 2020
Staff
Han DuVerney
Founding Holistic Justice Caseworker
Han is the Founding Holistic Justice Caseworker for the Virginia Holistic Justice Initiative. A recent graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in International Studies and minors in History and French, Han pairs deep empathy and a natural talent for relationship building with creative problem-solving to navigate our clients out of the criminal justice system. By his incredible dedication and effort, Han makes the client-centered work of the Initiative a reality every day for people in need.
Tom Barbour
Founder & Executive Director
Tom is a former prosecutor from Richmond’s Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, where he served as a policy advisor on prosecutorial innovation and criminal justice reform. Grounded in this work and in his security experiences as a former Captain of Marines and foreign military advisor in Iraq and Afghanistan, Tom brings a unique public safety perspective to the development of the Initiative's holistic, supportive intervention model. A graduate of the University of Virginia’s CLAS, School of Law, and the Darden School of Business with concentrations in criminal law and corporate innovation, Tom manages the Initiative’s mission with a focus on systemic reforms.
Operating Board
Sarah Scarbrough
Operating Board Member
Sarah is the Founder and Director of REAL LIFE, a non-profit serving recently incarcerated people by overcoming barriers to their Recovery from Everyday Addictive Lifestyles. Holding a doctorate in Public Policy and having built REAL LIFE from onsite programming in the Richmond City Jail to an independent charity, Sarah brings significant organizational development experience for the Initiative's growth.
My'chael Jefferson-Reese
Operating Board Member
My'chael is the Chief Deputy Public Defender in the Richmond Public Defender's Office, where she manages over (25) attorneys and staff in the provision of holistic defenses for the rights and dignity of thousands of indigent clients every year. My'chael brings significant depth of experience and insight into the lives of our clients, especially regarding the services they need to build successful holistic defenses to avoid incarceration and move out of the system.
Mackenzie Clements
Operating Board Member
Mackenzie is a founding partner of Bowen, Clements, Favret & Budny and a former Deputy Public Defender for the Richmond Public Defender’s Office. Having tried hundreds of bench and jury trials in these capacities, Mackenzie brings specialized knowledge and wisdom to the Initiative’s practical advocacy on behalf of indigent non-violent people in the criminal justice system.
Reba Mendoza
Operating Board Member
Reba is an Associate General Counsel with Virginia Commonwealth University's Health Systems and also an operating board member of CARITAS. Through her expertise in labor and employment law, and her dedication to public service, Reba brings key corporate governance experience and wisdom necessary for the successful growth of the Initiative's client services.
Barbie Burfoot
Operating Board Member
Barbie is the Senior Mitigation Specialist in the Richmond Public Defender’s Office, where she has been serving indigent clients since 2004 with a holistic approach to services and sentencing honed over fifteen additional years as a Probation & Parole Officer, including two as an Intensive PO with Richmond’s Drug Court. By her extensive experience, Barbie brings holistic expertise to the Initiative’s development.
David Coogan
Operating Board Member
Dave is an Associate Professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University and the lead author of Writing Our Way Out: Memoirs From Jail, a work detailing the transformative stories of ten men to whom Dave taught creative writing at the Richmond City Jail. Having started an incarceration diversion program by the same name, Dave contributes significant organizing and storytelling capacities to the Initiative’s work.
Alexandra Griffin
Operating Board Member
Alexandra is an Assistant City Attorney in Richmond and a former Assistant Public Defender for the City. Specializing in family and juvenile justice issues, Alexandra offers the Initiative a unique perspective of the intersection of non-violent criminal defense and governmental services. Incredibly active in the Richmond community, Alexandra instills a passion for progress in the Initiative's governance.