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Grants 101

Section 4

Managing Offenders To Reduce Recidivism and Promote Successful Reentry

Overview

Each year, more than 750,000 offenders are released from federal, state, local, and tribal prisons, and between 10 and 12 million offenders and defendants are released from jails. At the end of 2007, about 1 in every 45 adults in the United States was either on probation or parole.

These individuals face multiple barriers upon their return to society, including mental illness, substance abuse, health problems, poor employment histories, family issues, lack of job skills, and lack of housing, as well as other significant personal problems. Research shows that about two-thirds of offenders are rearrested within 3 years of release, and half return to prison during that same period.

OJP, through a number of its bureaus, is working to reduce recidivism and its attendant fiscal and social costs and increase the safety of our communities. This is a high priority of the Obama administration and Attorney General Holder. One of the largest efforts is the Second Chance Act of 2007.

Through the provisions of this statute, OJP is able to increase its support of reentry demonstration projects that use validated assessment tools to determine the risks and needs of offenders. BJA is overseeing projects designed to provide offenders in prisons or jails with necessary services, including educational, literacy, vocational, and job placement services to facilitate reentry into the community; substance abuse treatment and services that represent a full continuum of treatment services during incarceration and in community-based settings upon release; and coordinated supervision and comprehensive services for offenders upon release from prison or jail, including housing and mental and physical health care to include veteran specific services.

OJP addresses the challenges that returning sex offenders bring to their communities through the Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program. This program assists states, the District of Columbia, territories, and tribal jurisdictions with developing and/or enhancing programs designed to implement the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.

Discretionary Programs

Program Name Second Chance Act Adult and Juvenile Offender Reentry Demonstration Projects
Grantee Competitive
FY 2010 Funding $37,000,000
OJP Sponsor BJA
Web Link www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/SecondChance.html
Program Contact Thurston Bryant, (202) 514-8082, Thurston.Bryant@usdoj.gov
Program Description
The Second Chance Act authorizes grants to state and local governments and federally recognized Indian tribes for demonstration projects to promote the safe and successful reintegration of incarcerated individuals into the community. Allowable funding uses include employment services, substance abuse treatment, housing, family programming, mentoring, victim services, and methods to improve release and revocation decisions using risk assessment tools.

Program Name Second Chance Mentoring Program
Grantee Competitive
FY 2010 Funding $15,000,000
OJP Sponsor BJA
Web Link www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/SecondChance.html
Program Contact Thurston Bryant, (202) 514-8082, Thurston.Bryant@usdoj.gov
Program Description
The Second Chance Act authorizes mentoring grants for nonprofit organizations and federally recognized Indian tribes. Project initiatives include mentoring adult offenders and offering transitional or other services to promote the safe and successful reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals back into the community.

Program Name Adam Walsh Act (AWA) Implementation Grant Program
Grantee Competitive
FY 2010 Funding $9,250,000
OJP Sponsor SMART Office
Web Link www.ojp.gov/smart
Program Contact Victoria Jolicoeur, (202) 514-4696, Victoria.Jolicoeur@usdoj.gov
Program Description
Grant projects must further jurisdiction compliance and clearly demonstrate specific requirements of SORNA that will be implemented as a result of funding support. Activities supported by this program may include the following:

Developing or enhancing jurisdiction-wide SORNA sex offender registration programs or functions.
Enhancing infrastructure to assist implementation of SORNA, such as for the collection, storage, submission or analysis of sex offender biometric data (finger and palm prints) and DNA.
Developing or enhancing law enforcement and other criminal justice agency information sharing at the jurisdiction level, as well as between jurisdiction-level agencies and local-level agencies, as it relates to SORNA sex offender registration and notification compliance and accountability.
Implementing records management and conversion projects.
Providing support for coordinated interagency efforts to comply with SORNA.
Developing and implementing training for law enforcement and other criminal justice agency personnel responsible for sex offender registration and compliance related to SORNA implementation.

Training and Technical Assistance

Program Name Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Offender Management (CASOM) Training and Technical Assistance Program
Grantee Competitive
FY 2010 Funding $3,300,000
OJP Sponsor SMART Office
Web Link www.ojp.gov/smart
Program Contact Jackie O’Reilly, (202) 514-5024, jacqueline.o’reilly@usdoj.gov
Program Description
The CASOM program assists state, local, and tribal jurisdictions in improving their adult and/or juvenile sex offender management policies and practices by critically examining existing approaches to monitoring and managing the population; identifying significant gaps and needs in the monitoring and management of sex offenders programs; and developing programs to address the needs identified in existing programs.

Program Name Second Chance Act: National Reentry Resource Center
Grantee Council of State Governments Justice Center (Justice Center) (Continuation)
OJP Sponsor BJA
Web Link www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org
Program Contact Thurston Bryant, (202) 514-8082, Thurston.Bryant@usdoj.gov
Program Description
The Justice Center recently established a National Adult and Juvenile Offender Reentry Resource Center (Reentry Resource Center) on behalf of BJA to provide education, training, and technical assistance for states, tribes, territories, local governments, service providers, nonprofit organizations, and corrections institutions on issues related to adult and juvenile offender reentry. The Justice Center will collect data regarding offender reentry from demonstration grantees and other agencies and organizations and will disseminate information to states and other relevant entities about best practices, policy standards, and research findings. The Reentry Resource Center will provide a "one-stop" location where the reentry field can easily obtain appropriate tools and materials; connect with peers across the country; identify and promote evidence-based practices; translate reentry research into user-friendly materials; deliver individualized, targeted technical assistance to BJA grantees to maximize the likelihood that they achieve proposed results; and advance the adult and juvenile reentry field generally.

Research and Statistical Programs

Program Name Recidivism of Federal Offenders
Grantee Competitive
FY 2010 Funding $300,000
OJP Sponsor BJS
Web Link www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Point of Contact Howard Snyder, (202) 616-8305, Howard.Snyder@usdoj.gov
Program Description:
This project will track a sample of persons released from federal prison to determine their recidivism patterns. Federal Bureau of Investigation and state criminal history records will be converted for comparison to a prior study of persons released from state prisons.

Program Name Census of Probation Agencies/Offices
Grantee Competitive
FY 2010 Funding $450,000
OJP Sponsor BJS
Web Link www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Point of Contact William Sabol, (202) 514-1062, William.Sabol@usdoj.gov
Program Description
This project will involve a study of serious mental illness among correctional populations. A census of probation agencies nationwide will be conducted to develop a roster of probation offices for two major purposes: (1) to examine such characteristics as staffing, caseload, and functions at the office and agency level; and (2) to use this information as a framework to develop a sample for a survey of probationers to meet congressional requirements of the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2008. This act requires prevalence estimates of serious mental illness among correctional populations.

Program Name Evaluation of the Bureau of Justice Assistance Second Chance Act Adult Demonstration Projects
Grantee Competitive
FY 2010 Funding $3,000,000
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij; http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/sl000937.pdf
Point of Contact Marie Garcia, (202) 514-7128, marie.garcia@usdoj.gov; Nancy Merritt, (202) 305-8748, nancy.merritt@usdoj.gov
Program Description
NIJ seeks applications for a comprehensive outcome and impact evaluation of the selected adult demonstration projects funded under the Second Chance Act of 2007. The Second Chance Act of 2007 was signed into law on April 9, 2008, with the goal of increasing reentry programming for offenders returning to their families and respective communities. This solicitation seeks to award a cooperative agreement in order to measure the processes, outcomes, costs, and impacts of the programs that received funding under the Second Chance Act and to assess the effectiveness of the Second Chance Act in reducing recidivism among released prisoners.

Program Name Recidivism of Offenders on Federal Community Supervision
Grantee Competitive
FY 2010 Funding $300,000
OJP Sponsor BJS
Web Link www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Point of Contact Howard Snyder, (202) 616-8305, Howard.Snyder@usdoj.gov
Program Description
This program seeks assistance to work with BJS and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC), through a cooperative agreement, to conduct a recidivism study of offenders on federal community supervision. The successful applicant will be provided data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts' Probation/Pretrial Services Automated Case Tracking System (PACTS). This system maintains detailed information on each offender placed on federal supervision, including a summary of the offender's criminal history, the details of the case and of the supervision experience. The successful applicant will develop the overall design of the recidivism study, select the study cohort, and merge the databases provided into a researchable database capable of addressing the research questions. From these data the successful applicant will assess the recidivism rates for various subpopulations and will identify factors that influence these rates, including attributes of the offender, the probation officer and the probation office. In addition, the successful applicant will study the consistency of the criminal history information found in PACTS with the information found in FBI's III.

Program Name Recidivism in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
Grantee Competitive
FY 2010 Funding $350,000
OJP Sponsor BJS
Web Link www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Point of Contact Howard Snyder, (202) 616-8305, Howard.Snyder@usdoj.gov
Program Description
This program seeks proposals to conduct a research program that investigates the developmental patterns and correlates of recidivism using the data collected by the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97). The goal of this program is to develop a better understanding the legal, social, economic and educational factors that influence juvenile and criminal recidivism and successful reentry. The project will be conducted over an 18-month period beginning in October 2010 and will result in (1) a public access database that can service a range of recidivism studies and (2) publications that delve into the various correlates of recidivism. Specifically, this project will determine what relevant recidivism research questions can be addressed by the NLSY97 data, create a research database from the NLSY97 data that can be used to answer these questions, and prepare reports that answer many relevant questions to aid BJS in its subsequent recidivism data collection activities.

Program Name Evaluation of National Institute of Corrections Evidence-Based Decision Making Framework for Local Criminal Justice Systems
Grantee Competitive
FY 2010 Funding Up to $750,000 may become available
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/; http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/sl000940.pdf
Point of Contact Marilyn C. Moses, (202) 514-6205, marilyn.moses@usdoj.gov
Program Description
NIJ seeks applications for an evaluation of the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) evidence-based decision making framework for local criminal justice systems. The primary objective of the evaluation will be to assess the connections between evidence-based court decisions and supervision options that break the cycle of criminal recidivism, protect the public, and assist offenders reentering the community from incarceration.

Program Name Evaluation of the Multi-site Demonstration Field Experiment: What Works in Reentry Research
Grantee Competitive
FY 2010 Funding Up to a total of $3 million may become available
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/; http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/sl000943.pdf
Point of Contact Marie Garcia, (202) 514-7128, Marie.Garcia@usdoj.gov
Program Description
As part of a collaborative effort with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to implement and rigorously test important criminal justice interventions and programs, NIJ seeks proposals to support a randomized controlled trial program evaluation as part of a multi-site Demonstration Field Experiment (DFE) on prisoner reentry. The rigorous multi-site DFE is part of NIJ's reentry evaluation activities supported with funding under the Second Chance Act of 2007 (SCA). The purpose of SCA is to provide effective solutions for managing the increasing number of people who are released from jail and prison into communities and the subsequent challenges communities face as offenders attempt to reintegrate into society.

Program Name Evaluation of the Bureau of Justice Assistance Second Chance Act FY 2010 State, Tribal, and Local Reentry Courts Program
Grantee Competitive
FY 2010 Funding Up to a total of $3 million may become available
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/; http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/sl000941.pdf
Point of Contact Linda Truitt, (202) 353-9081, Linda.Truitt@usdoj.gov
Program Description
NIJ seeks applicants for a multi-site process and outcome evaluation of the State, Tribal and Local Reentry Courts Program to be funded by BJA in FY 2010 under the Second Chance Act of 2007 (SCA). The SCA supports a comprehensive response to the increasing number of people who are released from jail and prison into communities and the subsequent challenges communities face as offenders attempt to reintegrate into society.