This report summarizes the ways in which the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) uses its grants, training, technical assistance, and policy-development services to upgrade and support the corrections services of state, local, and tribal governments.
BJA’s Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program (BWCPIP) addresses how to develop and implement policies and practices for piloting, establishing, or improving body-worn camera policy and implementation programs. BJA’s Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) supports innovative cross-system collaboration to improve responses to and outcomes for individuals with mental illness or co-occurring mental health and substance-use disorders who are managed by the criminal justice system. BJA’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) provides funding and technical assistance services that assist states in implementing a five-step model which identifies and responds to crime by developing and implementing innovative, effective, and cost-saving strategies that decrease crime and reduce recidivism. Another BJA program assists jurisdictions in implementing the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act program standards that protect inmates and safeguard communities. BJA also uses its resources to safeguard correctional facilities and public safety by assisting correctional facilities in countering inmate possession and use of contraband cellphones in correctional facilities. BJA’s Swift, Certain, and Fair (SCF) Supervision Program: Applying the Principles Behind Project HOPE provides community supervision agencies with comprehensive resources for collaborative problem-solving with stakeholders. BJA’s Innovations in Reentry Initiative provides resources for identifying the strengths and gaps in corrections reentry systems through a three-phase process of planning, implementation, and evaluation. BJA’s Smart Supervision Program provides corrections agencies with the resources needed to improve probation and parole outcomes. BJA’s Comprehensive Community-based Adult Reentry Program funds reentry programs that demonstrate strong partnerships among community-based and prison-based corrections programs.