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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
JOAN LAROCCA, 202-307-0703
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 JOAN.LAROCCA2@USDOJ.GOV
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AWARDS MORE THAN $74.5 MILLION TO SUPPORT ADULT
AND YOUTH OFFENDERS RETURNING TO COMMUNITIES
WASHINGTON The Department of
Justices Office of Justice Programs today announced awards over $74.5
million to reduce recidivism among adults and youth returning to their
communities after confinement.
These awards represent
the Administrations commitment to assisting people in Americas prisons
and detention facilities who have earned the opportunity to take their
places back in society. In this regard, President Trump has
declared April as Second Chance Month.
High rates of
recidivism impact both public safety and the lives of offenders who are
unable, unwilling or ill-equipped to break out of the cycle of repeated
offenses, said OJPs Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt M.
Dummermuth. These awards are an important component of the Departments
ongoing attempts to reduce recidivism and promote successful reentry of
formerly incarcerated individuals into communities.
In 2018, OJPs Bureau
of Justice Assistance, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention and National Institute of Justice awarded grants to state,
local and tribal jurisdictions, research institutions, and other
organizations to support approaches to reintegrating offenders into
communities.
BJA awarded more than
$54.5 million to 72 jurisdictions, nonprofits, educational institutions
and other organizations to facilitate successful reentry and recidivism
reduction efforts for adults across the United States. These grants
support state and local jurisdictions, American Indian tribes and Alaska
Native villages, probation and parole agencies, and community and faith
based organizations to improve reentry and recidivism reduction through
data-driven strategies and programs. Additionally, these grants enable
access and delivery of services to offenders with co-occurring substance
abuse and mental illness who are reentering communities, as well as
enable jurisdictions to build capacity for supervision over high-risk
offenders with a history of serious violence.
BJA also awarded more
than $6 million to the National Adult and Juvenile Offender Reentry
Resource Center, a continuation of funding from a FY 2016 competitive
grant program. The Center directly supports Second Chance Act grantees
(adult and juvenile reentry programs) by identifying and promoting inmate
and offender management practices that work, as well as innovative and
promising approaches to reduce recidivism and strengthen reentry success.
In addition to serving as the training and technical assistance provider
to all Second Chance Act grantees, the Center maintains a central, online
hub for reentry information dissemination to the field; provides overall
reentry education to tribes, state and local government agencies, and
service providers; and assists both BJA and OJJDP in helping
jurisdictions prioritize their reentry and recidivism reduction efforts
and resources.
OJJDP awarded $14.2
million to support 16 jurisdictions and provide funding to researchers to
supplement reentry services for detained juveniles with children and
incarcerated parents. More than $7.2 million was awarded to 10
jurisdictions under OJJDPs Second Chance Act Addressing the Needs of
Incarcerated Parents with Minor Children program to support the
successful and safe transition of young fathers and mothers from
detention, out-of-home placement or incarceration to their families and
communities.
Nearly $4 million in
additional funding was awarded to six jurisdictions under OJJDPs
Second Chance Act Ensuring Public Safety and Improving Outcomes for
Youth in Confinement and While Under Community Supervision program.
This program helps jurisdictions better serve gang-involved juveniles
with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders.
Finally, nearly $2
million was awarded to conduct an evaluation of the Virginia Department
of Juvenile Justices reentry system improvement efforts, including
addressing youths criminogenic needs and transforming case management
procedures to ensure continuity of care during the transition from
institutional control back into community settings.
NIJ, OJPs research and
evaluation component, awarded nearly $6.2 million to five recipients to
perform rigorous research examining the success of reentry strategies,
programs and practices. The awards reflect an emphasis on using
randomized controlled trials when evaluating effectiveness and success of
promising practices.
Reentry is a vitally
important issue in American corrections, especially in reducing violent
crime, said David Muhlhausen, NIJ director and executive director of the
Federal Interagency Council on Crime Prevention and Improving Reentry.
Given the lack of scientific evidence finding reentry programs to be
effective at reducing recidivism, NIJs focus on randomized controlled
trials will hopefully lead to identifying effective programs that will
serve as models for replication.
Findings from the
research will inform, in part, the Second Chance Act Community-based
Adult Reentry Program, assist practitioners and policymakers seeking to
implement effective interventions in their jurisdictions, and advance the
body of knowledge on best practices in offender reentry. The award
recipients are as follows:
Awardee:
Amount Awarded:
Regents of the University of Michigan $799,922
American Institutes for Research $799,988
President and Fellows of Harvard College $1,129,918
University of Cincinnati
$2,503,344
George Mason University $957,325
A full list of the
awards, organized under specific grant programs and listed awardees by
state, is available online at:
https://go.usa.gov/xmkBV.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
About the Office of Justice Programs
The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy
Assistant Attorney General Matt M. Dummermuth, provides federal
leadership, grants and resources to improve the nations capacity to
prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by
strengthening the criminal justice system. More information about OJP and
its components can be found at
www.ojp.gov.
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