Prosecutors, judges, and court personnel are not only focused on traditional case management, but also are using innovative approaches to reduce crime and recidivism. They recognize that crimes involving drug use, sex offenses, and mentally ill and disabled offenders require a different approach to ensure that these offenders are brought to justice and receive proper treatment so they will not reoffend once they return to their communities. Even though local court personnel are responsible for deciding how to meet these needs, BJA is committed to easing this task by providing the resources, tools, and support necessary to balance punishment with treatment.

Community Justice and Courts

The Center for Court Innovation (CCI) is a public-private partnership dedicated to improving the performance of courts and criminal justice agencies. CCI’s BJA-funded Problem-Solving Courts Project is part of a multiyear effort to transform how courts in New York State address difficult legal and social problems, including juvenile delinquency, domestic violence, and drug addiction. In particular, CCI seeks to encourage New York’s courts to use a problem-solving approach. That is, New York’s courts should not only process cases, but also attempt to strengthen neighborhoods, aid victims, and change the behavior of offenders.

The FY 2002 grant for $3.5 million funded three initiatives:

• Ongoing experimentation. By launching a series of new problem-solving initiatives, such as a juvenile domestic violence court and a community mediation project at the Midtown Community Court, CCI seeks to test a problem-solving approach with new problems, jurisdictions, and settings. If these ideas are successful, they can then be expanded to serve additional locations.

• Technical assistance/training. CCI provides court planners throughout the state with hands-on training and assistance to support the development and replication of integrated domestic violence courts, drug courts, and other problem-solving courts.

• Technology. Finally, CCI is building a state-of-the-art information technology system to support the continuing success of problem-solving courts. This system will help monitor the status of treatment, track results, and improve service delivery. CCI will pilot test the system in FY 2003.

In November 2002, the Problem-Solving Courts Project supported a formal curriculum and held the first training program in New York State geared exclusively for directors of problem-solving courts. Also, four integrated domestic violence courts that handle criminal and civil cases were opened in New York for families with overlapping cases related to domestic violence. The goal is to use a “one family, one judge” approach to ensure consistent orders and safety for victims and children.

Sentencing Strategies

The Sentencing Project was founded to encourage discussion and development of sentencing practices that benefit defenders and defendants, communities, and victims. It is a leader in the development of alternative sentencing programs, the reform of criminal justice policy, and research on incarceration, racial disparity, and effective means of crime control. The Sentencing Project has provided technical assistance and helped establish alternative sentencing programs in more than 22 states.

In FY 2002, The Sentencing Project collaborated with the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ) to develop a 2-day train-the-trainer session for the association’s annual conference. Thirty association members participated in the training, which provided new trainers with the information and skills necessary to lead sessions on reducing racial disparity in the criminal justice system.

In addition to developing training and technical assistance programs, The Sentencing Project continued to address the special requirements for providing effective representation to youth prosecuted in adult criminal court. In FY 2002, The Sentencing Project commenced an original research project in Miami, Florida; through interviews, approximately 100 youth will document their experience with victimization at school, at work, in the family, and involving sex and violence. The data will categorize the challenges these young people face and emphasize the importance of appropriate juvenile services. In turn, The Sentencing Project will identify youth’s needs and develop recommendations to improve representation of youth charged as adults.

The project also will interview Miami public defenders to document their perspectives on youth charged as adults in their jurisdiction. Research results, which are expected to be published in FY 2003, will help defenders assess their program needs and facilitate the flow of information to prosecutors prior to their decision to charge a young person as an adult or a juvenile defendant.

See BJA Funding in Focus: The Sentencing Project

Mental Health Courts

BJA funding to the Council of State Governments contributed to the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project. The project’s report resulted from a national 2-year effort to improve the response to people with mental illness who come into contact (or are at risk of coming into contact) with the criminal justice system. It provides policymakers, practitioners, advocates, and others with an array of options and ideas, many of which have emerged in communities across the country. Partner agencies in this effort included the Association of State Correctional Administrators; Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; Center for Behavioral Health, Justice, and Public Policy; National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors; Police Executive Research Forum; and Pretrial Services Resource Center. BJA also is working closely with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to coordinate training and technical assistance in the area of mental health.

This report reflects a consensus among the stakeholders in the criminal justice and mental health systems. Legislators, policymakers, practitioners, and other agents of change can implement the detailed recommendations in this report. Each recommendation has been developed and approved by experts from a diverse range of perspectives who work in and administer the departments, agencies, and organizations that try every day to address the needs of people with mental illness in the criminal justice system.

Mental health courts were designed to respond to the problem of mentally ill misdemeanants and, in some jurisdictions, low-level felony offenders who repeatedly cycle through the criminal justice system without receiving the assistance they need. Jurisdictions with mental health courts have recognized the recurring issue of inadequate screening and treatment of mentally ill/mentally impaired defendants and offenders.

Through BJA’s FY 2002 Byrne Discretionary Grant Program, Congress directed the expenditure of $4 million for mental health courts. BJA has used the funds to help establish 23 mental health courts that will bring systemwide improvements in the ways that communities address offenders with mental disabilities or illnesses. The states, state and local courts, local governments, and tribal governments selected to receive grant funds were chosen through a competitive solicitation. The funds were awarded in spring 2003.

The courts will provide ongoing judicial supervision and comprehensive case management as service providers assist clients with mental health treatment, housing, employment, education, and other support services as part of this deferred prosecution program. BJA plans to provide technical assistance to grant demonstration projects and to develop a number of products that will serve the corrections, courts, mental health, and law enforcement communities.

Money Laundering

The Department of the Treasury developed the Financial Crime-Free Communities Support (C–FIC) Anti-Money Laundering Grant Program in 1998 to develop innovative programs at the local and state levels that combat money laundering and financial crimes. Treasury and BJA—which administers the program—encourage state and local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors’ offices to identify emerging or chronic money laundering issues within their jurisdictions and propose innovative strategies for addressing those issues.

In FY 2002, $2.55 million was awarded to address money laundering and provide grant recipients with training and technical assistance to combat these crimes. The program made 22 grant awards: 9 in FY 2000, 8 in FY 2001, and 5 in FY 2002. Four grant programs originally funded in FYs 2000 and 2001 were granted additional funding in FY 2002. The final year of funding will be in FY 2003 for closeout activities.

BJA provided grantees with technical assistance on substantive issues, which, in turn, enabled grantees to establish new anti-money laundering programs and make an important contribution to the nation’s anti-money laundering effort. C–FIC has been successful in providing funding for new and existing anti-money laundering programs. In FY 2002, the 17 existing programs opened hundreds of new cases and recovered approximately $2 million in currency and property involved in money laundering schemes. Some projects were successful in developing new techniques to deal with more traditional forms of money laundering, while others were able to identify new money laundering schemes and develop techniques to deal with these newer schemes. In each case, as documented by the dozens of arrests and convictions reported throughout the C–FIC Program, the grantees were able to expand their operations.

See BJA Funding in Focus: Suppressing Financial Crime and Money Laundering

Judicial Training

Since 1963, the National Judicial College (NJC) has provided educational and professional development opportunities to more than 58,000 judges worldwide. From limited jurisdiction judges to U.S. Supreme Court justices, attendees from all areas of the judicial system have benefitted from the very best in judicial education offered at the college.

The National Judicial College’s goal is to educate judges through innovative course presentations by well-trained faculty. Specifically, between April 1, 2002 and March 31, 2003, NJC devoted the majority of its $750,000 in funding to permit judges to attend courses on criminal law, tribal courts, substance abuse, and co-occurring disorders (defendants with mental health and substance abuse issues).

NJC also offered faculty development workshops and developed two distance-learning workshops to reach those judges who cannot afford to attend in-person courses. Finally, NJC continued its ongoing curriculum research and needs assessment in judicial education, revised selected existing courses, and developed several new courses dealing with elder issues, substance abuse, judges’ bench skills, and management skills, among others.

See BJA Funding in Focus: National Association of Court Management

DNA Training and Technical Assistance

Prosecutors must meet the ever-changing challenges of maximizing use of DNA evidence. With grant funds provided by BJA, the American Prosecutors Research Institute’s (APRI’s) DNA Forensics Program has become the leading source of information and assistance for the nation’s prosecutors, providing services in three basic areas: training, technical assistance, and resource materials.

In FY 2002, APRI facilitated a number of training programs for prosecutors and related criminal justice professionals. Fifty-five prosecutors attended the basic course, DNA: Witness to the Truth—Basic Techniques in Forensic DNA Evidence, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in September 2002. The curriculum included the basic science of DNA, basic statistics, admissibility, discovery, postconviction case review, and a tour of the nearby DNA laboratory.

APRI also presented both basic and advanced DNA courses in conjunction with the National District Attorneys Association at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina. Forty-five prosecutors attended each course. The advanced course, Advanced Training in DNA for Prosecutors, featured trial advocacy segments that enhanced the ability of prosecutors to use DNA evidence effectively in the courtroom.

The DNA Forensics Program responded to 254 requests for assistance in FY 2002. Technical assistance consisted of legal research and analysis of cases and statutes, scientific literature reviews, information about DNA expert witnesses, and case-specific strategic assistance. Also, presentations on DNA topics were made in conjunction with state prosecutor coordinator organizations and national law enforcement organizations.

As a result of these and other efforts, prosecutors have been better prepared to use DNA evidence both at the pretrial stage and in the courtroom. APRI is poised to facilitate implementation of President Bush’s proposed initiative, Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology, by providing much needed training and technical assistance to the nation’s local and state prosecutors.

Community Prosecution Technical Assistance

The concept of community prosecution holds great promise for America’s local prosecutors as they seek to reduce crime and improve the quality of life for all citizens in their jurisdictions.

American Prosecutors Research Institute
The American Prosecutors Research Institute’s National Center for Community Prosecution (NCCP) was funded by BJA to implement a program of technical assistance to grantees of BJA’s community prosecution initiative and to other jurisdictions implementing community prosecution programs. The purpose of this technical assistance program has been to assist the nation’s prosecutors in developing and enhancing comprehensive community prosecution initiatives. The ultimate goal is to fully integrate community prosecution into the working philosophy of America’s criminal justice system, making a real difference within specific communities.

During FY 2002, NCCP conducted two courses, Expanding the Role of the Community Prosecutor and Developing a Community Prosecution Program, in conjunction with the National District Attorneys Association at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina. More than 50 prosecutors from across the country attended each course. NCCP also hosted two symposia to gain input from experienced community prosecutors to update the Community Prosecution Implementation Manual, which was first published in 1995.

Finally, NCCP staff responded to 750 technical assistance contacts and conducted 4 technical assistance site visits. In FY 2003, NCCP will continue its technical assistance work and site visits and host the Second National Community Prosecution Conference in Washington, D.C. APRI also will publish a series of monographs on specific community prosecution topics.

The George Washington University
In FY 2001, BJA provided funding to the Institute on Crime, Justice and Corrections (ICJC) at The George Washington University to implement a technical assistance program for grantees of BJA’s community prosecution initiative. The purpose of this technical assistance program has been to elevate the quality and increase the availability of performance-related data to identify promising programs and models of intervention.

In fall 2002, ICJC and other technical assistance providers participated in BJA’s regional workshops for community prosecution grantees. Using both small- and large-group formats, ICJC conducted assessment workshops to provide grantees an opportunity to identify practical and realistic strategies for measuring the quality of program implementation and the impact of the program on the targeted crime problem. After the workshops, ICJC staff contacted each grantee by telephone to discuss the grantee’s evaluation plans and recommend methods to collect and report data on each program’s achievements.

In FY 2003, ICJC will provide written feedback to each grantee to solidify the recommended evaluation strategy. In addition, ICJC will provide ongoing support to sites that request more indepth assistance. This assistance could include the construction of community surveys to identify the program’s impact on the target community, the development of customized databases to maintain data collected, or the analysis and interpretation of data contained in existing databases. Depending on the intermediate success of the various programs, ICJC also may examine multiple programs’ responses to a specific crime problem. Finally, ICJC will aggregate the data reported to BJA using the initiative-specific, semiannual progress reporting structure.

Center for Effective Public Policy
In FY 2001, BJA awarded grants to 75 jurisdictions around the country to plan, implement, or enhance community prosecution strategies. In addition to these 75 awards, BJA also identified and designated 9 Leadership Site grantees—which were clustered into three regions—to serve as mentors to other prosecutor and city/county attorney offices nationwide. To encourage the 75 sites to share ideas, strategies, and best practices with each other, BJA asked the Leadership Site grantees to host regional training sessions. With assistance from the Center for Effective Public Policy and the four other community prosecution technical assistance providers—APRI, CCI, ICJC, and the Crime and Justice Research Institute at Temple University—the nine Leadership Site grantees met in regional groups to plan three training events.

The planning teams were composed of representatives of groups that are essential to the success of the community prosecution: the prosecutor’s office, public defenders, the police department, and members of the community. The planning meetings were convened during the spring and summer of 2002 in Indianapolis, Indiana; Austin, Texas; and Brooklyn, New York. The training programs, which were held in the same cities, were held in October and November and attended by a total of more than 350 people.

Tribal Courts Assistance Program

Through its TCAP technical assistance program, BJA works with the National Judicial College; the National Tribal Justice Resource Center, a project of the National American Indian Court Judges Association; the University of North Dakota; the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council; the National Institute for Trial Advocacy; and a regional tribal justice center, the National Indian Justice Center, to provide training and technical assistance for tribal court personnel and promote cooperation among tribal justice systems and federal and state judicial systems. Many of these organizations worked in close collaboration to conduct two training sessions in FY 2002 to help American Indian tribes who received Tribal Court Assistance Program grants to develop, enhance, and sustain their tribal courts. The organizations also provided technical assistance to other tribal courts that needed their specialized expertise.

In addition, the National Tribal Justice Resource Center operates a clearinghouse of tribal judicial resources; provides a searchable database of tribal justice opinions, codes, constitutions, court rules, and tribal-state agreements; and offers online reference and research services. The University of North Dakota and the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council provide technical assistance to improve the quality of justice in Indian Country, while the National Institute for Trial Advocacy hosts training sessions for tribal prosecutors and tribal defense lawyers.

Telemarketing Fraud Technical Assistance

In FY 2002, BJA continued to support a consortium of prevention, education, and prosecution projects to thwart fraudulent telemarketers who prey on senior citizens. A major component of the project is the Telemarketing Fraud Training Task Force, a multiagency committee led by the National Association of Attorneys General that includes the National District Attorneys Association, the National White Collar Crime Center, and the American Association of Retired Persons.

The task force’s goals are to raise awareness of telemarketing fraud within the state and local prosecutorial and law enforcement communities, assess the needs of states and local communities to prevent and combat telemarketing fraud, identify how state and local law enforcement could best leverage their resources, and educate consumers about how to avoid becoming victims of telemarketing fraud.

Members of the task force train people at three BJA-funded demonstration sites that have implemented innovative telemarketing prevention and enforcement programs. In Hillsborough County, Florida, a task force has been implemented to fight telemarketing fraud. And in the North Carolina Office of the Attorney General in Raleigh, an investigator prosecutes fraudulent telemarketing companies and educates the public and key individuals regarding how to identify and stop telemarketing fraud. Finally, in Montpelier, Vermont, the state’s Office of the Attorney General dedicates prosecutorial and investigative resources to and continues to build ties with Canada by working with the National Association of Attorneys General to establish investigative liaison relationships.

In FY 2002, BJA also continued to fund the National Consumers League (NCL), which provides local law enforcement agencies with tools to conduct effective public education programs aimed at preventing telemarketing fraud. NCL’s primary objectives are to empower consumers to avoid victimization, encourage victims to report fraud crimes, develop and disseminate a Telemarketing Fraud Education Kit for law enforcement agencies, and participate in public forums—such as radio programs—to heighten awareness of telemarketing crime.