Public safety requires effective supervision and management of offenders in the community. Community supervision officers must balance the time required to manage growing caseloads and their desire to provide offenders with the services they need to become law-abiding citizens. Throughout the country, state and local probation and parole officers are developing new ways to meet these challenges, including building partnerships between law enforcement and community corrections.

It is no less important for incarcerated offenders to be prepared to return to their communities and live a law-abiding lifestyle. Reentry programs provide a broad range of services for offenders while ensuring accountability. Through reentry programs, corrections staff provide inmates with the opportunities to develop life and work skills because such programs provide treatment, vocational training, and educational opportunities and address substance abuse and mental health issues. BJA’s objective is to provide the tools, guidance, resources, and support necessary to those who manage and work with offenders so we can ensure that public safety is maintained while offenders reintegrate themselves into the community.

Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative

While continuing to assist states, communities, and national organizations in developing effective reintegration strategies, BJA also participated in OJP’s Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (Reentry Initiative). This initiative—developed by OJP in conjunction with the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and other federal partners—is a comprehensive effort that addresses both juvenile and adult populations of serious, high-risk offenders. It provides funding to develop, implement, enhance, and evaluate reentry strategies that will ensure the safety of the community and the reduction of serious, violent crime.

The discretionary funding available through the Reentry Initiative is provided to fill any gaps in existing local, state, and federal resources. The federal partners came together to help local and state agencies navigate the complex field of existing state formula and block grants and to assist them in accessing, redirecting, and leveraging those resources to support all components of a comprehensive reentry program.

The Reentry Initiative promotes the development of model reentry programs that begin in correctional institutions and continue throughout an offender’s transition to and stabilization in the community. These programs will provide for individual reentry plans that address issues confronting offenders as they return to the community. The initiative encompasses three phases: Phase 1—Protect and Prepare: Institution- Based Programs; Phase 2—Control and Restore: Community-Based Transition Programs; and Phase 3—Sustain and Support: Community-Based Long-Term Support Programs.

In FY 2002, a total of 68 grants were awarded to states, territories, and the District of Columbia. Of these, 45 have been developed and managed within BJA. The remainder are administered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Executive Office for Weed and Seed.

See BJA Funding in Focus: Florida Department of Corrections

State Criminal Alien Assistance Program

For many years, the United States has experienced increased levels of illegal immigration along its southern border with Mexico. This has created significant problems and issues for local, state, and federal governments attempting to control and cope with the thousands of illegal immigrants who often need medical, educational, and social services. A percentage of these individuals commit crimes and are arrested on state criminal charges. In an effort to provide direct support for states and localities that incarcerate these special offenders, Congress created the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP).

Administered by BJA in conjunction with the Immigration and Naturalization Service,⁴ SCAAP provides funds to the chief executive officer of any state or locality that incarcerates undocumented criminal aliens for state-related offenses. SCAAP payments may be used for any lawful purpose. Awards are based on a formula that accounts for correctional officer salary costs and the number of verified criminal aliens incarcerated in a reporting period. In FY 2002, the Department of Justice paid 662 jurisdictions more than $550 million for the incarceration of 311,000 undocumented criminal aliens for a total number of days in excess of 37 million.

Correctional Facilities on Tribal Lands Program

The Correctional Facilities on Tribal Lands Program provides funds to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes to construct correctional facilities on tribal lands for the incarceration of offenders subject to tribal jurisdiction. Grantees are responsible for fully supporting, operating, and maintaining these correctional facilities. Technical assistance is provided to grantees as necessary for needs assessment, facility planning, and project management.

In FY 2002, Congress appropriated nearly $35.2 million for grants and technical assistance. During FY 2002, the following tribes received funding under this program: the Oglala Sioux Tribe ($12.4 million), the Tohono O’odham Nation ($6.76 million), and the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe ($6.2 million).

Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program

The BJA-administered Prison Industry Enhancement (PIE) Certification Program was created to encourage states and units of local government to establish for prisoners employment opportunities that approximate private-sector work opportunities. The program is designed to place inmates in a realistic work environment, pay them the prevailing local wage for similar work, and enable them to acquire marketable skills to increase their potential for successful rehabilitation and meaningful employment on release.

BJA certifies that each PIE Certification Program meets statutory and federal guideline requirements, including assurances that inmate workers will not displace local civilian labor. Currently, 34 state authorities and 4 county correctional industry programs are certified in the United States. These programs operate more than 180 business partnerships with private industry. In 2002, PIE Certification Programs generated more than $2.9 million for victims’ programs, $1.9 million for inmate family support, $10.1 million for correctional institution room and board costs, and $4.3 million in state and federal taxes. A recent field assessment of the program found a high level of regulatory compliance.

In FY 2002, this program’s training and technical assistance provider, the National Correctional Industries Association, began collecting field data for a research initiative designed to evaluate how participation in this program affects offenders’ in-prison behavior, postrelease job placement success, and recidivism.

In addition, The George Washington University began an economic impact analysis of the PIE Certification Program inmate wages and deductions. The fundamental goal of the research is to identify, describe, and document in more detail who gets benefits from PIE inmate incomes and the magnitude of those benefits. The detailed analysis will (1) identify additional beneficiaries (such as from employer-paid contributions), (2) provide more information on beneficiaries and the role of PIE payments in the context of recipients (such as Social Security and Medicare), (3) account for net federal taxes paid after refunds, and (4) provide more information on likely benefits and beneficiaries if annual PIE incomes were closer to national income averages. A preliminary report will be released in late FY 2003.

Center for Community Corrections

The Center for Community Corrections (CCC) seeks to increase the use of community corrections as an alternative for nonviolent offenders. CCC is moving toward this goal through the extensive integration and outreach activities of key groups (e.g., the American Probation and Parole Association, International Community Corrections Association, American Correctional Association, and National Governors Association) that systematically focus on issues and trends that support initiatives designed to expand the use of community corrections within all levels of government.

The program brings together a variety of supporters and resources from community corrections to solidify and build on the current work of CCC. Activities this past fiscal year included:

• Working with the National Committee on Community Corrections (a public-private coalition that promotes an effective system of community-based sanctions) to steer and review the work of CCC and enhance collaboration among various groups and elected officials.

• Providing recommendations on the best ways to convey ideas and models to the community corrections field.

• Creating a working group to study the problems of intergovernmental relations as they pertain to community corrections.

• Conducting workshops and regional meetings and developing materials and articles that reflect the results of regional meetings.

• Providing technical assistance to selected states and/or localities.

CCC is currently drafting a series of articles on the status of state community corrections funding to be published in the American Correctional Association’s Corrections Compendium. The center also is drafting a monograph for criminal justice professionals who work with advisory boards.

Correctional Options Technical Assistance

The Correctional Options Demonstration Program focuses on promoting effective correctional options through dissemination of information and technical assistance that are practical, substantive, and tested. For the purposes of this program, the term “correctional option” has been defined to include community-based incarceration, weekend incarceration, correctional boot camps, transitional programs and aftercare services, day reporting, structured fines, electronic monitoring, intensive probation, and any other innovative sanction designed to have the greatest impact on offenders who can be dealt with more effectively in an environment other than a traditional correctional facility.

In FY 2002, the Institute for Crime, Justice and Corrections (ICJC) at The George Washington University continued Phase III of the Correctional Options Demonstration Program by providing technical assistance to jurisdictions seeking to implement and evaluate alternatives to incarceration. ICJC is in the process of providing technical assistance to three correctional agencies: the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Parole Division; Washington County (Oregon) Department of Community Corrections; and Arkansas Department of Corrections. The technical assistance and training will help evaluate the current risk and needs assessment process used to determine parolee success or failure.

In addition, ICJC is preparing a report on the lessons learned and the results of these correctional option programs. The report is expected to be published by the end of FY 2003.

Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Offender Management Discretionary Grant Program

To receive funds under this initiative, communities must have developed multidisciplinary teams that include law enforcement, probation and parole officers, other criminal justice personnel, courts, treatment providers, and victim advocates. The teams may use their grant funds to identify strengths and weaknesses in sex offender management systems and assess the staff and equipment necessary to identify, track, and treat sex offenders.

The program seeks to:

• Encourage jurisdictions to focus on the effective management of juvenile and adult sex offenders by engaging key stakeholders in a process that will build a base of knowledge regarding the practices currently employed by the jurisdiction.

• Provide assistance to jurisdictions as they forge new relationships in the management of this offender population and implement their plans.

• Collect information to both document and evaluate the effectiveness of these approaches and their outcomes.

In FY 2002, the total appropriation for this initiative was $5 million. Eleven applicants received awards totaling nearly $2.75 million. As in years past, the Center for Sex Offender Management also received funding to continue to act as a national resource by providing training, technical assistance, and information related to the management of sex offenders in the community, thereby reaching a greater number of jurisdictions with these important tools.

National Fatherhood Initiative

The National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) promotes responsible fatherhood to confront the problem of father absence. With funding from BJA, NFI is able to combat the problem of father absence through programs that work with adolescents in an effort to reduce crime, violence, and drug abuse.

For example, NFI operates a program for incarcerated fathers, Long Distance Dads, that works to connect them with their children. The Long Distance Dads Program is used at correctional facilities in 26 states. NFI also operates a public education campaign, in conjunction with the Ad Council, that features informational material and public service announcements that encourage men to be responsible fathers. These resources are available on NFI’s web site.

NFI’s National Fatherhood Resource Center and Clearinghouse offers an extensive assortment of resources for fathers. One resource is Doctor Dad, a train-the-trainer program that teaches new and expectant fathers basic health and safety skills they can use to care for their children. Finally, BJA funding also has allowed NFI to conduct several research projects that study marriage, responsible fatherhood, and how family structure affects a child’s actions and behavior.