OVC's National Candlelight Observance and Ceremony will be held April 23, 2009. Quincy Lucas, homicide co-victim and founder of Witney's Lights, Inc., is the featured speaker. On April 24, 2009, the Attorney General's Victim Service Awards will be presented at the National Crime Victims' Rights Week Awards Ceremony. Visit the OVC Web site for more information. (OVC)

BJA and the Center for Court Innovation have selected community courts in three cities to serve as regional mentors for jurisdictions seeking to improve their handling of low-level criminal cases. Through the Regional Network of Mentor Community Courts, guidance is available to help communities develop strategies that combine punishment and rehabilitation. (BJA)

Application deadline: May 5, 2009
The successful applicant under OJJDP's FY 2009 Court Appointed Special Advocates Program-Training and Technical Assistance solicitation will provide information, technical assistance, and training to volunteer advocates who represent abused and neglected children at the local, state, regional, and national levels. (OJJDP)

Application deadline: May 8, 2009
The National Institute of Corrections has released a solicitation for facilitation services to continue the Norval Morris Project. The project develops processes for discovering and disseminating innovations, knowledge, and ideas that allow the fields of corrections and human services to enhance the services they provide to clients and communities. (NIC)

Application deadline: May 28, 2009
OJJDP is seeking applicants for its FY 2009 Tribal Youth Program, which supports and enhances tribal efforts to prevent and control delinquency and improve the juvenile justice system for tribal youth. (OJJDP)

Application deadline: May 5, 2009
The successful applicant under OJJDP's FY 2009 Court Appointed Special Advocates Program-Membership Services and Accreditation solicitation will provide information, technical assistance, and training to volunteer advocates who represent abused and neglected children in dependency hearings and to other child welfare system stakeholders. (OJJDP)

Application deadline: April 30, 2009
OVC's FY 2009 Identity Theft Victim Assistance Networks Program will help expand the capacity of victim programs nationwide to better respond to victims of identity theft. This cooperative agreement offers $500,000 to a national victim-serving organization. The awardee will make up to 15 subgrants to establish collaborative regional, statewide, and community coalitions that will improve responses to these victims. (OVC)

Application deadline: May 19, 2009
OJJDP's FY 2009 Child Abuse Training for Judicial and Court Personnel solicitation seeks to improve the way courts handle abuse and neglect cases and to strengthen collaboration among the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and other partners. (OJJDP)

"Jail Inmates at Midyear 2008 - Statistical Tables" (NCJ 225709, 12 pp.). The Web document presents data on numbers of jails and jail inmates at midyear 2008 and analyzes patterns of growth from 2000 through 2008. These statistical tables include data on rated capacity of jails, percent of capacity occupied, and capacity added. (BJS)

The lead article in "NIJ Journal No. 262" (NCJ 225758, 52 pp.) examines the underground criminal industry of sex trafficking and identifies promising practices for recognizing victims and investigating these cases. Additional articles address how fatigue affects public safety officers, protection of America's ports, and the use of technology to increase prison and jail safety. (NIJ)

"Prison Inmates at Midyear 2008 - Statistical Tables" (NCJ 225619, 24 pp.). The Web document presents data on prisoners under the jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on June 30, 2008, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series. This annual report compares changes in the prison population during the first 6 months of 2008 to changes from yearend 2000 through yearend 2007. (BJS)

The "OJJDP 2008 Annual Report" (NCJ 225036, 99 pp.) provides information on the Office's activities to promote early intervention and delinquency prevention, support faith-based and community organizations, expand mentoring, improve the juvenile justice system, ensure public safety, curb child exploitation, combat youth gangs, and serve tribal youth. (OJJDP)

OVC has released "Victims With Disabilities: Collaborative, Multidisciplinary First Response" (NCJ 223940, 70 pp.). This training guide and DVD provide techniques for first responders helping crime victims who have cognitive or communicative disabilities. DVD special accessibility features include open and closed captions, visual descriptions, enhanced audio, and audio navigation. (OVC)

OVC invites you to add your National Crime Victims' Rights Week (April 26-May 2, 2009) commemorative events to the OVC National Calendar of Crime Victim Assistance-Related Events. This resource helps you locate, plan, and promote victim assistance-related events nationwide, allowing you to connect with a larger audience and gain national exposure. (OVC)

The April "Community Policing Dispatch" includes an article about funding for COPS programs under the Omnibus Appropriations Act for 2009. Other articles discuss suicide by law enforcement officers, the use of social media to improve public safety, and a COPS-funded multidisciplinary curriculum for campus threat-assessment training. (COPS)

In recognition of National Child Abuse Prevention Month (April 2009), OVC will conduct a Web Forum Guest Host Session on April 29 at 2 p.m. ET. Hollie Strand, MFS, a forensic interviewer for the Child Advocacy Center of the Black Hills, will discuss best practices for conducting forensic interviews in tribal communities. (OVC)

The latest issue of "Justice Today" highlights several BJA initiatives, including Discover Policing and the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System; discusses a series of Justice and Mental Health webinars, and announces recent funding opportunities. Subscribe to receive new information as soon as it is released. (BJA)

On April 15, 2009, at 2 p.m. ET, to commemorate National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, OVC and OVW will host an OVC Web Forum Guest Host Session on strengthening sexual assault victims' rights to privacy. Join Jessica Mindlin, National Director of Training and Technical Assistance, Victim Rights Law Center, and Joanne Zannoni, Associate Director of Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services, for the discussion. (OVC)

Register for OVC's upcoming training workshops, including Curriculum Design for Victim Service Providers, May 5-6, 2009, in Portland, Oregon, and Enforcing Victims' Rights, May 19-20, 2009, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. To view course descriptions and learning objectives or to register, visit the OVC TTAC Web site. (OVC)

The full conference agenda for The NIJ Conference 2009 is now available. It will be held June 15-17, 2009, in Arlington, Virginia. The conference will feature tracks focused on forensics, policing, violence and victimization, courts, corrections, and building safer communities. (NIJ)

On June 1-3, 2009, OJJDP and the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at the University of Michigan will hold a workshop on Using National Juvenile Corrections Data Files: 1997-2006. This workshop is being offered as part of a Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research. (OJJDP)