Correctional Options Grant Program.

MENU TITLE: Correctional Options Fact Sheet
Series: BJA
Published: November 1995
4 pages
6,514 bytes

Bureau of Justice Assistance Fact Sheet

Correctional Options Grant Program

Background

Between 1980 and 1994 the number of men and women
incarcerated in the United States nearly tripled.
By the end of 1994, the U.S. prison population had
reached an all-time high of 1,053,738. During that
year, the 50 States and the District of Columbia
took in an additional 77,847 prisoners, and the
Federal system housed an additional 5,447. The
national jail population has also increased to more
than 490,400 prisoners. As a result of this
dramatic increase in prison and jail populations,
the costs of State and local correctional
facilities and services have increased
dramatically.

Despite the construction of new facilities, many
correctional systems are operating far beyond their
intended capacity. And, as the correctional
population has increased, there has been a
corresponding decrease in inmate program
opportunities, such as substance abuse treatment,
basic and remedial education, vocational education
and training, work release, postrelease job
training, and transitional services. Furthermore,
the recidivism rate for inmates leaving prisons and
jails is unacceptably high.

Historically, probation has offered the only
alternative sanction to incarceration. However,
during the past few years, some jurisdictions have
been experimenting with a variety of correctional
options that fall between probation and
incarceration. These options offer a larger
selection of appropriate punishment, particularly
for first-time offenders and juveniles, that not
only help to control the cost of corrections but
also offer youthful and nonviolent offenders the
skills necessary to successfully reintegrate into
the community.

The Program 

In 1990, in response to the pervasive problem of
prison and jail crowding and the high recidivism
rate among offenders who serve time in traditional
correctional institutions, Congress authorized the
Correctional Options Grant Program. The purpose of
the program is to demonstrate the development and
implementation of cost-effective correctional
options that reduce reliance on incarceration
within existing correctional systems and provide
treatment and services to assist youthful offenders
in pursuing a course of lawful and productive
conduct. As program administrator, the Bureau of
Justice Assistance (BJA) of the U.S. Department of
Justice was granted authority to establish a
comprehensive program of financial and technical
assistance to support the development of
cost-effective alternatives to traditional
incarceration. 

The range of existing correctional options is
highly diverse; it includes community-based
incarceration, weekend sentences, electronic
monitoring, intensive probation, boot camps, and
other innovative sanctions designed to have the
greatest impact on offenders who can be penalized
and dealt with more effectively in an environment
other than a traditional correctional facility. 

The Correctional Options Grant Program covers three
types of grants:

Part I grants: to support public agencies by
encouraging the development and implementation of
correctional options within existing State and
local correctional systems. These State and local
programs:

o Provide more appropriate intervention for
youthful offenders who are not career criminals,
but who, without intervention, are likely to become
career criminals or serious offenders.

o Provide the degree of security and discipline
appropriate for the offender involved.

o Provide diagnosis, treatment, and services that
will enable the offender to pursue a course of
lawful and productive conduct after release from
legal restraint.

o Reduce criminal recidivism by offenders who
receive punishment through such alternatives,
thereby reducing the cost of correctional services
and facilities.

Part II grants: to support private nonprofit
organizations that:

o Disseminate information about effective
correctional options programs to interested
jurisdictions.

o Develop innovative projects to be carried out in
connection with a correctional option.

o Train and educate criminal justice personnel.

o Provide technical assistance to State and local
governments.

Part III grants: to support public agencies by
providing support for the development and testing
of correctional boot camps for youthful offenders.
These State and local programs:

o Emphasize and provide discipline, treatment, and
work.

o Include activities and resources to educate
offenders about substance abuse.

o Encourage participants to become productive,
law-abiding citizens. 

Technical Assistance and Evaluation

Correctional Options Grant Program grantees are
supported by a network of technical assistance
service providers--including Criminal Justice
Associates, National Treatment Alternatives for
Safer Communities (TASC), the Sentencing Project,
the International Association of Residential
Community Alternatives, the American Correctional
Association, and the American Probation and Parole
Association. The no-fee technical assistance
provided to a grantee, usually given onsite, ranges
from a consultant's personal knowledge of a related
problem in other demonstration programs or similar
settings to extensive data-collection and problem
analysis, resulting in a set of recommendations for
improvement.

Through an interagency agreement with BJA, the
National Institute of Justice, the criminal justice
research component of the Department of Justice,
evaluates projects funded through the Correctional
Options Grant Program. Through this interagency
agreement, a comprehensive, long-term evaluation of
the Correctional Options Grant Program is being
conducted by the National Council on Crime and
Delinquency. 

For Further Information

To learn more about the Correctional Options Grant
Program, contact:

Corrections/Treatment Branch
Bureau of Justice Assistance
633 Indiana Avenue NW.
Washington, DC 20531
Tel: 1-202-514-5947 or 1-202-514-5943

Bureau of Justice Assistance Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 6000
Rockville, MD 20849-6000
Tel: 1-800-688-4252
Fax: 1-301-251-5212
Internet: look@ncjrs.aspensys.com

U.S. Department of Justice Response Center 
Tel: 1-800-421-6770