Department of Justice Announces More Than $10 Million in Grants for Prisoner Reentry...

Department of Justice Announces More Than $10 Million in Grants for Prisoner
Reentry Strategies to Protect Communities and Reduce Violent Crime

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Justice
today announced more than $10 million in federal assistance to states to
develop, implement, enhance and evaluate reentry strategies that will ensure
the safety of the communities and the reduction of serious, violent crime
throughout the United States. Funding was awarded through the President's
Prisoner Reentry Initiative (PRI). A complete list of grant recipients can be
found at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/reentry.html.
"Supervising offenders in the community and preparing offenders for their
return to their communities is a critical criminal justice priority," said
Jeffrey L. Sedgwick, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of
Justice Programs. "This funding will be used to test and deliver new ways to
meet these reentry challenges and ultimately protect public safety."
PRI is a comprehensive effort that addresses both juvenile and adult
populations of serious, high-risk offenders and is designed to reduce
recidivism by helping returning offenders find work and access other critical
services in their communities. Specifically, the initiative helps to develop
model reentry programs that begin in correctional institutions and continue
throughout an offender's transition to and stabilization in the community.
PRI is supported by the Office of Justice Programs' (OJP) Bureau of Justice
Assistance (BJA) and its federal partners: the U.S. Departments of Education,
Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development and Labor.
Earlier this month, the Council of State Governments Justice Center
released an innovative web-based tool to help states and local officials
improve their prisoner and inmate reentry efforts. This tool, which was
developed with support from BJA, will help state and local government
officials access different assessment instruments used in corrections systems
across the nation to gauge the risks and needs of someone admitted to prison
or jail.
According to the Justice Center, such information is typically collected
through a series of screenings, assessments and evaluations conducted before
sentencing and immediately after admittance to a correctional institution.
This information can be updated periodically throughout the person's
incarceration and during any community supervision. The information can be
used to make decisions about how to manage risk, deliver treatment and other
services and allocate resources. Users can access the online assessments tool
on the Reentry Policy Council website at
http://tools.reentrypolicy.org/assessments/chart.
The Office of Justice Programs, headed by Acting Assistant Attorney
General Jeffrey L. Sedgwick, provides federal leadership in developing the
nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist
victims. OJP has five component bureaus: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the
Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Office for Victims of
Crime. Additionally, OJP has two program offices: the Community Capacity
Development Office, which incorporates the Weed and Seed strategy, and the
Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and
Tracking (SMART). More information can be found at http://www.ojp.gov.
* OJP and its component agencies' press releases are available for use
without restriction.
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SOURCE Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs

Sarah Matz of the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs,
+1-202-307-0703, +1-202-514-1888 (TDD)