U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance
U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

810 Seventh Street NW.

Washington, DC 20531

Eric H. Holder, Jr.

Attorney General

Karol V. Mason

Assistant Attorney General

Denise E. O'Donnell

Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance

Office of Justice Programs

Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods

www.ojp.gov

Bureau of Justice Assistance

www.bja.gov

NCJ 248684

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), headed by Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason, provides federal 

leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist victims. 

OJP has six components: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute 

of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the 

Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. More information about 

OJP can be found at www.ojp.gov.
FY 2014 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS i

P

ursuant to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (Public Law 

100-690), in accordance with Section 522, I am pleased to transmit the Bureau of Justice Assistance Fiscal Year 2014 Annual 

Report to Congress.

This report also includes information pursuant to:

■ Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-351, Section 522(b) [42 U.S.C. 3766b(b)]), addressing grants 

made under the Edward Byrne Memorial Grant Program.

■ Second Chance Act of 2007: Community Safety Through Recidivism Prevention (Public Law 110-199, Section 5 [42 U.S.C. 17503]).

■ Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322 [42 U.S.C. 3796ff et seq.]), addressing the Residential 

Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners Formula Grant Program. 

Respectfully submitted,

Denise E. O’Donnell

Director

Bureau of Justice Assistance

Month 2016

To the Speaker of the House of Representatives 

and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate:

FY 2014 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS iii

T

he Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), a component of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, was created 

in 1984 to reduce violent crime, restore public safety in communities, and reform our nation’s criminal justice system through 

the development and implementation of policy, services, and sound grant management. We are proud to be a national leader in 

providing funding, training, technical assistance, and other resources to state, local, and tribal jurisdictions seeking solutions to their 

unique public safety needs. 

This is an exciting time for criminal justice reform. We know so much more now than ever before about what works in the criminal 

justice field. Because of improved data and action-based research, we have more opportunities to achieve true systems reform that 

results in lower crime and stronger communities. BJA is at the forefront of this movement, inspiring collaboration and innovation 

across the country, fostering program accountability, and investing in data-driven, evidence-based programs and practices that are 

saving taxpayers money while making neighborhoods safer.

The programs featured in this report highlight BJA’s successes in fiscal year 2014, but they would not be possible without our 

longstanding and bipartisan partnerships throughout the field. Time and again, our state, local, and tribal partners have demonstrated 

a willingness to try new approaches and be held accountable through research and evaluation. Their contribution uniquely positions 

BJA to adapt innovations directly from the field and to disseminate best practices to every corner of the nation. Additionally, our 

partners join us in our dedication to increasing program effectiveness through data analysis, information sharing, and performance 

management. 

As BJA’s Director, I applaud the many achievements of the men and women who, with the support of BJA and collaborative efforts at 

the state and local levels, have made such a difference in their communities. It is an honor to participate in nationwide successes that 

enable our partners to build exciting, worthwhile projects tailored to their local needs and conditions. 

Thank you for taking the time to review this annual report and for your commitment to making our nation’s communities safer. I look 

forward to meeting tomorrow’s challenges and sharing our success with the many partners that make it possible.

Sincerely,

Denise E. O’Donnell

Message From the Director

FY 2014 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS v

Message From the Director ...................................................................................................................................................................iii

Fiscal Year 2014 Overview.....................................................................................................................................................................ix

Improving the Criminal Justice System............................................................................................................................................... 1

Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program........................................................................................................... 1

Justice Assistance Grant Performance Data .................................................................................................................... 2

National Center for Campus Public Safety ...................................................................................................................................... 3

State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training Program ............................................................................................................................ 4

Bureau of Justice Assistance Executive Session on Police Leadership ......................................................................................... 4

Fighting Crime the Smart Way: Smart Suite and Researcher–Practitioner Partnerships.......................................................... 7

Smart Policing ................................................................................................................................................................................. 7

Smart Policing Initiative Performance Data .................................................................................................................................... 9

Smart Supervision ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Smart Supervision Program Performance Data ............................................................................................................. 10

Smart Prosecution ......................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Smart Pretrial ............................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program .................................................................................................................................. 11

Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program Performance Data ..................................................................................... 12

Encouraging Innovation ....................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Encouraging Innovation: Field-Initiated Program...................................................................................................................................... 15

Contents
vi Solutions for Safer Communities

Reducing Violence in Our Neighborhoods ....................................................................................................................................... 17

Violence Reduction Network .................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Project Safe Neighborhoods .......................................................................................................................................... 17 

Building Community Trust ................................................................................................................................................................... 19

Police Executive Research Forum Pilot ......................................................................................................................................... 19

Resource Guide for Enhancing Community Relationships and Protecting Privacy and Constitutional Rights ............................. 19

Blue Courage ................................................................................................................................................................................ 20

Supporting Our Public Safety Community: Officer Safety and Wellness ................................................................................... 21

Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program ...................................................................................................................................... 21

Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program ........................................................................................................................................... 21

Reducing Officer Injuries Project ................................................................................................................................................... 22

Prevention of Violence Against the Police Project ........................................................................................................................ 23

Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement and Ensuring Resilience and Survivability .......................................................... 23

Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training ................................................................................................. 24

Securing the Constitutional Right to Counsel ................................................................................................................................. 25

Answering Gideon’s Call ............................................................................................................................................................... 25

The Right to Counsel Technical Assistance Project ....................................................................................................... 25

Gideon’s Promise—Building Gideon’s Army .................................................................................................................. 25

Achieving the Constitutional Right to Counsel ............................................................................................................... 25

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers ........................................................................................................ 26

Pretrial Reform .............................................................................................................................................................................. 26

Capital Case Litigation .................................................................................................................................................................. 26
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS vii

Wrongful Conviction Review ......................................................................................................................................................... 26

Holistic Defense ............................................................................................................................................................................ 26

Reducing Recidivism ............................................................................................................................................................................ 29

Justice Reinvestment Initiative ...................................................................................................................................................... 29

Second Chance Act Programs and Recidivism Reduction Activities ........................................................................................... 30

Second Chance Act Performance Data ......................................................................................................................... 32

Drug Courts ................................................................................................................................................................................... 33

Drug Court Performance Data......................................................................................................................................... 34

Community Courts ........................................................................................................................................................................ 35

Problem-Solving Justice Training and Technical Assistance Initiative ........................................................................... 35

Combating Substance Abuse/Mental Health Disorders ................................................................................................................ 37

Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program .................................................................................................................................. 37

Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program Performance Data .......................................................................... 38

Preventing Violence Against Incarcerated Individuals .................................................................................................................. 39

Prison Rape Elimination Act .......................................................................................................................................................... 39

Prison Rape Elimination Act Performance Data ............................................................................................................. 40

Sharing Justice Information ................................................................................................................................................................ 41

Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative ................................................................................................................................. 41

Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program ................................................................................................................. 41

Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Performance Data .................................................................... 42

Naloxone and Law Enforcement Toolkit ......................................................................................................................... 43

Corrections Information Sharing .................................................................................................................................................... 44
viii Solutions for Safer Communities

Delivering Training and Technical Assistance.................................................................................................................................. 45

Bureau of Justice Assistance’s National Training and Technical Assistance Center ..................................................................... 45

Supporting Tribal Justice .................................................................................................................................................................... 47

Bureau of Justice Assistance’s National Training and Technical Assistance Center ..................................................................... 47

Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation .................................................................................................................................... 47

Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation Training and Technical Assistance: 

Red Hook Peacemaking Program .................................................................................................................................. 48

Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation Training and Technical Assistance: 

Pascua Yaqui Strategic Planning Initiative ...................................................................................................................... 48

Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation Performance Data........................................................................................ 48

Tribal Healing to Wellness .............................................................................................................................................................. 49

Expansion of Joint Jurisdictional Court .......................................................................................................................... 49

Tribal Law and Order Act ............................................................................................................................................................... 50

Tribal Justice Plan: Long Term Plan to Build and Enhance Tribal Justice Systems ........................................................ 50

Tribal Law and Order Act–Tribal Action Plan Performance Data..................................................................................... 51

Tribal Civil and Criminal Legal Assistance Program....................................................................................................................... 51

Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................................... 53
FY 2014 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS ix

T

he Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) strengthens the 

nation’s criminal justice system and helps America’s 

local, state, and tribal stakeholders reduce crime and 

violence and build stronger communities. BJA leverages grant 

funding, training and technical assistance, partnerships, and 

other resources to address chronic and emerging criminal 

justice challenges nationwide. Consistent with its public safety 

mission, BJA focuses resources on criminal justice reform 

in policing, pretrial, corrections, community corrections, 

adjudication, and reentry through policy development, technical 

assistance, and grant funding. 

To accomplish its mission, BJA provides evidence-based 

and data-driven criminal justice policy; nurtures longstanding 

and productive partnerships within the field; and promotes 

accountability among partners. At the same time, BJA 

encourages local control of programs by focusing on innovation 

and testing of new strategies to meet the unique needs of 

individual communities. 

The fiscal year (FY) 2014 Annual Report to Congress highlights 

key resources that BJA provided to our law enforcement, 

court, corrections, treatment, justice information sharing, 

and community-based partners. It demonstrates the many 

examples of how these resources helped to equip our 

stakeholders to work with communities to build exciting, 

worthwhile projects tailored to their local needs and conditions. 

Some of the most successful initiatives described in this report 

spring from good ideas that were generated in the field. These 

initiatives reflect the dedication, commitment, and successes of 

a nation of justice partners who believe that more can always 

be done to help reduce and prevent crime and enhance the 

criminal justice system. These activities also reflect the major 

strategic focus areas identified in BJA’s Strategic Plan for FYs 

2013–2016:

1.Reduction of violent crime, improvement of community 

safety, and support for public safety officers.

2.Reduction of recidivism and prevention of unnecessary 

confinement.

3. Integration of evidence-based, research-driven strategies 

into the day-to-day operations of BJA and the programs BJA 

administers and supports.

4. Increase in program effectiveness with a renewed emphasis 

on data analysis, information sharing, and performance 

management.

Fiscal Year 2014 Overview 
x Solutions for Safer Communities

FY 2014 APPROPRIATIONS FOR BJA-ADMINISTERED PROGRAMS

Formula

$386,000,000 (40%)

Discretionary

$293,000,000 (31%)

Reimbursement

$204,500,000 (21%)

Payments

$78,300,000 (8%)

The charts below illustrate BJA’s FY 2014 appropriations and 

how funding was distributed by program area. A complete 

listing of FY 2014 grant awards can be found online at 

www.bja.gov/AR. 
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS xi

FY 2014 FUNDING BY BJA PROGRAM AREAS

Enhancing Law Enforcement

Initiatives and Protecting

and Supporting

Victims of Crime

44%

Honoring America’s 

Public Safety Officers

8%

Supporting Innovation

in Adjudication

1%

Countering Terrorism and 

Advancing Information Sharing

and Technology To Fight Crime 

and Protect the Homeland

5%

Corrections, Supervision, Reentry

30%

Breaking the Cycles of

Mental Health,

Substance Use,

and Crime

7%

Empowering Communities

and Building Capacity

2%

Addressing Crime and

Justice for American Indians

and Alaska Natives

3%

FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 1

B

ureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) programs help to prevent 

and reduce crime and improve safety in our nation’s 

communities and campuses. These initiatives support the 

criminal justice system through direct funding and training and 

technical assistance (TTA) to criminal justice agencies, including 

law enforcement, prosecution and courts, and corrections. 

Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

Assistance Grant Program 

The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) 

Program, the leading source of federal justice funding to state and 

local jurisdictions, provides states, tribes, and local governments 

with critical funding necessary to support a range of program 

areas, including law enforcement; prosecution, indigent defense, 

and the courts; prevention and education; corrections and 

community corrections; drug treatment and enforcement; planning, 

evaluation, and technology improvement; and crime victim and 

witness initiatives. 

JAG awards are up to 4 years in length, and funds may be drawn 

down upfront rather than on a reimbursement basis, allowing 

recipients to earn interest on their awards and generate additional 

funding for successful initiatives and future projects. To ensure 

greater transparency on the use of JAG funds, grantees and 

subgrantees are required to report on quarterly accountability 

measures through BJA’s Performance Measurement Tool.

In FY 2014, BJA made 1,091 local and 56 state awards totaling 

more than $279 million, including approximately $189.3 million to 

states and territories and $90.5 million to local units of government. 

Overall, 4,724 JAG grantees and subgrantees representing 2,469 

federal JAG awards were active in FY 2014. 

Notable JAG-funded projects in FY 2014 include: 

■ The Tenth Judicial District Court of Nevada received funding to 

install a new case management and jury management system, 

which allows court-related agencies in Churchill County to 

share information, which improves the processing, tracking, 

and archiving of court documents and facilitates better jury 

management.

Improving the Criminal Justice System 

BJA Expands the JAG Showcase 

BJA launched the BJA Success Stories web page (www.bja.gov/

SuccessStoryList.aspx), which is an expansion of the popular JAG 

Showcase. The new site highlights JAG and other BJA-funded 

statewide, local, and subgrantee projects that are innovative or show

promise in reducing crime and improving communities. It serves as 

a valuable resource for those seeking information on BJA-funded 

projects that demonstrate innovation, crime reduction, evidence-based 

practices, and data-driven processes. Grantees are encouraged to 

submit their success stories to BJA. 
2 Solutions for Safer Communities

■ The Manatee County Drug Court (MCDC) Program in 

Florida provides substance treatment for adult nonviolent 

misdemeanor and felony justice-involved individuals. To date, 

the MCDC has enrolled 162 new participants and provided 

7,693 outpatient service sessions, and 67 participants have 

successfully completed all program requirements.

■ Broward County (Florida) received funding to support the 

Practical Academic and Cultural Education (PACE) Center. 

PACE provides gender-responsive crime prevention services 

to girls in the community, while the Day Program serves 

girls at risk for substance use, violence, and academic 

failure. To date, 93 individuals have enrolled in the program, 

846 prevention and intervention counseling sessions have 

been administered, 92 prevention assessments have been 

performed, and 49 individuals have successfully completed 

the program.

■ The Los Angeles Community Law Enforcement and Recovery 

(CLEAR) program uses coordinated resources to decrease 

gang violence and promote community recovery in high gang 

crime areas. JAG funding supports personnel on a team 

consisting of law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and 

correctional agencies. According to the most recent crime 

statistics, all gang-related crime is down 15 percent in the 

primary designated CLEAR areas and down 5.6 percent in 

the secondary/surrounding CLEAR areas. Similarly, there 

was an overall reduction in all Part I crime by 3.6 percent in 

primary and secondary areas combined. 

Justice Assistance Grant Performance Data 

As in previous years, JAG’s Law Enforcement program area had 

the greatest funding allocation, with nearly 60 percent of active 

funding allocated for law enforcement purposes (see exhibit 

1). After Law Enforcement, the top two program areas were 

Planning and Evaluation (more than 10 percent) and Prosecution, 

Courts, and Indigent Defense (more than 9 percent).

Much of the Law Enforcement funding went to equipment 

purchases (38.6 percent), with the most common purchases 

being computer hardware and software (22 percent), equipment 

EXHIBIT 1. JAG FUNDING ALLOCATIONS BY ACTIVE GRANTEES, 

OCTOBER 2013–SEPTEMBER 2014

Program Area Percent of Total Allocations

Law Enforcement 59.4

Planning and Evaluation 10.6

Prosecution, Courts, and Indigent Defense 9.4

Prevention and Education 7.4

Corrections and Community Corrections 6.3

Drug Treatment and Drug Courts 4.3

Crime Victim and Witness Protection 2.6
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 3

for police cruisers (8 percent), and on-person/in-car camera 

systems (7 percent). Law Enforcement funding also went 

toward implementing or sustaining more than 1,500 programs, 

including crime prevention programs (25 percent), community 

policing programs (23 percent), and other programs such 

as Rape Aggression Defense classes and Citizen’s Police 

Academies.

JAG funds allocated for Planning and Evaluation were used 

to evaluate more than 300 justice programs and implement 

439 evidence-based programs and practices. This includes 

evaluations of a foster-care youth program, public defender 

workloads, and Los Angeles’ CLEAR program.

Funding for Prosecution, Courts, and Indigent Defense helped 

12 unique public defenders’ offices defend nearly 6,500 cases 

and provided funding for adult courts (32 percent), family courts 

(5 percent), reentry courts (3 percent), and many other specialty 

treatment courts (32 percent). 

National Center for Campus 

Public Safety

Securing the safety of our nation’s students is an urgent 

concern. Yet campus safety services often do not have the 

resources or training to fully respond to this need. They also 

tend to vary greatly in how they relate to and share information 

with local and state public safety agencies. BJA addresses 

these gaps in resources and procedures by working with 

organizations in the field such as the International Association 

of College Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA) as well 

as federal partners such as the Office of Community Oriented 

Policing Services (COPS Office) and the Federal Bureau of 

Investigation (FBI).

BJA established the National Center for Campus Public 

Safety (National Center) in 2013 with a $2.3 million 

competitive cooperative agreement with Margolis Healy 

and Associates. The National Center develops partnerships 

with key professional associations, advocacy and nonprofit 

organizations, and government programs to enhance and 

centralize information that benefits the campus safety 

community. It also promotes innovative practices specific to 

campus public safety and develops comprehensive responses, 

resources, and strategies that draw from contemporary 

practices and the latest innovations on campus safety and 

security. In addition, the National Center delivers TTA to 

campus security teams, student affairs professionals, and 

stakeholders and coordinates resources relevant to the safety 

of students and teachers. 

FY 2014 accomplishments include:

■ In June, the National Center Advisory Board held its first 

meeting and began shaping its national agenda and 

priorities. The Advisory Board consists of representatives 

from IACLEA, the International Association of Chiefs of Police 

(IACP), the International Association of Emergency Managers, 

the Clery Center for Security on Campus, and the VTV Family 

Outreach Foundation. 

■ In April, the White House Task Force to Protect Students 

from Sexual Assault released Not Alone: The First Report 

of the White House Task Force to Protect Students From 

Sexual Assault, which charged the National Center with 

developing a Trauma-Informed Sexual Assault Investigations 

and Adjudications training program for campus officials. 

The National Center worked with nationally recognized 

subject matter experts to develop this training curriculum. 

Completion and the first pilot are scheduled for early FY 

2015. 

■ The National Center launched its official website (www.

nccpsafety.org) on September 30, 2014, and in July 2014 

launched the Weekly Snapshot, an e-bulletin that features 

timely campus safety resources and tips, including legislative 

updates and information about upcoming conferences and 

training opportunities. 

■ The National Center worked with IACP, IACLEA, and the 

University of Wisconsin–Madison to support a national 

summit entitled, “Practitioners’ Discussion of Implementing 

For more information and resources on BJA’s JAG Program, 

visit www.bja.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?Program_ID=59.
4 Solutions for Safer Communities

Clery/Title IX.” In August, more than three dozen campus 

officials from across the country convened to consider how 

best to enhance compliance with Title IX, the Clery Act, and 

the Violence Against Women Act. A summary report of the 

meeting, Report on the Summit: A White Paper, is available 

on the National Center’s website.

■ The National Center worked with the U.S. Department of 

Education to build and maintain a national directory of 

campus public safety executives, which will be available 

online in FY 2015.

State and Local Anti-Terrorism 

Training Program

BJA’s State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training (SLATT) Program 

provides law enforcement personnel with specialized training 

and resources to combat domestic terrorism and violent 

criminal extremism, covering topics such as international/

domestic terrorism, violent criminal extremism, radicalization, 

and more. SLATT instructors have worked on many of the 

nation’s most notorious terrorism cases and have an indepth understanding of terrorism, pre-event planning, and 

investigative procedures. Their expert knowledge gives state, 

local, and tribal law enforcement professionals the tools 

and skills that they can use in their daily duties to safeguard 

communities and do their jobs more safely.

Since its inception, SLATT has trained more than 140,900 law 

enforcement professionals in approximately 1,380 events. In FY 

2014, the program trained 5,937 law enforcement professionals 

at 40 events. SLATT’s Train-the-Trainer workshop has trained 

3,414 individuals, who in turn have provided training to 258,757 

individuals. As a trusted training partner to United States 

Attorney’s Offices (USAOs), SLATT has delivered 297 terrorism 

prevention events that were hosted/cohosted by USAOs in 48 

states or U.S. territories from 2010 to 2014.

FY 2014 accomplishments include the following:

■ SLATT developed and pilot-tested two new instructional 

training blocks—Protecting Soft Targets and Social Media 

and Terrorism.

■ Since January 2014, SLATT distributed more than 28,000 

publications to requesting law enforcement agencies and 

workshop participants.

■ SLATT developed several sovereign citizen-related materials 

for IACP, including a trifold for court personnel and an article 

in Police Chief magazine.

■ SLATT continued its innovative Workshops on the Web via 

SLATT.org, which allows vetted workshop participants to 

access, download, and print workshop materials prior to 

attending a class. This has resulted in a substantial savings 

for BJA by reducing the costs to print and ship these 

materials to training events.

■ SLATT achieved 17,532 registered users on www.slatt.org 

with an average of nearly 650 user sessions each week.

■ In 2014, SLATT distributed 160,175 emails with its popular 

monthly bulletin. This bulletin was recently updated in look 

and feel and began using a new monitoring tool that offers 

improved reporting functionality.

Bureau of Justice Assistance 

Executive Session on 

Police Leadership

The BJA Executive Session on Police Leadership—hosted 

with St. Petersburg College (Florida)—has been a multiyear 

endeavor focused on the creation and development of leaders 

uniquely qualified to meet the challenges of 21st century 

policing. In an innovative approach, the project brought 

together an experienced team of police with municipal and 

academic leaders. These leaders in turn led initiatives that 

explored forces that would likely shape the public safety 

environment in the coming decades. Over time, the project 

engaged more than 75 current and future leaders from across 

the country in 16 collaborative initiatives. In keeping with BJA’s 

To learn more about the SLATT Program, visit www.slatt.org.
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 5

interest in emerging leadership needs, these initiatives focused 

on critical and intensifying public safety areas, including trust 

and collaboration and police-prosecutor relations within the 

criminal justice system.

In today’s post-Ferguson environment, the government, 

the public, and the police themselves are calling for 

heightened attention to leadership. With propitious timing, 

the Executive Session launched its multimedia website (www.

bjaexecutivesessiononpoliceleadership.org) in the fall of 2014. 

The site, a resource for self and group development, has 

been very well received by executives and educators. Among 

other organizations, it is cited by both Major Cities Chiefs, an 

institutional partner of the project, and the Violence Reduction 

Network. During her testimony on leadership training before 

the Presidential Task Force on Policing in the 21st Century 

in February 2015, Columbus (Ohio) Police Chief Kim Jacobs 

identified BJA’s Executive Session website as a model resource 

for the future. 

The website features a wide range of collaboratively developed 

products and interactive learning tools. In the interest of 

21st-century technology and training, products include video 

and audio and a mix of short and long written pieces. These 

products are framed by six core statements that provide an 

overview of the Executive Session’s beliefs about the future. 

Highlights of the site include:

■ Work of Policing Video Series—eight videos featuring police 

leaders discussing today’s issues, from the use of force to 

women in policing.

■ Problem Solving and the Law—the police-prosecutor 

relationship from the police and the prosecutor points of view 

and a dialogue on the future of criminal justice.

■ Trust and Collaboration Case Studies—the experience of 

five police departments in five cities as researched “on the 

ground” by Yale Law School’s Innovation in Policing Clinic.

■ In Their Own Words—short discussion pieces drawn 

from police chiefs’ self-generated profiles of their own 

development paths.

■ The Learner’s Marketplace—an interactive tool that 

introduces a framework for learning and development in the 

21st-century.

To learn more about the Executive Session on Police Leadership, 

visit http://bjaexecutivesessiononpoliceleadership.org.

FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 7

BJA’s “Smart Suite” is a growing collection of criminal 

justice programs that encourage evidence-based, datadriven processes by requiring that grantees partner with 

a criminal justice researcher for the design, implementation, 

and evaluation of their program. Such partnerships accelerate 

the adoption of best practices by objectively identifying issues 

through data-driven research and crime analysis, developing 

strategic and tactical solutions to those issues, and devising 

evaluation plans to collect and analyze data that measure the 

impact of solutions. Such partnerships not only help to improve 

criminal justice systems; they also increase accountability and 

transparency. 

BJA established the first Smart Suite Program in 2009 with the 

launch of the Smart Policing Initiative (SPI). In addition to SPI, 

the Smart Suite includes Smart Prosecution and the Byrne 

Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) Programs, and in FY 2014, 

BJA launched two new components: Smart Supervision and 

Smart Pretrial.

Smart Policing 

SPI represents a strategic approach to introducing more 

science into police operations. Through the application of 

innovative analysis, technology, and evidence-based, datadriven practices, SPI sites strive to improve law enforcement 

performance and effectiveness while containing costs. 

Key components of SPI sites include using diverse data 

sources when developing strategies, seeking community input 

on crime issues and solutions, and promoting organizational 

change. Additionally, as with all Smart Suite programs, grantees 

are required to work with a research partner to implement 

and evaluate the outcomes of their strategies. In FY 2014, 

most research partners were affiliated with a university (85 

percent), though three were private companies and one was a 

government association. In total, 27 SPI sites were active in FY 

2014, representing awards from FY 2009 through FY 2013. 

In FY 2014, SPI continued to produce successful outcomes in 

police agencies across the country: 

■ The Phoenix Police Department’s SPI produced valuable data 

regarding the effect of body-worn cameras on police officers’ 

interactions with the public. The department purchased, 

deployed, and evaluated the effectiveness of VieVue bodyworn cameras in the Maryvale Precinct, which has historically 

seen elevated crime rates (particularly for violent crime) 

relative to other areas in the city. The analysis of camera use 

revealed:

− Camera-wearing officers saw a 44.4 percent reduction in 

complaints compared to a 19.8 percent reduction among 

comparison officers.

− Camera-wearing officers increased the mean number 

of arrests per day by 0.02 compared to 0.01 among 

comparison officers.

■ The Kansas City, Missouri SPI supports the Kansas City 

No Violence Alliance (NoVA), a multiagency collaboration 

that aims to reduce homicides and violent and gun-related 

crimes using a focused-deterrence strategy. NoVA’s focuseddeterrence strategy features swift-and-certain enforcement to 

discourage violence and enhance group-level accountability. 

It also identifies individuals who would benefit from social 

Fighting Crime the Smart Way: Smart Suite 

and Researcher–Practitioner Partnerships 
8 Solutions for Safer Communities

services/support and provides pathways for avoiding criminal 

behavior and violent victimization. Preliminary data on the 

project’s impact are promising. As of November 25, 2014, 

the homicide rate in Kansas City was 30 percent less, yearto-date, than reduction from 2013 and 2012 (a 30-year low). 

Aggravated assaults with firearms were also in decline. A 

more scientific and comprehensive examination of NoVA 

is underway by researchers at the University of MissouriKansas City, the project’s research partner.

■ Shawnee, Kansas: The Shawnee SPI conducted the first 

rigorous evaluation of the Data-Driven Approaches to Crime 

and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) strategy, which integrates traffic 

and law enforcement data to establish methods for deploying 

law enforcement resources effectively and efficiently. The 

DDACTS evaluation revealed dramatic reductions compared 

to control target sites in the following areas: vehicle burglary 

(33 percent), vehicle theft (40 percent), robbery (70 percent), 

and collisions with injuries (24 percent). The overall crime in 

the targeted areas was reduced by 40 percent. 

In FY 2014, BJA made the following SPI awards:

■ City of Toledo, Indiana. The Toledo Police Department, 

in partnership with the University of Toledo, proposes to 

implement and evaluate a prolific justice-involved individual 

surveillance and apprehension team approach to chronic 

violent justice-involved individuals, with the goal of stemming 

the dramatic increase in violent crime in Toledo. 

■ City of Portland, Oregon. The Portland Police Bureau, in 

partnership with Portland State University, proposes to test 

the effectiveness of High Visibility Intermittent Random 

Policing in high-crime areas within the city. 

■ City of Miami, Florida. The Miami Police Department (MPD), 

in collaboration with Florida International University, proposes 

to expand its current hot-spot crime mapping capability 

through the development, testing, and use of a predictive 

policing modeler. The project is expected to enable MPD 

to make more accurate force deployment decisions and 

improve crime clearance rates, specifically auto thefts and 

robberies. 

■ Henderson Police Department, Nevada. This project 

proposes to implement a Market Reduction Approach (MRA) 

to address the growing problem of e-fencing of stolen goods. 

MRA will develop and validate a data-mining tool for the 

identification of stolen goods sold via the Internet. The tool 

will be tested and validated by researchers affiliated with the 

University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Focus N %

Neighborhood disorder and crime 8 29.6

Organizational change 7 25.9

Overall crime reduction 6 22.2

Burglary 5 18.5

Gun violence 4 14.8

Domestic violence 4 14.8

Focus N %

Other violent crimes 4 14.8

Traffic safety 3 11.1

Robbery 2 7.4

Gang activity 2 7.4

Individual offenders 2 7.4

Other 5 18.5

EXHIBIT 2. GRANTEE-REPORTED AREAS OF FOCUS: SPI PROGRAM, 

OCTOBER 2013–SEPTEMBER 2014
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 9

Smart Policing Initiative 

Performance Data

Prior-year SPI funding was used for a wide variety of initiatives 

aimed at addressing specific problems in local communities, 

with activities ranging from data analysis to law enforcement 

body-worn cameras. As seen in exhibit 2, nearly 30 percent of 

SPI grantees focused their program on reducing neighborhood 

disorder and crime, while nearly 26 percent focused on 

organizational change. Overall crime reduction was the focus of 

just over 22 percent of SPI programs.

One goal of SPI is turning these programs and the information 

gleaned from them into national models for lasting 

organizational change. During FY 2014, 30 percent of SPI 

grantees created or updated a policy or standard operating 

procedure addressing the use of evidence-based or data-driven 

practices. In addition, 63 percent of grantees attended training 

on evidence-based or data-driven practices. Training was 

supplemented with internal communication about the goals and 

results of the SPI program in nearly 60 percent of agencies.

Smart Supervision 

The Smart Supervision Program (SSP) entered its third year 

in FY 2014. The program provides resources to states, units 

of local government, and federally recognized Indian tribes 

to develop evidence-based probation and parole practices 

that effectively address the needs of formerly incarcerated 

individuals and reduce recidivism. As part of the program, 

probation and parole supervision departments partner with 

researchers to develop innovative strategies that address the 

needs of the supervised population, assess the effectiveness 

of the interventions, and ensure fidelity to evidence-based 

practices. Research partners are an integral part of the success 

of the SSP program.

In FY 2014, BJA made seven awards totaling more than $4.5 

million:

■ The Florida Department of Corrections will implement a 

“smart reentry probation” pilot in Pinellas County. The grant 

will fund two senior probation officers to supervise high-risk 

justice-involved individuals using evidence-based strategies, 

including implementing a needs assessment tool and a new 

Alternative Sanctions Program. 

■ Noble County Probation, Indiana, will implement a “Risk 

and Evidence Based Supervision” pilot project to shift from 

compliance-based supervision to evidence-based practices 

throughout the criminal justice system (from sentencing to 

providing supervision).

■ The Alameda County Probation Department, California, 

proposes to (1) validate an existing risk assessment tool, 

(2) implement needs assessment, (3) develop a tracking 

and analysis system to enable more systematic recidivism 

measurement, and (4) implement an approach known as 

Integrated Behavioral Intervention Strategies.

■ The Maine Department of Corrections proposes to focus 

on fidelity as it rolls out the “Maine Integrated Risk Reduction 

Model,” which was developed in 2013. The project will fund 

“fidelity monitors” and assess the benefit of dedicating staff 

to this function.

Smart Policing Initiative 

Case Study

The Phoenix Police Department’s body-worn camera program, 

deployed in 2012, aimed to increase police accountability and 

improve the effectiveness of the police in dealing with domestic 

violence calls. In FY 2014, the program’s research partner, Arizona 

State University, initiated an in-depth analysis of multiple new 

data sources, including the use of body-worn camera metadata 

and complaint and accountability data from the Phoenix Police 

Department. Preliminary results show a reduction in citizen 

complaints, an increase in the percentage of complaints that were 

deemed unfounded, and an increase in the percent of guilty pleas 

and guilty verdicts for domestic cases after camera deployment.

For more information, please visit the SPI website at 

www.smartpolicinginitiative.com.
10 Solutions for Safer Communities

■ The Maricopa County Adult Probation Department, 

Arizona, proposes a “Smart Thinking” project, which will 

address challenges identified in its pilot program, called 

Thinking for a Change (T4C). Specifically, the project will 

demonstrate the pilot’s efficacy and address program 

retention, complicated intake processes for community 

providers, and funding.

■ The Washington State Department of Corrections

proposes to develop a staff training and Q&A framework to 

support the RNR+F Case Management Model (Risk-NeedsResponsivity plus fidelity). The project will also bring online 

a new, validated, fourth-generation Risk, Access and Needs 

Assessment (RANA), the “STRONG-R Offender Change 

System.” 

■ The Georgia Department of Corrections proposes an 

“Enhanced Supervision Project” in the state’s five largest 

urban areas to improve the delivery of supervision through 

a comprehensive training program that is integrated in the 

statewide Prisoner Reentry Initiative.

Smart Supervision Program Performance Data

In FY 2014, 14 SSP awards from both FY 2012 and FY 2013 

were active. These awards funded innovative programs 

in agencies serving both small counties and statewide 

correctional systems. SSP grantees focused either on providing 

direct services to probationers/parolees (57 percent) or on 

organizational change (43 percent) such as developing new 

policies and procedures.

The SSP program encourages grantees to convene a 

governance board to oversee the program and solicit the input 

of various partners such as court personnel, victim advocates, 

law enforcement personnel, and prosecutors. All but one of 

the SSP programs had an active governance board during FY 

2014, and 84 agencies and organizations were represented on 

SSP governance boards. In FY 2014, 19 new partnerships were 

formed by SSP grantees, including partnerships with health/

behavioral health providers (37 percent) and various service 

providers (21 percent) such as employment service providers. 

SSP programs that provided direct services enrolled nearly 

4,500 new participants in FY 2014, which is an average of 

562 per grantee. Of these, 48 percent were determined to be 

high risk. Over FY 2014, the successful completion rate for all 

SSP programs was 62 percent, slightly less than the national 

average of 66 percent; this is partly due to a high percentage 

of relocations (9 percent compared to 1 percent nationally) that 

forced participants out of the program.

All but one grantee (93 percent) conducted some form of 

training, with 135 training events that trained more than 2,300 

community supervision officers. Additionally, 356 service 

provider representatives were trained in the areas of case 

planning (45 percent), risk-needs assessment (23 percent), and 

interviewing skills (13 percent).

Smart Supervision Program Case Study

Smart Supervision funding enabled Contra Costa County, California, 

to further implement its Reentry Strategic Plan by establishing a 

jail-to-community reentry program. The county’s evidence-based 

supervision and cognitive-behavioral treatment program established a 

team to provide intensive case management and wraparound support 

services pre- and post-release. Continued participation in monthly 

case coordination meetings has allowed for increased collaboration, 

identification of issues and team engagement in prompt resolution, and 

reduced response times to meet client needs.
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 11

Smart Prosecution 

FY 2014 marked the inaugural year for the Smart Prosecution 

Program, the purpose of which is to develop a body of 

knowledge about data-driven strategies implemented by 

prosecutors. In FY 2014, four prosecutor agencies received 

funding totaling $1,741,012. These new grantees will test datadriven approaches that address one or more of the following 

goals: (1) promoting fair, impartial, and expeditious pursuit 

of justice; (2) ensuring safer communities; and (3) promoting 

integrity in the prosecution profession and effective coordination 

in the criminal justice system. 

The Cook County State’s Attorney Office, Illinois, is expanding 

and evaluating its Misdemeanor Deferred Prosecution 

Enhancement Program, which seeks to reduce subsequent 

criminal behavior, reduce costs to the system, minimize the 

collateral consequences resulting from low-level nonviolent 

convictions, and share findings with the larger community. 

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office, Texas, in 

partnership with the County Court of Law, is establishing a 

Misdemeanor Prostitution Court that identifies and treats the 

needs of prostituted young adults, ages 17–25, who are at an 

increased risk of further sexual exploitation.

The Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney, California, 

is implementing INTERCEPT (Introducing New Tools based 

on Evidence and Risk-assessments to Confirm Eligibility for 

Prosecution Treatment). This program uses evidence-based 

risk assessments to evaluate prosecutorial diversion options 

for misdemeanor justice-involved individuals and implements 

restorative justice strategies in the form of community justice panels.

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, California, is 

establishing a Crime Strategies and Intelligence Unit, which 

will gather appropriate and valid data, using statistical tools to 

identify chronic crime locations and offenders in San Francisco. In 

addition, the unit will work closely with neighborhood prosecution 

teams to identify cases for the Neighborhood Courts.

To assist the awardees in planning and implementing their Smart 

Prosecution initiatives, BJA selected the Association of Prosecuting 

Attorneys to serve as the program’s national TTA provider. 

Smart Pretrial

BJA launched the Smart Pretrial Demonstration Initiative in 

FY 2014, awarding three grants totaling more than $560,000. 

The program will build upon analysis-driven, evidence-based 

pretrial justice efforts by encouraging local jurisdictions 

to effectively implement risk assessment and appropriate 

supervision or diversion strategies targeting pretrial outcomes. 

The goal of this initiative is to test the cost savings and public 

safety enhancements that can be achieved when jurisdictions 

move to a pretrial model that uses risk assessment to 

inform release/detain decisions and employs improved risk 

management strategies in supervision and diversion. 

■ The City and County of Denver, Colorado, Division of 

Community Corrections will build on its leading-edge 

pretrial services program, which uses evidence-based risk 

assessment tools and risk-based supervision practices. 

■ Yakima County, Washington, Pretrial Program will build on 

an existing analysis-driven, evidence-based law and justice 

system and address the next steps in its reform of the local 

Criminal Justice Process–Pretrial Justice. 

■ The Delaware Center for Justice will pursue Smart Pretrial 

principles as a statewide initiative, as Delaware’s criminal 

justice system is a smaller unified system with three counties. 

Byrne Criminal Justice 

Innovation Program

The Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) Program aims 

to reduce crime and improve community safety as part 

of a comprehensive strategy to advance neighborhood 

revitalization. BCJI focuses on neighborhoods that have 

faced persistent and significant crime over an extended 

period of time. Launched in 2012 as part of the White House 

Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI), BCJI helps local 

and tribal communities develop place-based, communityoriented strategies to change neighborhoods of distress into 

neighborhoods of opportunity. BCJI, NRI, and most recently the 

Promise Zones Initiative are part of a broad interagency effort 

to coordinate and align programs across federal agencies, 
12 Solutions for Safer Communities

such as the Departments of Justice, Housing and Urban 

Development (i.e., the Choice Neighborhoods grant program), 

Education (i.e., the Promise Neighborhoods grant program), 

and Health and Human Services, among others. 

BCJI sites establish a cross-sector management team, 

including residents, to target neighborhoods with violent 

and serious crime hot spots (i.e., small geographic areas of 

frequent, predictable crime that are the focus of specific BCJI 

activities) and employ data-driven, broad-based strategies to 

reduce crime and violence. As with other Smart Suite programs, 

research partners are an integral part of the success of the 

BCJI Program. Research partners conduct program progress 

assessment and provide data analysis and guidance. 

The BCJI Program is divided into two parts: a planning phase 

for grantees to evaluate the crime problem and propose a 

solution, and an implementation phase where solutions are put 

into practice. Planning phase activity is geared toward data 

analysis, collaboration, and strategy development. Working with 

research partners and TTA providers, grantees in the planning 

phase analyze the crime drivers (or underlying factors that 

lead to crime) in their communities. Once identified, the crime 

drivers are used to tailor responses to the specific problems 

facing the BCJI sites. The cross-sector management teams 

guide program development with input from developmental, 

commercial, recreational, law enforcement, social, and other 

community partners. 

BJA’s national TTA coordinator, the Local Initiatives Support 

Corporation, supports all BCJI sites as they plan and implement 

their BCJI efforts. This TTA support focuses on four core BCJI 

program elements: 

■ Use of data and research to guide program strategy. 

■ Engagement of community members to help shape crime 

prevention and revitalization efforts.

■ Tackling problems with a comprehensive set of approaches 

(prevention, intervention, enforcement) through a crosssector partnership.

■ Integration of crime control efforts with revitalization 

strategies.

In FY 2014, BJA, through BCJI, awarded more than $7 million 

to 17 communities affected by persistent violent and serious 

crime. Since 2012, the program has supported 46 local sites. 

Cross-sector teams are using data- and community-driven 

strategies to address crime drivers in specific micro places in 

neighborhoods in each city.

BCJI Performance Data 

In FY 2012 and FY 2013, 28 BCJI sites from 20 states received 

awards. At the start of FY 2014, 21 of the awards were in the 

planning phase and 7 were in the implementation phase, and 

by the end of FY 2014, 13 grantees were in the planning phase 

and 15 were in the implementation phase.

Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Case Study

Washington Park, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has partnered with Habitat 

for Humanity to assist with its BCJI program. This partnership led to 

15 new constructions and 6 home rehabilitations in 2014. This push 

for improved housing has been coupled with a strong community 

engagement program featuring block parties and monthly community 

safety meetings. In addition, 122 problem properties were given violent 

crime interventions, leading to a reduction in shootings and other 

violent crimes at these properties. 

To learn more about BCJI, visit 

www.bja.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?Program_ID=70.
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 13

EXHIBIT 3. MAP OF BCJI AWARDS FROM FISCAL YEARS 2012, 2013, AND 2014

Grantees in the implementation phase focused on building 

partnerships, sharing information, and assessing program 

progress. In FY 2014, 465 new partnerships were established 

by the 15 implementation phase grantees. The most common 

partnerships were among community members (37 percent), 

education and early childhood agencies (16 percent), and 

businesses (14 percent). Ninety-six information sharing systems 

were developed in FY 2014 for improving communication 

with community members (36 percent), the cross-sector 

management team (34 percent), and external stakeholders 

(30 percent).

Throughout FY 2014, all grantees had contact with their 

research partners, all of which conducted continual data 

analysis. This analysis helped local law enforcement identify 

182 crime hot spots. The research partners communicated 

the results of their analysis to the BCJI team through 517 

contacts, or an average of 3 contacts per month per grantee. 

This exchange of information led to grantees modifying their 

approach to crime problems 31 percent of the time.

FY 2012 Sites

San Bernardino, CA

Portland, OR

Brooklyn, NY

Philadelphia, PA

Baltimore, MD

Charleston, WV

San Antonio, TX

Seattle, WA

Omaha, NE

Milwaukee, WI

Detroit, MI

Dayton, OH

Buffalo, NY

Lowell, MA

Austin, TX

FY 2013 Sites

Corning, CA

San Francisco, CA

Los Angeles, CA

Kansas City, MO

Evansville, IN

Cleveland, OH

Syracuse, NY

Springfield, MA

Providence, RI

Erie, PA

Albany, GA

Tampa, FL

Nashville, TN

Baton Rouge, LA

FY 2014 Sites

Denver, CO

New Haven, CT

Alameda County, CA

Flint, MI

Worcester, MA

Miami-Dade County, FL

Highland County, OH

Battle Creek, MI

Durham, NC

Huntington, WV

Minneapolis, MN

Tulsa, OK

Coahoma County, MS

Phillipsburg, NJ

Rockdale County, GA

Newark, NJ

Towaoc, CO

Karen 10/26/2015 9:48 AM

FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 15

B

JA supports programs that demonstrate innovation in justice, 

address a demonstrated gap in areas within the justice 

system, and allow for replication nationwide. These fieldgenerated innovative strategies may ultimately be added to the 

pool of criminal justice evidence-based strategies and promising 

practices.

Encouraging Innovation: 

Field-Initiated Program 

BJA’s Encouraging Innovation Field-Initiated (Field-Initiated) 

Program collaborates with the criminal justice field to identify, 

test, and implement innovative strategies that address chronic 

crime problems and systemic issues. Each of the data-supported 

strategies funded under this program seeks to address these 

issues by adopting new, evidence-based approaches that have 

not been implemented previously. The Field-Initiated Program also 

assesses these projects’ potential for success on a national scale 

by establishing and collecting performance measurement data 

and documenting program impact.

While funds were not appropriated for BJA’s Field-Initiated 

Program solicitation in FY 2014, awards were made to 11 

state, local, and national organizations in FY 2013 totaling 

more than $4 million. This includes four Category 1 awards—

which propose to test a strategy at the state, local, or tribal 

level, document implementation, and develop tools to support 

national replication—and seven Category 2 awards—which have 

developed targeted and national or regional strategies designed 

to address a critical need or gap in the field. 

Accomplishments from FY 2013-funded projects include:

■ The Ohio Consortium of Crime Science (OCCS), a Category 1 

statewide project, seeks to bridge the researcher–practitioner 

gap by offering a formal mechanism through which researchers 

can provide research, data analysis, and other technical 

support at no cost to local Ohio agencies. The OCCS—which 

consists of 38 criminology and criminal justice researchers 

from 12 colleges and universities—pairs researchers with 

practitioners to work side-by-side to address a specific issue. 

The information and lessons learned from these partnerships 

will be shared with policymakers, legislators, practitioners, and 

other key individuals. 

■ The District Attorney for New York County (DANY) Program, a 

Category 1 project focused on prosecution and adjudication, 

is conducting an evaluation and national replication of Arrest 

Alert. DANY’s Arrest Alert is a computerized system that 

provides automatic email notifications to assistant district 

attorneys when any priority individuals are arrested within New 

York City and when a defendant currently under prosecution 

is arrested within the city’s five counties. Notifying assistant 

district attorneys when priority individuals are arrested enables 

them to ensure that charging decisions, bail applications, and 

sentencing recommendations address the defendant’s impact 

on criminal activity in communities. In certain instances, the 

alerts are shared with the New York City Police Department.

Encouraging Innovation 

For more information on the BJA Field-Initiated Program, visit 

https://www.bja.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?Program_ID=105.

FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 17

B

JA is dedicated to reducing violence in cities throughout the 

country. By supporting programs that address the causes of 

neighborhood violence and combining efforts of federal and 

local law enforcement with community leaders to find innovative 

ways to prevent or reduce violent crime, communities can be 

made safer for all. 

Violence Reduction Network 

The Violence Reduction Network (VRN), launched by thenAttorney General Eric Holder on September 29, 2014, is a 

comprehensive approach to violence reduction that leverages 

the array of existing resources at the U.S. Department of Justice 

(DOJ) to offer intensive training and targeted technical assistance 

to some of the country’s most violent cities. The BJA-led VRN 

initiative, which complements DOJ’s Smart on Crime Initiative, 

creates the opportunity for selected cities to engage directly 

with DOJ programmatic and law enforcement components and 

grantmaking agencies to develop a data-driven understanding 

of the factors underlying community violence and to promote 

and implement evidence-based strategies that result in reduced 

and sustained violence reduction. Cities will also have access 

to national and international practitioners and researchers with 

proven track records in developing, implementing, and evaluating 

strategies and tactics that reduce urban violence. 

VRN is not a grant program; instead it is supported through the 

provision of existing TTA resources. VRN includes collaborative 

partnerships with several federal agencies, including the Office 

of Justice Programs (OJP); FBI; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Drug 

Enforcement Administration; Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys; 

Office on Violence Against Women; and COPS Office. 

The five cities participating in VRN this first year are Camden, 

New Jersey, Chicago, Illinois, Detroit, Michigan, Oakland/

Richmond, California, and Wilmington, Delaware. VRN will 

support these cities by leveraging lessons learned and existing 

government resources to deliver strategic, intensive TTA in an 

“all-hands” approach to reduce violence. BJA expects to add five 

additional VRN sites in FY 2015.

Project Safe Neighborhoods

Since May 2001, Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) has served 

as DOJ’s primary initiative for reducing firearm crime and gangrelated violence. PSN is designed to increase partnerships among 

federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies through 

the formation of local gun and gang crime enforcement task 

forces. Outreach partnerships are also established with local 

governments, social service providers, schools, and community 

groups to increase resources for prevention efforts and to 

enhance the legitimacy of law enforcement interventions. These 

law enforcement and outreach partnerships are an essential part 

of the strategic planning process that is necessary to tailor a 

model to a community’s needs.

In FY 2012, BJA transitioned PSN from a formula-based program 

to a competitive-based program. Other recent changes to the 

program include the use of more effective evidence-based and 

data-driven strategies and the addition of mandatory research 

partners. In FY 2014, BJA awarded 19 PSN grants totaling more 

than $7 million to local jurisdictions to reduce gun and gang 

violence. 

Reducing Violence in Our Neighborhoods 
18 Solutions for Safer Communities

In FY 2014, significant accomplishments include:

■ At Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, in collaboration with 

Michigan State University, the Eastern District of Texas U.S. 

Attorney’s Office (USAO) and BJA, delivered the Research 

Partner Orientation Course (RPOC). RPOC is designed 

to present promising violent crime reduction strategies 

to new PSN award recipients and explain the role and 

responsibilities of the research partner along with the other 

task force members. The RPOC has been delivered 4 times 

to more than 200 law enforcement practitioners, prosecutors, 

researchers, and community personnel. 

■ The Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois 

(MEGSI) used a portion of its PSN grant to combat openair drug markets and violent crime in the St. Louis Metro 

East Area. A 3-month detail called Operation Wild East 

focused MEGSI efforts on purchasing drugs from streetlevel violent justice-involved individuals. Undercover agents 

video recorded purchases from 55 separate defendants, 

who accounted for 1,088 previous arrests in St. Clair County. 

Twenty-eight defendants have either pled guilty or been 

found guilty and sentenced to a total of 171 years in the 

Illinois Department of Corrections. 

■ The Seattle Police Department received training to develop 

a new data-driven program called SeaStat, which is based 

on the Compstat model from New York and Los Angeles. 

SeaStat has resulted in a 25 percent reduction in crime and 

improved use of resources.
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 19

E

ffective law enforcement requires trust and mutual respect 

between law enforcement agencies and the communities 

they serve. Building strong police-community relations 

requires a sustained effort over time, yet maintaining these 

relationships is exceedingly difficult, especially during and in 

the aftermath of a high-profile incident or civil unrest. Building 

and maintaining trust in the wake of such incidents requires 

planning, sustained effort, and a close examination of police 

practices, policies, and operations—from evaluating protocols 

and training to choosing the appropriate equipment and 

uniforms.

BJA supports work to help law enforcement in matters of 

community policing, building trust, diversity training, protecting 

privacy, safeguarding first amendment rights, ensuring 

procedural justice, preventing racial profiling, and related 

topics. Through this work, BJA helps agencies in their ongoing 

efforts to build stronger police-community relations and fulfill 

their dual role of preserving the peace and maintaining the 

public’s trust. 

Police Executive Research Forum Pilot 

BJA and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) in 

partnership with the Minneapolis Police Department designed 

a project to build community trust and confidence using the 

concepts of procedural justice and legitimacy in the minority/

immigrant community of Cedar-Riverside in Minneapolis. The 

Cedar-Riverside community is the largest community of East 

African—primarily Somali—immigrants in the United States. 

The Minneapolis Police Departments had sought for some time 

a means to improve community relations in the Cedar-Riverside 

community, as there was historical fear of the police. Much 

of this fear was due to cultural barriers and customs; many 

residents are first-generation immigrants, and police in Somalia 

have a history of corruption and abuse.

To address the community’s concerns about the role of the 

Minneapolis police, this pilot sought to demonstrate that the 

police department’s crime prevention and enforcement efforts 

are strengthened when community relations are improved. 

The police actively worked to improve their relationship with 

the community by using every interaction as an opportunity 

to demonstrate civil, unbiased, fair, and respectful policing. 

Additionally, the project expanded its scope beyond law 

enforcement by including other partners of the justice system: 

the Minneapolis City Attorney’s Office, Hennepin County 

Attorney’s Office, and Hennepin County Department of 

Community Corrections and Rehabilitation (probation).

It is anticipated this project will contribute to the development 

of a model that other police departments can adopt to improve 

community trust and confidence through the principles of 

procedural justice.

Resource Guide for Enhancing 

Community Relationships 

and Protecting Privacy and 

Constitutional Rights

BJA and the COPS Office partnered to develop the Resource 

Guide for Enhancing Community Relationships and Protecting 

Privacy and Constitutional Rights. This comprehensive resource 

guide identifies publications, articles, webinars, podcasts, 

Building Community Trust 
20 Solutions for Safer Communities

training opportunities, and other tools to assist law enforcement 

agencies in their ongoing efforts to build stronger communitypolice relationships. 

To access the Resource Guide for Enhancing Community 

Relationships and Protecting Privacy and Constitutional Rights, 

please visit www.bja.gov/Publications/CommRelGuide.pdf.

Blue Courage

Blue Courage: Serving and Protecting Those Who Protect and 

Serve is an educational process, sponsored by BJA, designed 

for all levels of law enforcement organizations. Blue Courage 

is designed as a method of infused education, teaching 

principles, and skills that go beyond the classroom environment 

to foster a culture of leadership, character, and service. 

Law enforcement officers today are faced with many personal 

and professional challenges. These challenges center on 

cynicism, relationships, identity, health, judgment, integrity, 

leadership, stress management, and organizational culture. 

Few professions are more physically, mentally, and emotionally 

demanding than law enforcement. Healthy and balanced 

officers are better situated to engage in good policing, which 

contributes to healthy communities. Without healthy public 

safety officers, communities are left in environments of mistrust, 

indifference, disrespect, and violence. 

Blue Courage focuses on both training to develop officer 

safety skills and education to enhance mindfulness, effectively 

manage stress, and minimize the confrontational aspect of 

policing, with the goal of increasing respect and trust levels 

between police and the community. The modules and principles 

include police culture, nobility of policing, respect, resilience/

hope, positive psychology, practical wisdom/deliberate 

practice, health and wellness, and ethical courage. 

Significant accomplishments from FY 2014 include: 

■ The Carolinas Institute for Community Policing, based at the 

Greenville Technical College, worked with BJA and the Blue 

Courage team to provide training to the nation’s state, local, 

and tribal law enforcement agencies. It conducted training 

for 28 different host agencies, held 39 Blue Courage classes, 

and trained 1,150 law enforcement officers.

■ The International Association of Directors of Law 

Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) worked with 

several police academies to infuse Blue Courage principles 

throughout their training curricula. BJA, the Blue Courage 

team, and IADLEST piloted this work with the Arizona Law 

Enforcement Academy. The inaugural class of 48 recruits 

received more than 700 classroom hours with Arizona’s Blue 

Courage-trained instructors. The instructors stressed the 

importance of incorporating Blue Courage philosophies not 

only into policing practices, but also into all aspects of life. 

■ Other police academies undergoing similar work are finding 

similar success, including Washington State Criminal Justice 

Training Academy, Baltimore County (Maryland) Training 

Academy, and the New York Police Department Training 

Academy.

Blue Courage Classroom Feedback

“Your course is such important work and again I would like to thank 

you for taking on this important challenge of uplifting and ‘rescuing’ 

cops. This information is so critical to our profession but goes largely

unsaid. What you do is like dusting debris off a shield and putting it 

squarely back on a cop’s chest. You remind us that we had an ideal and 

have a purpose.” 

To learn more about Blue Courage, visit www.bluecourage.com.
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 21

T

he safety of our nation’s public safety officers is a top 

priority for BJA. Every line-of-duty death is tragic. Every 

line-of-duty injury is concerning. Each loss of a hero in 

law enforcement from death or injury results in longstanding 

ramifications for the family and the law enforcement agency 

survivors. Protecting our officers is imperative—it requires a 

holistic approach that prepares officers through tactical training 

and continues to promote and maintain officers’ mental, 

emotional, and physical health.

Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program

The Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program provides vital 

death and education benefits to survivors of fallen law enforcement 

officers, firefighters, and other first responders, as well as disability 

benefits to officers catastrophically injured in the line of duty. PSOB 

is a unique effort of DOJ; local, state, tribal, and federal public 

safety organizations; and national organizations. 

As of September 30, 2014, BJA’s PSOB Office received 319 new 

death claims and 70 new disability claims. In FY 2014, a total of 

217 death cases (from various fiscal years) were determined at the 

PSOB Office level; 22 death cases were determined at the Hearing 

Officer level; and 29 cases were determined at the BJA Director 

level. A total of 33 disability cases were determined at the PSOB 

Office level in FY 2014; 14 disability cases were determined at the 

Hearing Officer level, and 12 were determined at the BJA Director 

level. A total of 441 education claims were approved for funding 

to spouses and children to enable family members to pursue their 

dreams of higher education. 

Supporting Our Public Safety Community: 

Officer Safety and Wellness 

For information and resources on PSOB’s death, disability, 

and education programs, visit www.psob.gov.

The PSOB Office continued to collaborate with the National Fallen 

Firefighters Foundation, Concerns of Police Survivors, and other 

PSOB public safety stakeholders to help increase awareness 

regarding PSOB’s death, disability, and education programs; 

provide effective assistance when filing PSOB claims; and offer 

meaningful peer support and counseling services to survivors of 

America’s fallen officers. Also in FY 2014, nearly 1,000 survivors 

and public safety officers participated in PSOB Program training, to 

provide them with a better understanding of the program and how 

to file claims in the future. 

Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program

Bullet- and stab-resistant vests are instrumental to officer survival. 

As state and local jurisdictions across the United States continue 

to face budget constraints, BJA’s Bulletproof Vest Partnership 

(BVP) Program helps to secure officer survival by providing funds 

to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to purchase 

life-saving, bullet- and stab-resistant body armor for sworn law 

enforcement and corrections officers. The BVP Program funds 

up to 50 percent of the cost of protective vests that meet the 

current National Institute of Justice (NIJ) body armor standards. 

The BVP Program distributes funds on a reimbursement basis—

after the protective vests are actually received by the officers and 

appropriate documentation submitted.
22 Solutions for Safer Communities

Significant FY 2014 BVP accomplishments include: 

■ BJA awarded just over $18.6 million to 4,199 local and tribal 

jurisdictions.

■ More than 92,000 vests were purchased and distributed to 

officers at an average cost to the BVP program of only $311 per 

vest. 

■ Based on data collected and recorded by BJA staff in FY 2014, 

vests were directly attributable to saving the lives of at least 14 

law enforcement and corrections officers. 

PSOB Quotes From Survivors

“My wife and I were talking last night about just how much of a 

difference your program has made in our lives. It’s made a lot of things 

easier and eased some of my concerns about providing for my family.”

“Thank you for the things you do to help families who have lost a loved 

one in the Line of Duty.”

“Thank you from the bottom of my broken heart for all your 

assistance.”

To learn more about BJA’s BVP Program, 

visit http://ojp.gov/bvpbasi/home.html.

For more information, visit 

http://www.theiacp.org/ReducingOfficerInjuryProject.

Reducing Officer Injuries Project

BJA, with IACP, continued its Reducing Officer Injuries Project to 

better understand and raise awareness of the nature, frequency, 

and risks of line-of-duty injuries sustained by law enforcement 

officers. This project stresses the importance of tracking injuries 

at the departmental level and promoting injury prevention and 

mitigation strategies, policies, and protocol based on best 

practices. 

Significant accomplishments in FY 2014 include:

■ Released Reducing Officer Injuries Final Report: A Summary of 

Data Findings and Recommendations from a Multi-Agency Injury 

Tracking Study summarizing data findings and recommendations 

from a 1-year, multiagency injury-tracking study. The report, 

supplemental project documents, and injury-tracking tool used in 

the study are available to law enforcement in both hard copy and 

electronically.

■ Outreach was made to all 18 agencies who participated in the 

study, and all but one were still tracking injuries as of FY 2014.

■ Examined the role of physical fitness and nutrition in determining 

the likelihood of on-the-job injuries among officers. Collaborated 

with the FBI National Academy training division to develop an 

article for IACP’s Police Chief magazine that outlined proper 

physical fitness regimens and techniques to best prevent 

injury. Also developed nutrition education resources for law 

enforcement: a nutrition pocket guide for line officers and a 

nutrition fact sheet for law enforcement executives. Both nutrition 

resources were announced and released at the 2014 IACP 

Conference.
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 23

■ Presented at a series of state association of chiefs of police 

meetings to discuss project findings and deliverables for this 

project, along with those for IACP’s other BJA-funded officer 

safety and wellness initiative, Prevention of Violence Against the 

Police. 

Prevention of Violence Against 

the Police Project 

BJA worked with IACP on the Prevention of Violence Against 

the Police Project, which examines the multitude of violent 

threats that law enforcement officers regularly face, looking at 

potential environmental, cultural, and physical threats to officers 

both on and off duty. The goal is to identify potential problem 

areas and dangerous situations, encourage vigilant behavior, 

combat complacency, and promote overall professionalism 

among law enforcement officers all in an effort to decrease 

violence. BJA and IACP are developing resources, policies, and 

trainings that can encourage greater awareness among officers 

and leadership. 

Significant accomplishments in FY 2014 include:

■ Promoted BJA’s BVP Program through a social media 

campaign to IACP membership to encourage law 

enforcement agencies to apply for BVP funding.

■ Produced a poster for law enforcement agencies highlighting 

officer safety concerns and vulnerabilities. Copies were made 

available for dissemination at the 2014 IACP Conference. 

■ Presented at a series of state association of chiefs of police 

meetings to discuss project findings and deliverables for this 

project, along with those for IACP’s other BJA-funded officer 

safety and wellness initiative, Reducing Officer Injuries. 

Project staff emphasized the importance of body armor and 

vest wear and promoted the mandatory vest wear resolution 

to promote officer safety. 

■ Highlighted statistics and promising practices via social 

media throughout the year.

Preventing Violence Against 

Law Enforcement and Ensuring 

Resilience and Survivability 

The Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement and 

Ensuring Officer Resilience and Survivability (VALOR) Program 

is a national officer safety TTA initiative that aims to improve the 

immediate and long-term health, wellness, and safety of law 

enforcement professionals through the continued development 

and delivery of knowledge and skill-based training. The 

program delivers current, dynamic classroom and web-based 

training, research, and resources to sworn state, local, and 

tribal law enforcement officers. Training provided as part of the 

VALOR Initiative emphasizes officer health and wellness and 

presents officers with strategies and skills that can be used to 

heighten situational awareness, prevent an assault, improve 

reaction times, and improve resiliency.

Training formats and resources offered through VALOR are 

designed to educate all levels of law enforcement on threats to 

their safety and equip them to implement practical skills and 

policies to address those threats. 

With the Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR), BJA has 

developed online training modules to increase the number of 

officers who are exposed to VALOR resources. All of the online 

training modules are available without cost to all sworn law 

enforcement personnel who register for access to the secure 

portion of the VALOR web portal (www.valorforblue.org). To 

date, the online training modules have been viewed more than 

1,300 times.

BJA delivered its first VALOR webinar, “Street Survival: Casualty 

Care,” in March 2014. Approximately 332 participants viewed 

the live broadcast, including law enforcement officers from 35 

states and Puerto Rico, and the webinar can also be viewed on 

the secure portion of the VALOR web portal.

Significant accomplishments in FY 2014 include:

■ VALOR conducted 36 officer safety trainings, reaching 4,345 

law enforcement officers.

■ The VALOR web portal was redesigned to be more userfriendly. 
24 Solutions for Safer Communities

■ The VALOR curriculum was expanded to include health, 

wellness, and resiliency; ambush; and active shooter 

components.

■ VALOR continued to expand the topics offered to law 

enforcement officers to improve officer safety. In FY 2014, 

health, wellness, and resilience skills training and an active 

shooter overview presentation were introduced. 

■ Cloud technology was implemented to electronically provide 

VALOR training attendees with copies of training materials, 

previously provided on CD. The elimination of the student 

resource CD has provided a savings on staff time previously 

dedicated to the development, production, and printing of 

the CD, as well as the manual entry of the CD into folders 

prepared for each attendee. 

■ A subaward agreement was established with the National 

Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) to 

continue to provide agency outreach and officer safety 

research. The NLEOMF collects and disseminates data 

on locally successful officer safety and wellness programs 

through the creation of the Destination Zero project.

Active Shooter Training 

In FY 2014, IIR continued to work in partnership with Texas 

State University to administer the BJA-funded Advanced Law 

Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center, which 

provides frontline law enforcement officers with advanced 

scenario-based training to safely and effectively respond to, 

address, and stop active shooters. ALERRT has trained more 

than 50,000 law enforcement professionals nationwide since 

the program was established in 2002. 

In FY 2014, ALERRT conducted 66 ALERRT active shooter 

trainings, reaching 1,651 law enforcement officers. In addition, 

ALERRT began using an ALERRT database that was created 

in FY 2014. IIR developed an online database for pre-training 

and post-training information to be entered and maintained 

easily. IIR and ALERRT use this database to continually monitor 

progress toward the completion of this award’s objectives and 

to produce status reports.

ALERRT training options available through VALOR include 

Active Shooter (Level I and II) courses, an Active Shooter Trainthe-Trainer course, an Exterior Response to Active Shooter 

Events course, and a Civilian Response to Active Shooter Event 

Train-the-Trainer course.
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 25

T

he right to counsel is guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, 

but all too often economically disadvantaged defendants 

still are not represented or are underrepresented. Heavy 

caseloads, insufficient resources, and inadequate oversight 

make it difficult for many attorneys representing these clients to 

completely fulfill their legal and ethical obligations. To address 

this issue, BJA has instituted a number of projects, programs, 

and funding opportunities to support and assist state and local 

defense systems. 

Securing the Constitutional Right to Counsel 

To learn more about BJA’s adjudication reform efforts, 

visit https://www.bja.gov/adjudication.

Answering Gideon’s Call 

The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Gideon v. Wainwright 

(1963) decision unanimously established that the Sixth 

Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires that states 

appoint lawyers for indigent defendants accused of a crime 

that carries a potential loss of liberty. State governments and 

policymakers have since struggled with the funding, staffing, 

and training implications of this decision. BJA initiated the 

Answering Gideon’s Call: National Assistance to Improve the 

Effectiveness of Right to Counsel Services (Gideon’s Call) 

Program to meet this need and facilitate implementation of the 

American Bar Association’s (ABA’s) Ten Principles of a Public 

Defense Delivery System (Ten Principles).

The Right to Counsel Technical Assistance Project 

With support from BJA, American University’s Right to Counsel 

Technical Assistance Project provides TTA to state and local public 

defense providers and enhances their ability to implement the Ten 

Principles. In FY 2014, the project launched the Right to Counsel 

Technical Assistance website, an online resource that promotes 

field access to project resources for public defense practitioners, 

state and local policymakers, and others. 

Gideon’s Promise—Building Gideon’s Army

The BJA-funded Gideon’s Promise—Building Gideon’s 

Army provides training and support to public defenders 

challenged with balancing the demands of processing large 

numbers of cases with the expense of maintaining the high 

level of advocacy necessary to ensure just outcomes. The 

program recently partnered with Maryland, representing the 

first opportunity to expand the Gideon’s Promise model to a 

statewide system. It also started working with Measures for 

Justice to consider how to measure the effectiveness of the 

model. In FY 2014, Gideon’s Promise launched the Law School 

Partnership Project, which partners with law schools and public 

defender offices to place and train recent graduates willing 

to join indigent defense reform efforts in jurisdictions with the 

greatest need. The project placed 16 recent graduates in 2014. 

Achieving the Constitutional Right to Counsel

BJA works with the Sixth Amendment Center (6AC) to identify 

and implement a series of performance measures to assess 

and compare right-to-counsel efforts of the nation’s criminal 

justice system. In FY 2014, 6AC worked with the Defender 

Initiative at Seattle University School of Law to improve the 
26 Solutions for Safer Communities

quality of state-level public defense services consistent with 

the Ten Principles in three jurisdictions: Idaho, Mississippi and 

Utah. It also finalized a report on behalf of Delaware’s Office of 

Conflicts Counsel, The Crucible of Adversarial Testing, which 

details ways in which indigent defense in Delaware does not 

adhere to the Ten Principles and makes recommendations to 

address these issues. 

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

BJA supports National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ 

(NACDL’s) projects to increase access to training for indigent 

defense attorneys. In FY 2014, NACDL developed three training 

agendas that can be tailored to address specific local concern: 

“Clients, Not Cases: Skills for Outstanding Representation,” 

which addresses essential client-centered representation tasks 

required in every case; “Taking the Fear out of Forensics,” a 

2-day forensic primer for defenders; and “Litigating Abuses of 

Power in the Criminal Justice System,” which addresses topics 

such as Fourth Amendment and Brady/Discovery violations, 

coercive police tactics, and implicit racial bias. 

Pretrial Reform

With BJA funding, NACDL’s Pretrial Release Advocacy Project 

works to reduce unnecessary pretrial confinement through 

effective defense representation. NACDL, in partnership 

with ABA’s Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent 

Defendants, chose two states (Colorado and Wisconsin) to 

pilot pretrial risk assessment tools to help judges determine 

which clients should be released from custody while awaiting 

trial. NACDL’s work in these jurisdictions will include drafting 

comprehensive pretrial release manuals with the full range of 

bail advocacy issues and law, practice guidance, and sample 

pleadings. NACDL will then coordinate and conduct field 

trainings, webinars, and online support. 

Capital Case Litigation 

BJA’s Capital Case Litigation Initiative seeks to reduce and 

prevent wrongful conviction and costly litigation by improving 

the quality of representation and the reliability of verdicts in 

state and local capital cases. With support from BJA, NACDL 

provides and supports training to capital defense teams 

(including state and local prosecutors, defense counsel, and 

trial judges) based on the “bring-your-own-case” training 

model. 

Activities include field training, web-based training programs, 

online resources, and followup with technical assistance for 

training participants. In FY 2014, the initiative conducted a 

regional training program to 28 participants representing 3 

states; conducted 5 free web-based training programs for 

participants of regional and statewide training programs, which 

were viewed live at 705 locations and are available online; and 

provided ongoing technical assistance to the 97 participants of 

these programs. 

Wrongful Conviction Review

BJA’s Wrongful Conviction Review Program funds public and 

nonprofit entities that work to exonerate people who have 

been wrongfully convicted. As BJA’s national TTA provider 

for this program, NACDL supports BJA grantees and other 

innocence projects/defender offices on issues related to 

post-conviction claims of innocence. In FY 2014, NACDL 

completed an in-depth assessment of BJA’s FY 2010 Wrongful 

Conviction Review Program grantees, examining the impact 

that funds had on improving representation and increasing 

efficiency in post-conviction innocence claims. The resulting 

report, Innocence Invigorated, noted that the grant funding led 

directly or indirectly to the exoneration of 26 innocent people 

who were wrongly convicted. In addition, more than 20 actual 

perpetrators were identified.

Holistic Defense

Building on its past support, BJA funded the Center for 

Holistic Defense, a project of The Bronx Defenders that seeks 

to broaden the scope and mission of public defense offices 

beyond legal representation in criminal court, while also 

working to stabilize the lives of indigent criminal defendants 
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 27

by addressing the circumstances that may drive them into the 

criminal justice system. The Center is national in scope, serving 

as a TTA resource center for public defender offices, individual 

advocates, policymakers, and others who seek to adopt a more 

holistic approach to public defense representation.

In FY 2014, the Center provided 12 months of in-depth TTA to 

six competitively selected public defense offices: the Alameda 

County Public Defender in Oakland, California; the Shelby 

County Public Defender in Memphis, Tennessee; the Public 

Defender for the City of Atlanta, Georgia; the Santa Clara 

County Public Defender in San Jose, California; the Arch City 

Defenders in St. Louis, Missouri; and the Jefferson County 

Public Defender in Birmingham, Alabama. For more information 

about the center and to view a detailed report on the 2014 

Holistic Defense Symposium, visit www.bronxdefenders.org.

FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 29

S uccessfully preparing and supervising persons as they 

return to their communities is critical to the health of our 

criminal justice system. Effective reentry programs that 

provide a broad range of services while ensuring accountability 

help to reduce crime, diminish correctional costs, and secure 

public safety. BJA supports numerous reentry initiatives that 

focus on partnering with correctional, law enforcement, and 

social service agencies, as well as faith-based and community 

organizations. In addition, BJA supports programs that work to 

reduce recidivism, promote coordinated efforts among reentry 

stakeholders, reduce corrections and related criminal justice 

spending, and promote information sharing.

Justice Reinvestment Initiative 

BJA launched the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) to help 

states and counties devise and implement cost-effective, 

evidence-based policies projected to reduce unnecessary 

incarceration and corrections spending, and reinvest savings 

into proven, high-performing criminal justice programs that 

contribute to increased public safety. JRI also promotes enhanced 

accountability, systemwide collaboration, and an increased interest 

in justice system reform. Through JRI, which is a public/private 

partnership with the Pew Charitable Trusts, BJA has provided both 

financial support and technical assistance to 24 states and 17 

localities. While some of these sites have concluded their justice 

reinvestment efforts, BJA and Pew are currently funding work in 

17 states and 16 local jurisdictions through a collaboration with the 

Council of State Governments Justice Center, the Vera Institute of 

Justice, and the Crime and Justice Institute. 

JRI supports BJA’s 2013–2016 Strategic Plan by encouraging 

jurisdictions to integrate evidence-based practices and data-driven 

decisionmaking into their justice system operations. Strategies 

adopted include risk and needs assessments, accountability 

measures, earned-time credits, community-based treatment, 

expanded diversions or alternatives to incarceration, intermediate 

and graduated sanctions, sentencing changes, increased reentry 

services and treatment, problem-solving courts, streamlined parole 

processes, and expanded parole eligibility. Additionally, because 

JRI relies on state-specific data analysis and policy development, 

the program embodies BJA’s mission to promote the use of data, 

research, and information to increase the effectiveness of criminal 

justice programs.

In FY 2014, the Urban Institute published BJA-funded assessments 

of state and local JRI activities. According to the Urban Institute’s 

2014 JRI State Assessment Report, for example, states expect 

prison populations to either decrease (by 0.6 to 19 percentage 

points) or grow more slowly (by 6 to 21 percentage points). 

Projected savings vary across states and time periods, ranging 

from $7.7 million (over 5 years) to $875 million (over 11 years). 

In FY 2014, the following accomplishments were achieved through 

JRI:

■ Four additional states launched justice reinvestment efforts: 

Alabama, Nebraska, Utah, and Washington. 

■ Two states passed comprehensive legislative packages to 

reduce imprisonment while improving public safety: Idaho and 

Mississippi.

■ BJA unveiled a revamped website (www.bja.gov/jri), which hosts 

up-to-date news items; provides a site list, map, and detailed 

Reducing Recidivism 
30 Solutions for Safer Communities

Case Studies: North Carolina and Georgia

Looking closely at a specific state example, in the three years since 

North Carolina passed its Justice Reinvestment Act in 2011, the prison 

population has decreased by almost 3,400 people. North Carolina has 

closed 10 prisons and used some of the savings to add 175 probation 

and parole officers and invest in intervention and treatment programs. 

Now a substantially greater number of people with felony convictions 

are exiting prison to supervision—rather than straight to the street—

and the number of probationers revoked to prison has fallen by half 

since the law was passed. At the same time, North Carolina has 

experienced an 11 percent drop in the crime rate.

Similarly, Georgia passed legislation in 2011, and by the end of FY 

2014, instead of growing 8 percent as projected, Georgia’s prison 

population is now down by 8 percent. The state has saved more than 

$20 million alone in direct payments to the counties for holding state 

prisoners in local jails. Overall, prison admissions have decreased, 

helping to reduce racial disparity—while prison commitments of white 

males dropped 1.5 percent, commitments of black males dropped 19 

percent from 2009 to 2013. 

To learn more about JRI, visit www.bja.gov/jri.

EXHIBIT 4. STATE AND LOCAL JRI JURISDICTIONS AS OF END OF FY 2014

Karen 10/26/2015 9:48 AM

State Site

Local Site

WA

OR

CA

NV

AZ NM

TX

WY

CO

MT ND

MN

IA

IL

WI

IN

VA

DC MD

NJ

CT

DE

RI

TN

FL

NY

VT

ME

MA

AK

HI

UT

ID SD

NE

KS

OK

AR

MO

LA

MS AL GA

SC

NC

KY

WV

OH

PA

NH

MI
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 31

information on each state site; provides resources developed 

through JRI activities; communicates success stories to the field; 

and includes frequently asked questions 

■ With continued support of implementation efforts through 

technical assistance, as in North Carolina and Georgia, BJA can 

help other states that have passed legislation more recently to 

achieve similar successes.

Exhibit 4 indicates the state and local jurisdictions that participated 

in JRI as of the end of FY 2014.

Second Chance Act and Recidivism 

Reduction Programs

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (SCA) provides a comprehensive 

response to the increasing number of incarcerated adults and 

juveniles who are released from prison, jail, and juvenile residential 

facilities. Administered by OJP through BJA, the Office of 

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), and the 

National Institute of Justice (NIJ) SCA programs (www.bja.gov/

ProgramDetails.aspx?Program_ID=90) provide funding to eligible 

states, units of local governments, federally recognized tribes, and 

nonprofit organizations. These funding resources help to promote 

public safety and ensure the successful transition of adult and 

juvenile individuals to their communities. 

From FY 2009 through FY 2013, DOJ supported reentry efforts 

in 49 states, awarding more than 600 SCA grants totaling more 

than $300 million. These awards support a variety of evidencebased activities that include adult justice-involved individuals with 

co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders; familybased substance use treatment; adult and juvenile demonstration 

(planning and implementation) projects; state, local, and tribal 

reentry courts; adult mentoring programs; technology careers 

training projects for incarcerated adults and juveniles; and the 

evaluation of adult and juvenile reentry demonstration projects.

In FY 2014, BJA made 52 awards (new competitive and 

supplemental awards) totaling more than $37 million that will 

provide further reentry services and resource dissemination to the 

field. These awards included the following: 

■ New competitive site-based awards under the following SCA 

programs: Adult Demonstration; Career Technology Training for 

Adults and Juveniles; Adult Mentoring and Transitional; Adult 

Co-Occurring Disorders; Adult Comprehensive Mentoring; and 

Statewide Recidivism Reduction Programs.

■ One supplemental continuation award for a project participating 

in NIJ’s evaluation of the SCA Reentry Court Program.

■ Continued support for the Council of State Governments (CSG) 

Justice Center’s National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC).

In addition to these awards, significant SCA accomplishments from 

FY 2014 include: 

■ In March, BJA and the NRRC convened 13 state teams that 

received FY 2013 Statewide Recidivism Reduction (SRR) 

planning grants. These state teams, comprising the state 

corrections director, a representative from the governor’s 

office, and a project manager, learned about evidence-based 

practices for reducing recidivism and developed concrete 

strategies for their SRR plans. The event, hosted in partnership 

with the National Governors Association and Association of 

State Correctional Administrators, provided an opportunity for 

governors’ staff to engage in states’ SRR planning efforts. 

■ The Fourth Annual Second Chance Act Conference was held 

in May. Approximately 700 attendees representing a variety of 

practitioners in the criminal justice field met to share experiences 

and strategies for improving reentry outcomes. This year, the 

SCA Conference coincided with the orientation and conference 

for Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program grantees, 

who were invited to stay for the SCA Conference, which 

broadened the event’s reach.

■ In June, a half-day summit, Pathways to Prosperity: How Public 

and Private Sectors Can Put People with Criminal Records 

to Work, was held at the White House. Moderated by U.S. 

Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez, this event assembled 
32 Solutions for Safer Communities

business leaders and policymakers to discuss government 

efforts to improve employment outcomes for people with 

criminal records. Panelists highlighted corporate willingness to 

hire those with prior convictions and the public sector’s desire to 

eliminate obstacles to employment. More than 1,650 corrections, 

reentry, and labor professionals across 41 states participated 

virtually in the event, which was organized by the CSG Justice 

Center, NRRC, and White House Domestic Policy Council.

■ In June, the CSG Justice Center released a report, Reducing 

Recidivism: States Deliver Results. Drawing on data through 

2013, this report highlights the success of eight states at 

reducing statewide recidivism: Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, 

North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and 

Wisconsin. 

■ In August, renowned researchers, scientists, and experts in the 

field of offender risk instruments convened for a 2-day meeting 

in Washington, D.C., to discuss Common Language for Risk 

Assessments. Hosted by the NRRC, the event highlighted 

the field’s need for a common, consistent language for risk 

assessment measures. This was the first in a series of meetings 

to be hosted by the CSG Justice Center that will focus on 

establishing theoretically sound common risk/needs thresholds 

across risk scales, and connecting the categories to quantitative 

indicators. 

EXHIBIT 5. SECOND CHANCE ACT GRADUATION RATE: FY 2014

Second Chance Act Program % Participants

Prerelease

% Participants

Postrelease

Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders 71 48

Adult Mentoring 81 59

Adult Offender Reentry Demonstration 62 50

To learn more about BJA’s SCA activities, visit 

www.bja.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?Program_ID=90.

Second Chance Act Performance Data 

The three SCA programs with the most individuals participating—

Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders, 

Adult Offender Reentry Demonstration, and Adult Mentoring—

made up 86 percent of the 14,722 participants in all SCA programs 

as of the July–September 2014 quarter. 

Exhibit 5 illustrates a key success of these SCA programs in FY 

2014: high graduation rates. These high completion rates suggest 

that SCA programs are effective in reducing recidivism, as a 

high percentage of participants who completed programs have 

been found less likely to be rearrested in the 12 months following 

completion.

These three SCA programs also successfully targeted and 

served moderate- to high-risk individuals, which is significant as 

this population has a very high rate of recidivism. Focusing on 

these populations decreases the chances of reoffense. Exhibit 6 

summarizes the percentage of risk factors represented in each of 

the three programs over the course of FY 2014.
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 33

EXHIBIT 6. PERCENTAGE OF RISK: ADULTS WITH CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS, 

ADULT REENTRY, AND ADULT MENTORING PROGRAMS

Percentage of Participants at Moderate or High Risk of Recidivism, FYs 2013-2014

■ Co-occurring ■ Adult Reentry ■ Adult Mentoring

Oct–Dec 13 Jan–Mar 14 Apr–Jun 14 July–Sept 14

0

20

40

60

80

100

79.6%

72.48%

82.68% 86.56%

72.05% 72.22%

86.83%

66.84%

87.32% 89.08%

76.19%

82.27%

Drug Courts

Drug courts contribute to reduced recidivism and substance use 

and increased likelihood of successful rehabilitation by integrating 

judicially supervised treatment, mandatory drug testing, community 

supervision, appropriate sanctions, and other habilitation services. 

BJA’s Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program awards financial 

and technical assistance to state, local, and tribal governments and 

courts seeking to establish and enhance drug courts. In FY 2014, 

BJA made 45 state and local drug court and TTA awards totaling 

more than $14.5 million.

Significant accomplishments from BJA TTA providers in FY 2014 

include:

■ The Center for Court Innovation’s Statewide Drug Court Training 

and Technical Assistance Program expanded its National 

Drug Court Online Learning System by adding training content 

regarding Veterans Treatment Courts (VTCs) in partnership with 

the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 

■ The National Drug Court Institute (NDCI) trained more than 400 

professionals from 37 jurisdictions planning VTCs. NDCI also 

released a webinar entitled “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and 

What It Means for Our Participants” to explain effective treatment 

of veterans with the disorder. 

■ The National Drug Court Institute (NDCI) released Engaging with 

the Affordable Care Act: Implications and Recommendations for 

Adult Drug Court Professionals, a practitioner-oriented bulletin 
34 Solutions for Safer Communities

that outlines key Affordable Care Act provisions and provides 

guidance to state administrators and drug court team members.

■ NDCI piloted the Habilitation, Empowerment & Accountability 

Therapy (HEAT) Project. HEAT is a holistic, Afrocentric treatment 

model that addresses a full range of personal and environmental 

factors that influence an individual’s behavior. NDCI expects this 

pilot will increase the evidence base for this promising approach. 

■ American University produced Technical Assistance Guide to 

Drug Court Treatment Service, a primer for drug court judges on 

the key elements of evidence-based practices in the treatment 

services. 

■ The Center for Court Innovation, in partnership with American 

University, the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, 

and the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, launched an initiative 

to explore innovative uses of communications technology to 

enhance drug court operations. 

Drug Court Performance Data 

The Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program funds three 

types of activities: statewide, enhancement, and implementation. 

Statewide grants are awarded to improve, enhance, or expand 

statewide drug court services. Enhancement grants are awarded 

to existing adult drug courts to upgrade and enhance their existing 

operation. Implementation grants are awarded to jurisdictions 

planning to establish a new drug court in their community. 

Grantees may propose to use funding in a variety of areas: court 

operations and services; justice-involved individual supervision, 

management, and services; and provision and coordination of 

recovery support services, including education, job training and 

placement, housing placement assistance, primary and mental 

health care, and childcare and other supportive services. Drug 

courts operated in a variety of localities: urban (47 percent), 

suburban (22 percent), and rural (28 percent).

In FY 2014, 211 drug court awards from FY 2009 to 2013 were 

active. The graduation rate of BJA’s grantees was 51 percent, with 

4,591 participants graduating. Additionally, grantees reported that a 

low rate of drug court participants reoffended while in the program; 

13,317 drug court participants reoffended, representing only 6 

percent of the total. (BJA’s target was 10 percent.) This is especially 

significant since BJA encourages drug courts to accept high-risk/

high-need participants, who have a higher risk of recidivism; more 

than 5,987 (74 percent) of drug court participants were high risk/

high need. Serving such a high number of high-risk/high-need 

individuals will continue to benefit the community by increasing 

safety, reducing recidivism, and saving taxpayers’ money. 

Drug Court Case Studies 

DeKalb County Drug Court (DCDC), Georgia: “The DCDC recently formed 

a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America in an effort to 

establish a mentorship program for the children of our participants. This 

development follows a number of initiatives to provide family-focused 

services to our participants with the understanding that the children of 

our participants are at-risk youth.”

The Piedmont Judicial Circuit Court, Georgia: “Our Drug Court Programs 

are considered a major success by all our local County Commissioners 

and heavily supported by our State officials. Our Governor was just 

recognized at the National Drug Court Conference in Los Angeles for 

the top State for Drug Court programs.”

Forrest County, Mississippi: “The ability to send our participants to 

inpatient treatment has given them a better foundation for sobriety/

clean time, and in turn they tend to stay clean and sober and not 

commit other crimes. Also, in inpatient treatment, individuals live 

together for at LEAST 30 days... giving them a sober community.”
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 35

Community Courts

Problem-Solving Justice Training and Technical 

Assistance Initiative

Under BJA’s Problem-Solving Justice Training and Technical 

Assistance Initiative, the Center for Court Innovation supports 

judges, court administrators, prosecutors, defense attorneys, 

and other innovators around the country seeking to implement 

community-based problem-solving court reforms that aim to 

reduce recidivism, decrease the use of jail time, and link justiceinvolved individuals to treatment and other services, while 

increasing the legitimacy of the justice system. The Center’s TTA 

services include site visits, one-on-one assistance, workshops and 

other training, and research and analysis.

The Center’s significant accomplishments in FY 2014 include:

■ The Community Justice 2014 International Summit held in 

San Francisco, California. Held in April, the summit hosted 

approximately 300 justice practitioners and academics from 

75 U.S. jurisdictions and 10 countries. It included 20 sessions 

on “how to” topics such as understanding problematic drug 

use, medication-assisted treatment, reducing incarceration, 

integrating evidence-based practices, planning court-based 

community justice initiatives, and engaging community 

stakeholders. Podcasts, interviews, videos, and other 

practitioner resources can be found on the summit website. 

■ Four new mentor courts were selected in September.

These sites will serve as national models of community court 

excellence. The competitively chosen mentor courts are the 

Hartford Community Court, Connecticut; Orange County 

Community Court, California; San Francisco Community 

Justice Center, California; and South Dallas Community 

Court, Texas. 

■ About 20 jurisdictions across the United States received 

hands-on technical assistance. The Center provided 

community court planning assistance in Eugene, Oregon; 

launched community courts in North Las Vegas and 

Reno, Nevada and Fulton County, Georgia; and facilitated 

countywide problem-solving court coordination in El Paso 

County, Colorado, and New Castle County, Delaware. 

■ Three new publications were issued: Evidence-Based 

Strategies for Working with Offenders; How Community 

Advisory Boards Can Assist the Work of the Justice System; 

and Beyond a Single Neighborhood: Community Justice in 

Washington, D.C., Newark, N.J., and Milliken, Colo.

Community Court Case Study: San Francisco

In October 2014, the San Francisco Community Justice Center was the subject of a comprehensive evaluation by the RAND Corporation. The evaluation 

found that the probability of rearrest for those originally arrested for an eligible offense inside the catchment area decreased over time (and increased 

outside of its catchment area); estimated that those arrested for an eligible crime in its catchment area are 8.9 percent to 10.3 percent less likely to be 

rearrested within 1 year; and supported the hypothesis that the Justice Center reduces recidivism. The RAND report—Does San Francisco’s Community 

Justice Center Reduce Criminal Recidivism?—can be found online at www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR735.html.
36 Solutions for Safer Communities
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 37

Justice and Mental Health 

Collaboration Program

The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) 

seeks to increase public safety by fostering cross-system 

collaborations between criminal justice and mental health 

partners that serve justice-involved individuals with mental 

illnesses or co-occurring mental health and substance use 

disorders. Through JMHCP, BJA funds collaborative planning 

projects as well as planning/implementation and enhancement 

projects. In FY 2014, BJA awarded 34 JMHCP grants to state, 

local, and tribal jurisdictions to plan, implement, and expand 

initiatives for criminal justice/mental health partnerships. 

JMHCP also awards funding for the State-Based Capacity 

Building Program, which helps to deliver TTA resources and 

services to unfunded, eligible JMHCP applicants. In FY 2014, 

the CSG Justice Center, BJA’s TTA provider, responded to 451 

requests for technical assistance from state, local, and tribal 

governments.

BJA selected a partnership between the CSG Justice Center 

and the National Association of Counties to be the national 

TTA provider for the State-Based Capacity Building Program. 

The partnership will initially focus on reducing the number of 

people with mental disorders in jail. In FY 2014, the partnership 

activities included: 

■ Bexar County, Texas (San Antonio): An analysis of outcomes 

related to pretrial processing. Based on this analysis, local 

stakeholders adopted policy recommendations to identify 

people with mental disorders and diversion options at pretrial 

booking. 

■ Franklin County, Ohio (Columbus): An analysis of jail 

bookings matched with data from the local shelter system 

and treatment providers. County leadership is using this 

analysis to build consensus for policy options to improve 

public safety and outcomes for people who use multiple 

county assistance systems. 

■ Salt Lake County, Utah (Salt Lake City): The local Criminal 

Justice Advisory Council oversaw technical assistance, 

including an analysis of individuals who recidivate after 

reentry, the development of a data dashboard of performance 

measures to track system trends, and coordination with the 

state’s justice reinvestment process.

Combating Substance Use and 

Mental Health Disorders 

For more information on JMHCP, visit 

www.bja.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?Program_ID=66.
38 Solutions for Safer Communities

Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program 

Performance Data

In FY 2014, 76 JMHCP awards from FYs 2008 to 2013 were 

active. Exhibit 7 illustrates the number of individuals who have 

been diverted from justice system involvement, and exhibit 8 

shows the number of individuals who have received services 

through JMHCP grants. 

EXHIBIT 7. PEOPLE DIVERTED FROM JUSTICE SYSTEM INVOLVEMENT DURING POLICE 

INTERVENTION FOR A MENTAL HEALTH-RELATED CALL, FY 2008 – FY 2014

EXHIBIT 8. NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS RECEIVING SERVICES, FY 2008 – FY 2014 

Note: The total number of calls for a mental health-related incident between October 2013 and September 2014 was 10,377.

CASE STUDY: JUSTICE AND MENTAL HEALTH COLLABORATION PROGRAM

During the FY 2014 reporting period, a JMHCP grantee in Philadelphia 

reported the following accomplishments: 

■ Successfully linked participants to services. 

■ Provided Mental Health First Aid Training to public safety officials.

■ Established relationships with arraignment court magistrates and 

district attorney staff. 

■ Maintained and expanded relationships with commanding officers 

and closed circuit TV staff at the jails.

■ Systematically created a stable referral and linkage system for 

justice-involved individuals.

■ Provided Crisis Intervention Training to staff.

Arrested Left Onsite Sent to ER or Other Medical 

Facility

Sent to Mental Health 

Facility

Sent to Other 

Agency/Organization

1,072 (10%) 2,312 (22%) 1,806 (17%) 886 (9%) 124 (1%)

Mental Health Substance Abuse Co-occurring Disorders

1,726 (42%) 1,120 (27%) 1,247 (31%)
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 39

As a result of the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), 

BJA established the Protecting Inmates and Safeguarding 

Communities Program in FY 2004. Funding was made 

available to states to support efforts to prevent and eliminate 

prisoner rape between inmates in state and local prisons, jails, 

and police lockup facilities and to safeguard the communities 

to which inmates return. The two main goals of the program 

are to assist states and local jurisdictions in ensuring that 

budget cuts don’t compromise efforts to protect inmates and to 

safeguard communities upon the inmate’s reentry.

Prison Rape Elimination Act 

PREA was enacted to prevent the sexual abuse of prisoners in 

federal, state, local, and tribal correctional facilities, including 

prisons, jails, police lockups, and other confinement facilities. 

PREA requires the Attorney General to promulgate regulations 

that adopt national standards for the detection, prevention, 

reduction, and punishment of prison rape. Signed on August 

27, 2013, the PREA Implementation Plan charged OJP with 

implementing the PREA regulations, most notably the process 

for auditing facilities for compliance with the PREA standards. 

Administered by BJA, the PREA Program Management Office 

(PMO) carries out this responsibility. The historic nature of 

PREA and the development of national standards to prevent 

sexual abuse in confinement settings have required the PMO 

to develop a number of innovative strategies, processes, 

instruments, and protocols to implement the PREA standards 

nationwide. Since its inception, the PMO has worked to 

promote collaboration across the key DOJ components that 

have a stake in PREA implementation, between DOJ and other 

federal agencies with PREA requirements, and among DOJ and 

numerous external constituent groups implementing PREA at 

the state, local, and tribal levels. 

The PMO also works with the National Council on Crime and 

Delinquency to run the National PREA Resource Center (PRC). 

PRC provides TTA and other resources to help the field better 

identify and disseminate best and promising practices, assist 

correctional agencies in the implementation of the standards, 

and advance the overall PREA goal of establishing zerotolerance confinement cultures with respect to sexual assault 

and misconduct. 

Preventing Violence Against Incarcerated Individuals 

For more information on PREA, visit www.prearesourcecenter.org. 
40 Solutions for Safer Communities

Noteworthy PMO and PRC accomplishments in FY 2014 

include:

■ Creating and implementing a robust PREA audit process to 

assess compliance with the PREA standards. To date, the 

PMO and PRC have delivered seven week-long trainings for 

auditor candidates and coordinated the DOJ certification of 

442 PREA auditors listed on the PRC’s website.

■ Delivering targeted TTA in jurisdictions nationwide on issues 

such as establishing “zero tolerance” cultures related to 

sexual abuse and sexual harassment in confinement facilities; 

eliminating these serious problems in adult prisons and jails, 

juvenile facilities, community confinement facilities, and 

lockups; and complying with the PREA standards. 

■ Partnering with other DOJ components to provide 

interpretative guidance to the field on issues of first 

impression related to the PREA standards. 

■ Working closely with federal agencies to leverage lessons 

learned from DOJ’s successful PREA implementation efforts 

and the tools created by DOJ to promote implementation 

activities nationwide. 

■ Directing a national grant program—Demonstration Projects 

to Establish “Zero Tolerance” Cultures for Sexual Assault in 

Correctional Facilities—that provides resources to eligible 

state, local, and tribal jurisdictions to carry out PREA-related 

activities. In FY 2014, BJA made 22 awards to the field 

totaling $7,552,185.

Prison Rape Elimination Act Performance Data

In FY 2014, 38 PREA grants awarded in FY 2010 through FY 

2013 were active. Recipients of BJA’s PREA awards made 

substantive efforts in implementing new PREA regulations, 

identifying training needs and areas for development, and 

sharing resources such as best practices, forms, and policies. 

Using PREA award funds, grantees created 52 new staff and 

contract positions, including 13 PREA coordinator/director 

positions and 19 other newly created PREA staff positions. 

Grantees also provided PREA-related training to correctional 

staff. Of the 5,896 staff hired by grantees, 5,482 (93 percent) 

received PREA-related training. In addition, 616 staff received 

specialized sexual assault investigator training; 1,574 received 

specialized training in sexual-related trauma; and 529 received 

specialized training in sexual assault-related mental health 

treatment to comply with the PREA standards. 

Additionally, BJA has funded comprehensive inmate screening 

and assessment programs to enhance safety in confinement 

facilities and work toward compliance with the PREA standards. 

During FY 2014, grantees used BJA program funds to develop 

and purchase new screening and assessment tools, and to 

conduct screenings and assessments. For example, 127,549 

inmates were newly admitted to PREA-funded facilities. Of 

those newly admitted inmates, 95,955 (75 percent) received a 

screening for risk of sexual victimization or perpetration.

Grantees also provided inmate education on the topics of 

sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and PREA policy. Education 

was provided at intake within the first 10 to 30 days, and upon 

transfer. During FY 2014, 393,515 inmates received classroombased, e-learning, or paper-based PREA-related education and 

educational materials. Education helps inmates understand 

their rights regarding sexual abuse and sexual harassment, and 

explains their options for reporting such incidents.

Grantees continually implemented and enhanced new 

technology and existing technology during FY 2014. Activities 

included installing new surveillance units and cameras 

purchased using BJA program funds. Grantees also established 

new confidential support hotlines and new methods for victims 

to report allegations of sexual abuse or staff sexual misconduct. 

For example, grantees signed agreements with victim service 

providers to staff 24/7 hotlines.
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 41

BJA continues to advance the implementation of information 

sharing among local, state, and tribal criminal justice 

agencies by remaining committed to consensus-based, 

collaborative efforts across four key activities: 

■ Defining national policy and practices.

■ Developing technical standards and guidelines.

■ Providing training and technical assistance. 

■ Supporting targeted, issue-based implementations in the field. 

Global Justice Information 

Sharing Initiative 

The Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) is 

a BJA-administered program that works with practitioners 

to advance justice information sharing. As a federal advisory 

committee to the Attorney General, Global serves as the formal 

vehicle for local, state, and tribal justice entities to provide 

recommendations to DOJ that promote standards-based 

electronic information sharing and interoperability throughout 

the justice and public safety communities. 

In light of the tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombing, and 

with the rapid growth and advancements in video technology 

used in government, business, and personal applications, 

law enforcement leaders are recognizing the importance of 

improving their agencies’ capability of using video evidence 

to solve crimes. Developed through support from Global, 

the publication, Video Evidence: A Law Enforcement Guide 

to Resources and Best Practices, addresses this need by 

identifying the top resources in the justice field for improving an 

agency’s ability to effectively use and manage video data. An 

electronic copy of the resource is available at https://it.ojp.gov/

gist/164. 

Harold Rogers Prescription 

Drug Monitoring Program

The Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program 

(HRPDMP) supports state efforts to plan, establish, or enhance 

prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), which collect 

and analyze dispensed pharmaceutical controlled substance 

data, particularly at the retail level where no other automated 

information collection exists. PDMPs enhance the capacity of 

regulatory and law enforcement agencies and public health 

officials to prevent and detect the diversion and abuse of 

pharmaceutical controlled substances, while allowing for 

legitimate medical use. 

In FY 2014, HRPDMP included three funding categories, 

and a total of approximately $5 million was awarded. BJA 

awarded eight grants under Category 1, which addresses 

PDMP program implementation and enhancement. One award 

was made under Category 2, which addresses tribal efforts to 

develop and implement the infrastructure to report data to state 

PDMPs. 

The latest HRPDMP category—Category 3: Data-Driven 

Multidisciplinary Approaches to Reducing Prescription 

Drug Abuse—funds county and state pilot programs that 

leverage PDMP data with other data sources to combat 

drug abuse and diversion through expanded community 

Sharing Justice Information 
42 Solutions for Safer Communities

collaboration, enhanced data sharing and analysis, and 

strategic public health/public safety partnerships. Six pilot 

sites were funded through this initiative: Fairfield County, 

Ohio; Florida Department of Health; Jackson County, Oregon; 

Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; New 

York County, New York; and Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, 

Massachusetts. 

Category 3 pilot programs addressed the following focus areas: 

■ Support for Overdose Prevention Activities: The Maryland 

Department of Health and Mental Hygiene implemented 

Overdose Fatality Review (OFR) teams at three pilot sites. 

The Maryland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration 

worked with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the 

Vital Statistics Administration to develop an overdose death 

data file for local OFR teams as well as a data manual to 

help local teams understand the data. The local OFR teams 

meet monthly to review data to identify overdose risk factors, 

identify missed opportunities for prevention/intervention, and 

make recommendations to prevent future deaths. 

Jackson County, Oregon developed countywide protocols for 

the uniform emergency use of naloxone to prevent overdose 

deaths. The Norfolk County, Massachusetts pilot site was home 

to the first municipal department in the country to outfit a law 

enforcement office with naloxone (Quincy, Massachusetts). 

New York and Ohio have naloxone distribution programs at 

sites that are funded through other initiatives. 

■ Expand the Use of PDMP Data: The New York City RxStat 

Program developed a technical assistance manual for 

communities interested in replicating the city’s successful 

model to facilitate accurate and timely analysis of public 

health and public safety data and target resources to provide 

the most efficient responses. 

Jackson County, Oregon worked with its state PDMP to initiate 

the development of data dashboards that prescribers will be 

able to use to review their prescribing patterns relative to other 

prescribers in their discipline. 

■ Strengthen Provider Education Programs: Norfolk County, 

Massachusetts hosted a countywide Safe Prescriber training. 

More than 350 individuals attended this training. 

■ Increase Access to Treatment: Fairfield County, Ohio 

implemented substance abuse screening for all inmates 

being booked into the local jail, with the hopes of identifying 

and engaging at-risk individuals in treatment services prior to 

release back into the community. 

The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene 

established rapid-response teams to provide emergency 

referrals to patients left without care as a result of a provider’s 

loss of license or arrest. 

Exhibit 9 illustrates the location of BJA’s data-driven PDMP 

projects. 

Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring 

Program Performance Data

In FY 2014, 29 states and Guam were using HRPDMP grants 

to implement or improve their PDMPs. PDMP reporting 

compliance provides states with an opportunity to target 

negligent pharmacies and prescribers as well as identify 

individuals with potential substance use issues. By monitoring 

prescriber practices, states and agencies can identify 

problematic trends and determine areas for improvement. 

BJA tracks and encourages states to increase user registration 

by pharmacists and prescribers. Licensed prescriber 

registration in PDMP systems was up 55 percent, from 

208,393 during the October–December 2013 reporting period 

to 323,701 in April–June 2014. The number of registered 

pharmacists also increased from 90,544 during the fourth 

quarter of 2013 to 104,141 registered pharmacists in July–

September 2014 (15 percent). Additionally, grantees raised 

awareness of PDMPs by providing information, including 

training, about PDMP systems. For example, as of September 

2014, recipients of HRPDMP awards formally trained 31,046 

licensed prescribers and 15,452 pharmacists to use the PDMP 

system since the system became operational.
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 43

EXHIBIT 9. LOCATION OF BJA’S DATA-DRIVEN PDMP PROJECTS, FY 2014

The number of PDMP reports has increased substantially 

since BJA began data collection on this measure. The largest 

increase over time was in interstate solicited reporting sent to 

another PDMP. For example, the number of interstate solicited 

reports produced by active HRPDMP grantees increased 

dramatically from 733,783 in 2012 to 3,400,682 in 2013 (more 

than 360 percent). 

Naloxone and Law Enforcement Toolkit

In October 2014, BJA released the online Law Enforcement 

Naloxone Toolkit, which serves as a clearinghouse of resources 

to support law enforcement agencies in establishing a 

naloxone program. The toolkit contains information about the 

administration and acquisition of naloxone and addresses key 

issues such as training and liability. 

The Law Enforcement Naloxone Toolkit includes more than 

80 resources from nearly 30 contributing state and local law 

enforcement and public health agencies related to how a law 

enforcement agency can implement an overdose reversal 

program using naloxone. The resources include answers 

to frequently asked questions about naloxone and sample 

To learn more about the HRPDMP grant program and related BJA 

resources, visit www.bja.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?Program_ID=72. 

Karen 10/26/2015 9:48 AM

Statewide Projects

Local/Regional Projects

WA

OR

CA

NV

AZ NM

TX

WY

CO

MT ND

MN

IA

IL

WI

IN

VA

DC MD

NJ

CT

DE

RI

TN

FL

NY

VT

ME

AK

HI

UT

ID SD

NE

KS

OK

AR

MO

LA

MS AL GA

SC

NC

KY

WV

OH

PA

NH

MI

Fairfield County

Norfolk County, MA

Hampshire and 

Franklin County, MA

and the town of Athol

New York City County, NY

Jackson County
44 Solutions for Safer Communities

documents and templates, such as data collection forms, 

standard operating procedures, training materials, press 

releases, community outreach materials, memorandums of 

agreement (MOAs) between first responders and medical 

directors, and more. The Law Enforcement and Naloxone 

Toolkit has steadily received between 2,500 and 3,600 page 

views each month since the launch in October 2014. In 

any given month, there have been approximately 250 PDF 

downloads from the toolkit. The most common download is 

the FAQ document, followed by the training materials and MOA 

samples. The toolkit can be found at www.bja.gov/naloxone.

Corrections Information Sharing 

BJA’s Corrections Information Sharing (CIS) initiative seeks 

to improve reentry outcomes by bridging information-sharing 

gaps among stakeholders—corrections, law enforcement, and 

community-based service providers—who share responsibility 

for managing the successful return of formerly incarcerated 

individuals to communities across the nation. Sharing critical 

information such as justice-involved individual status and 

appropriate reentry data across agencies in a timely, secure, 

and accurate manner improves recidivism rates and reduces 

crime and victimization.

The CIS initiative coordinated with the Integrated Justice 

Information Systems (IJIS) Institute to develop a comprehensive 

CIS Service Specification, which expands service specifications 

developed by earlier pilot sites to cover data elements from 

the entire criminal justice life cycle, from arrest to release from 

supervision. The new CIS Service Specification will be tested 

in three state departments of correction (Illinois, Iowa, and 

Tennessee) to demonstrate the effectiveness of electronic 

information exchanges using national standards to improve 

reentry outcomes. 

FY 2014 significant results include: 

■ To prepare for CIS Service Specification implementation, BJA 

and the IJIS Institute worked with the National Governors 

Association and teams from each of the three pilot sites 

to develop comprehensive information-sharing plans, 

governance structures to support the implementations, and 

plans for expanded information sharing beyond the initial 

pilot.

■ Maryland’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional 

Services implemented a two-way reentry information 

exchange with the Maryland Alcohol and Drug Abuse 

Administration’s SMART system, which connects more 

than 360 community-based substance use treatment 

providers. This effort included implementation of a consentmanagement capability to address consent-to-share 

and confidentiality requirements under Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) Title 42 Part 2, enabling corrections to 

share case files with treatment agencies, and treatment 

agencies to share individual treatment records with 

corrections and parole.
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 45

Bureau of Justice Assistance’s 

National Training and Technical 

Assistance Center

The National Training and Technical Assistance Center (NTTAC) 

coordinates the delivery of rapid, data-driven, and strategically 

focused TTA to support BJA’s mission of promoting a fair 

justice system and reducing crime, recidivism, and unnecessary 

confinement in state, local, and tribal communities. BJA NTTAC 

provides guidance to grantees and non-grantee criminal justice 

professionals to replicate model programs and approaches; 

increase knowledge and use of best practices, emerging 

technologies, and proven strategies; and assist agencies and 

jurisdictions in identifying and addressing operational and 

programmatic needs. 

Delivering Training and Technical Assistance 

EXHIBIT 10. NUMBER OF BJA NTTAC TTA REQUESTS BY PROGRAM AREA, FY 2014

Topics Areas of BJA NTTAC TTA Requests

Adjudication

Corrections

Information

Sharing

Law 

Enforcement

Adjudication

Mental Health

Tribal

0

15

30

45

60

75

18 17

3

65

1

4

1
46 Solutions for Safer Communities

BJA NTTAC services include assistance in implementing 

evidence-based programs, curriculum development, data 

analysis, onsite and distance learning training, peer-to-peer 

visits, research and information requests, and strategic planning 

assistance. BJA NTTAC’s service and delivery team supported 

109 requests for TTA in FY 2014. This included assessing 

62 new requests from state, local, and tribal agencies and 

monitoring another 47 requests from previous years. Exhibit 10 

illustrates the number of TTA requests supported through BJA 

NTTAC by program area.

Significant accomplishments in FY 2014 include:

■ Responded to a TTA request from the Washington State 

Department of Corrections to implement a probation model 

of community supervision that employs “swift-and-certain” 

sanctions, which is an evidence-based response to probation 

violations mandated by Washington State law in 2012. 

Although it is too early to evaluate the full impact of this 

request, reports from TTA provider Pepperdine University are 

encouraging. 

■ Launched several targeted TTA initiatives in the areas 

of crime analysis on demand, crime prevention through 

environmental design (CPTED), and diversity and leadership 

training for law enforcement. Specifically, BJA NTTAC 

facilitated TTA for 15 agencies on crime analysis, 4 agencies 

on CPTED, and 14 agencies on targeted law enforcement 

training. 

■ Developed and deployed the TTA Collaboration Portal, an 

interactive web-based system that facilitates collaboration 

and information sharing among BJA staff and BJA TTA 

providers. The TTA Collaboration Portal enables users to 

view up-to-date information on TTA activity trends, search 

directories to identify relevant BJA criminal justice partners, 

and access a geographic information system to view the 

distribution of BJA NTTAC TTA across the United States.

BJA NTTAC TTA Success Story

BJA NTTAC supported the Durham Police Department (DPD) in an 

effort to reduce the number of noise violations, intoxicated youth, 

and disruptive-behavior complaints in the community that surrounds 

the University of New Hampshire. The Durham community hosts 

approximately 14,000 University of New Hampshire students—many in 

mixed student and non-student neighborhoods. The differing lifestyles 

of residential family and college student residents creates conflict 

and frequent calls for service. The DPD asked BJA NTTAC to share 

and employ a methodology to reduce calls for service and proactively 

improve community relations using CPTED strategies and techniques. 

BJA NTTAC selected the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI) 

as the CPTED subject matter expert to work with DPD to outline a 

comprehensive action plan to improve DPD’s success in serving and 

improving the quality of life in Durham. The detailed recommendations 

ranged from minor process or environmental changes to a major 

shift in organizational culture. VCPI recommended that policy actions 

and changes be pursued and implemented in a manner that obtains 

organizational buy-in, understanding, and acceptance of all community 

stakeholders. 

To learn more about NTTAC, go to www.bjatraining.org.
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 47

Bureau of Justice Assistance’s 

Tribal Training and Technical 

Assistance Center

The tribal programs administered by BJA empower American 

Indian and Alaska Native communities to prevent and control 

crime, violence, and substance use and improve the functioning 

of justice systems within tribal nations and in collaboration 

with neighboring state, tribal, and local jurisdictions. BJA 

works with tribes to provide leadership, management, TTA, and 

services in grant administration and policy development. It also 

coordinates with other DOJ components, federal agencies, and 

other organizations to ensure that limited federal funds are used 

to achieve the maximum possible benefit. 

In FY 2014, BJA continued to focus on the following: 

enhancement of coordinated services through the Coordinated 

Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) and related TTA; Tribal 

Healing to Wellness Courts; implementation of the Tribal Law 

and Order Act, including the Tribal Justice Plan; and Tribal Civil 

and Criminal Legal Assistance.

Coordinated Tribal 

Assistance Solicitation

BJA continues to support CTAS, which consolidates most 

of DOJ’s available tribal-specific grant programs under a 

single solicitation. Tribes are using these funds to enhance 

law enforcement, bolster justice systems, prevent and control 

delinquency, strengthen the juvenile justice system, serve sexual 

assault and elder victims, and support other efforts to combat 

crime.

BJA funds tribal activities across three purpose areas within 

CTAS:

■ Purpose Area #2: Comprehensive strategic planning for tribal 

justice systems to improve public safety and community 

wellness.

■ Purpose Area #3: Develop and enhance the operation of 

tribal justice systems and prevent and reduce alcohol- and 

substance use-related crimes.

■ Purpose Area #4: Plan, renovate, or construct correctional 

and/or correctional alternative facilities.

In FY 2014, applicable purpose areas were updated to allow 

activities related to tribal jurisdiction over non-Indian perpetrators 

of domestic violence on tribal lands, as authorized through 

the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. 

Additionally, the question-and-answer templates were all 

updated for clarity and ease of use.

Since 2010, BJA has funded more than $100 million in grants to 

approximately 135 tribes with 219 grants through CTAS. In FY 

2014, DOJ made 191 awards through CTAS to 115 American 

Indian and Alaskan Native tribes (totaling $87,595,857). Below 

are examples of TTA provided through CTAS funding.

Supporting Tribal Justice 
48 Solutions for Safer Communities

Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation Training 

and Technical Assistance: Red Hook Peacemaking 

Program

The Red Hook Peacemaking Program, which opened in early 

2013, is the first program in the country to use traditional Native 

American peacemaking practices to resolve state court cases. 

Located in Brooklyn, New York, the BJA-funded program was 

planned and implemented by the Center for Court Innovation in 

partnership with native peacemakers from the Navajo Nation, 

the Chickasaw Nation, the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe, and 

several other tribes across the country. The program has 

enjoyed widespread support among tribal justice practitioners 

as a vehicle for promoting tribal-state collaboration and greater 

respect for tribal traditions and culture. 

During its first 18 months of operation, the Red Hook 

Peacemaking Program nearly doubled its target case load and 

successfully resolved 80 percent of its cases. The program 

reported high levels of satisfaction with the peacemaking 

process, which gives participants the opportunity to talk 

through conflicts and heal damaged relationships in a safe and 

supportive setting. Tribal and state justice system practitioners 

visit the Red Hook Peacemaking Program regularly to 

learn how traditional peacemaking has been successfully 

implemented in a state court setting. In addition to the Red 

Hook program, the Center for Court Innovation works with 

peacemakers from several tribes to provide TTA to tribal and 

state jurisdictions seeking to develop or enhance their own 

peacemaking programs. 

Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation Training 

and Technical Assistance: Pascua Yaqui Strategic 

Planning Initiative 

In 2012, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe engaged the Center for 

Court Innovation to assist in a comprehensive assessment 

of the tribe’s justice system. Building on the findings and 

recommendations from this assessment, the tribe and the 

Center planned and implemented a number of new programs 

to enhance the Pascua Yaqui justice system. For example, the 

tribe launched a truancy reduction program in collaboration 

with several tribal and non-tribal partner agencies, adapting a 

model designed by the Center and first implemented in New 

York City. In addition, the tribe formed a Youth Advisory Board 

to engage tribal youth in identifying and addressing justicerelated issues that affect young people, employing another 

Center-designed model that has been used successfully in 

other communities. 

The tribe also leveraged the justice system assessment to 

receive additional public and private funding. A grant from the 

National Congress of American Indians enabled the tribe to 

provide legal representation for parents and children involved in 

child welfare proceedings in tribal court. Moreover, funding from 

the federal Administration for Children and Families is currently 

supporting an initiative to identify strategies for strengthening 

the child welfare system. 

Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation 

Performance Data

CTAS grantees reported many accomplishments in FY 2014 

to meet their goals and objectives. During FY 2014, capacity 

building activities included 1,152 professional trainings related 

to the tribal court or justice system that were attended by 1,303 

program staff, judges, and law enforcement. Additionally, BJA 

funded the delivery of 1,498 live training events and 50 training 

webinars. During FY 2014, BJA provided funding for 390 fulltime or part-time positions, contract personnel, and volunteers, 

including judges (11 percent); attorneys (11 percent, comprising 

public defenders, prosecutors, and general practice attorneys); 

paralegals (5 percent); and social workers (14 percent).

During FY 2014, BJA supported the development, 

implementation, and enhancement of substance use prevention 

and treatment programs. In FY 2014, 1,124 individuals received 

substance use treatment services (inpatient or outpatient), and 

423 prevention initiatives were started to raise awareness about 

alcohol and substance use through training events, community 

gatherings, advertising, or school-based programs, among 

other initiatives. 

During FY 2014, tribes or tribal courts developed 323 new civil 

or criminal codes or policies, including 345 civil or criminal 

codes or policies updated or amended for the tribes. 

BJA continued to fund the planning, renovation, and 

construction of justice system facilities associated with the 
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 49

CTAS Case Study

The Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska and the 

Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, with bordering reservations, have 

partnered to provide substance use counseling and treatment services 

to Native American youth and adults. The counseling and treatment 

services address a crucial need for both tribes, as they have limited 

access to substance use prevention and treatment services and 

many residents lack the financial resources to access these services. 

Participation in the outpatient treatment program, family sessions, and 

Parent in Recovery Treatment has increased at a steady rate. The tribes 

purchased software that enables them to collect and share drug- and 

alcohol-related criminal justice systems data. Through BJA funding, 

grantees participated in three Native American Health Fairs, providing 

educational materials and information regarding the programs 

available.

incarceration and rehabilitation of tribal juveniles and adult 

justice-involved individuals. During FY 2014, 9 renovations 

were completed and 12 renovations were 75 percent 

completed. These renovations are intended to enhance or 

change the use of a building for any of the following purposes: 

single-jurisdiction or regional tribal correctional facilities, 

correctional alternative facilities, multipurpose justice centers, 

or transitional living facilities associated with the incarceration 

and rehabilitation of juvenile or adult justice-involved 

individuals. Also in FY 2014, the construction of 2 new facilities 

was completed and 12 new facilities neared completion. 

Tribal Healing to Wellness

BJA supports problem-solving courts in Indian Country, 

particularly Healing to Wellness Courts (HTWCs). HTWCs are 

adaptations of the drug court model that reflect tribal culture 

and values. Tribes can apply for funding to establish HTWCs 

through the Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program. BJA 

funds the Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI) to provide TTA 

for tribes to develop, implement, and enhance their HTWCs. 

Significant accomplishments from FY 2014 include:

■ TLPI published Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts: The Key 

Components, 2nd edition, which updates and details the 

suggested key components and recommended practices for 

tribal justice systems to consider as they design, develop, 

and implement an HTWC that meets their community’s 

needs. 

■ TLPI published An Overview of Tribal Healing to Wellness 

Courts, which offers an introduction to HTWCs and explores 

some of the unique opportunities and challenges of 

implementing and enhancing HTWCs. 

Expansion of Joint Jurisdictional Court

The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Tribal Court and the Cass and 

Itasca County District Courts in Minnesota have successfully 

operated joint-jurisdiction Wellness Courts for nearly a decade. 

Not only have the courts reduced recidivism by chronic alcohol 

and drug justice-involved individuals and thus improved public 

safety, the courts have contributed to generally improved 

relationships between the Indian tribe and local governments. 

Now the tribal court and the state district courts have agreed 

to expand joint hearings, focusing on juvenile delinquency 

and child welfare cases subject to the Indian Child Welfare 

Act (ICWA). For some states, consistent noncompliance with 

ICWA has drawn the attention of DOJ, which identifies statecourt cases when the United States can file briefs opposing the 

unnecessary and illegal removal of Indian children from their 

families and their tribal communities. The joint jurisdictional 

court makes Indian child welfare a priority, promotes system 
50 Solutions for Safer Communities

accountability and compliance with ICWA, and ensures that all 

available resources (tribal and state) can be tapped to ensure 

better outcomes. 

Building on the success of the Leech Lake–Cass County 

Wellness Court, BJA, in partnership with Oregon Health and 

Science University’s Center on Evidence-based Policy, helped 

build capacity of justice teams from the Shingle Springs Band 

of Miwok Indians Tribal Court and El Dorado District Court 

in Oregon to implement the Family Wellness Court, a jointjurisdictional effort that focuses on tribal youth while providing 

services to their families. Other joint-jurisdictional collaborations 

include the Wellness Court of the Yurok Tribe–Del Norte and 

Humboldt Counties of California, which focuses on nonviolent 

tribal adults affected by substance abuse; and the St. Regis 

Mohawk Tribe’s Healing to Wellness Drug Court, which in 

collaboration with the Bombay Town Court of New York focuses 

on family cases where judicially monitored treatment and 

culturally appropriate services are provided in cases involving 

substance use. 

Tribal Law and Order Act

The Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA) provides legislative 

authorities and resources to tribes to enhance their tribal justice 

system by expanding felony sentencing for certain crimes, 

establishing new minimum standards for protecting defendants’ 

rights in tribal courts, and encouraging tribes to use alternatives 

to incarceration or correctional options as a justice system 

response to crime in their communities. BJA has implemented 

a number of these authorities. It has also expanded allowable 

activities under CTAS to include TLOA activities such as the 

implementation of the enhanced sentencing authority. (See 

page 47 for more information on CTAS.) To support TLOA 

initiatives, BJA continues to offer a range of TTA, including 

regional meetings of criminal justice policymakers, joint law 

enforcement training, and technical assistance for tribal-state 

court forums. 

Several tribes have begun to plan for implementation of felony 

sentencing. As of July 2014, five Indian tribes had implemented 

and are prosecuting under this new authority: the Tulalip Tribes 

(Washington), Confederated Tribes of Umatilla (Oregon), Hopi 

Tribe (Arizona), Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community 

(Arizona), and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (North 

Carolina). Some of these tribes accessed BJA TTA resources to 

enhance codes, train staff, and other activities. 

In 2014, BJA kicked off the Intergovernmental Collaboration 

(IGC) Team to convene departmental components and other 

partners in quarterly meetings to coordinate resources, share 

information, and identify coordination opportunities. The IGC 

team works with existing resources to assist tribes as well as 

state and local entities in their public safety efforts. 

To learn more about BJA’s TLOA efforts, visit 

www.bja.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?Program_ID=88.

Tribal Justice Plan: Long Term Plan to Build and 

Enhance Tribal Justice Systems

BJA continued to partner with the U.S. Department of the 

Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs to coordinate federal outreach 

to Indian Country and Native American communities to 

implement recommendations and action steps of the Long 

Term Plan to Build and Enhance Tribal Justice Systems (Tribal 

Justice Plan), which responds to sections 211, 241, and 244 

of the TLOA. The Tribal Justice Plan is a long-term detention, 

alternatives to incarceration, and reentry plan for American 

Indian adults and juveniles. 

BJA’s expansion of allowable activities under CTAS to 

incorporate TLOA includes activities for development of 

correctional options and justice-involved individual reentry as 

specified in the Tribal Justice Plan. Additional TTA is available 

for tribes in their efforts to enhance their tribal justice system 

using the Tribal Justice Plan. 

Significant TTA accomplishments in FY 2014 include:

■ BJA developed a summary of tribal reentry resources 

and conducted a session on tribal reentry at the National 

Reentry Conference in May 2014. The summary of this 

session can be found at https://www.bja.gov/Publications/

TribalReentryFS.pdf.
FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 51

Tribal Law and Order Act–Tribal Action Plan 

Performance Data

BJA funded comprehensive tribal justice system strategies to 

improve community wellness and safety, including activities 

outlined in the TLOA such as strategic planning and the 

development of a tribal action plan (TAP). During FY 2014, 

21 tribes completed and submitted their TAP to BJA for review. 

In addition, tribal grantees addressed their strategic plan 

goal of improving public safety through the systematic use of 

partnerships. During FY 2014, the majority of grantees initiated 

new partnerships with behavioral health professionals and 

service providers, tribal law enforcement and judges, and local 

and state partners. 

Tribal Civil and Criminal Legal 

Assistance Program

The Tribal Civil and Criminal Legal Assistance (TCCLA) Program 

provides grants, policy leadership, and TTA to support federally 

recognized Indian tribes in enhancing their tribal justice systems 

and improving access to those systems. The grants are 

targeted to nonprofit organizations with a 501(c)(3) tax status 

to provide legal assistance services under tribal jurisdictions 

for Indian tribes, tribal justice systems, tribal members, and, for 

indigent defense purposes, other individuals. Resources serve 

to strengthen and improve the representation of all indigent 

defendants in criminal proceedings and tribal member indigent 

litigants in civil causes of action under tribal jurisdiction. Legal 

support to tribal governments and tribal justice systems 

may include, but is not limited to, the enhancement of court 

policies, procedures, and code. Lastly, TTA funds are targeted 

to membership organizations and associations whose 

membership or membership section consists of judicial system 

personnel within tribal justice systems. TTA funds support the 

development and enhancement of tribal justice systems. Visit 

the BJA TCCLA Program web page for more information.

In FY 2014, BJA awarded five TCCLA grants totaling 

$1,596,285: one award for civil legal assistance totaling 

$527,253; two awards for criminal legal assistance totaling 

$719,032; and two awards for TTA totaling $350,000 to assist 

TCCLA grantees in implementing their civil and criminal legal 

assistance programs and to provide assistance to tribal justice 

systems that are implementing the enhanced sentencing 

authority provision authorized by TLOA.

FY 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 53

ABA American Bar Association 

ALERRT Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response 

Training 

BCJI Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation

BJA Bureau of Justice Assistance 

BVP Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program

C.F.R. Code of Federal Regulations 

CIS Corrections Information Sharing 

CLEAR Community Law Enforcement and Recovery 

(Los Angeles)

COPS Office of Community Oriented Policing Services 

CPTED Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design 

CSG Council of State Governments 

CTAS Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation 

DANY District Attorney for New York County 

DDACTS Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic 

Safety

DCDC DeKalb County Drug Court 

DOJ U.S. Department of Justice 

DPD Durham Police Department 

FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation 

FY Fiscal Year 

HEAT Habilitation, Empowerment & Accountability 

Therapy 

HRPDMP Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring 

Program

HTWC Healing to Wellness Courts 

IACLEA International Association of College Law 

Enforcement Administrators

IACP International Association of Chiefs of Police

IADLEST The International Association of Directors of Law 

Enforcement Standards and Training 

ICWA Indian Child Welfare Act

INTERCEPT Introducing New Tools based on Evidence and 

Risk-assessments to Confirm Eligibility for 

Prosecution Treatment

JAG Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 

Grant 

JMHCP Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program 

JRI Justice Reinvestment Initiative 

MCDC Manatee County Drug Court 

Acronyms and Abbreviations 
54 Solutions for Safer Communities

MEGSI Metropolitan Enforcement Group of 

Southwestern Illinois

MPD Miami Police Department

MOA(s) Memorandum(s) of Agreement

MOU(s) Memorandum(s) of Understanding

MRA Market Reduction Approach

NACDL National Association of Criminal Defense 

Lawyers

NDCI National Drug Court Institute 

NIJ National Institute of Justice 

NLEOMF National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial 

Fund 

NoVA No Violence Alliance

NRI Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative 

NRRC National Reentry Resource Center (Justice 

Center, city/state)

NTTAC National Training and Technical Assistance Center 

OCCS Ohio Consortium of Crime Science 

OJJDP Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention 

OJP Office of Justice Programs

PACE Practical Academic and Cultural Education Center

PDMP Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs 

PERF Police Executive Research Forum 

PMO Program Management Office 

PREA Prison Rape Elimination Act

PRC National PREA Resource Center 

PSN Project Safe Neighborhoods 

PSOB Public Safety Officers’ Benefits 

RANA Risk, Access, and Needs Assessment 

RPOC Research Partner Orientation Course 

6AC Sixth Amendment Center 

SCA Second Chance Act

SLATT State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training 

SPI Smart Policing Initiative 

SRR Statewide Recidivism Reduction 

SSP Smart Supervision Program 

TAP Tribal Action Plan

TCCLA Tribal Criminal and Civil Legal Assistance 

Program

T4C Thinking for a Change

TLOA Tribal Law and Order Act 

TLPI Tribal Law and Policy Institute

TTA Training And Technical Assistance 

USAO United States Attorney’s Offices

VALOR Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement 

Officers and Ensuring Officer Resilience and 

Survivability 

VCPI Virginia Center for Policing Innovation 

VRN Violence Reduction Network 

VTC Veterans treatment courts 
Bureau of Justice Assistance Information

BJA’s mission is to provide leadership and services in grant administration and criminal justice policy to 

support local, state, and tribal justice strategies to achieve safer communities. For more information about 

BJA and its programs, contact:

Bureau of Justice Assistance

810 Seventh Street NW.

Washington, DC 20531

Phone: 202–616–6500

www.bja.gov/contactus.aspx

Web site: www.bja.gov

The BJA Clearinghouse, a component of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, shares BJA 

program information with local, state, tribal, and federal agencies and community groups across the country. 

Information specialists provide reference and referral services, publication distribution, participation and 

support for conferences, and other networking and outreach activities. The clearinghouse can be contacted at:

Bureau of Justice Assistance Clearinghouse

P.O. Box 6000

Rockville, MD 20849–6000

Toll free: 1–800–851–3420

Fax: 301–519–5212

Questions/comments: www.ncjrs.gov/App/ContactUs.aspx

Website: www.ncjrs.gov

Clearinghouse staff are available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. eastern time. Ask to be placed on 

the BJA mailing list.
U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance

8660 Cherry Lane

Laurel, MD 20707-4651

Official Business

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