RPC Newsletter - 1/23/2009

FEATURES

CSG Justice Center Provides Michigan Policymakers with Options to Reduce Corrections Spending and Reinvest in Reducing Crime

Lansing--The Council of State Governments Justice Center joined Michigan’s leaders to release the results of an unprecedented review of crime and corrections data to determine how the state might reduce corrections spending while reinvesting in measures that will make communities safer and stronger. This work was supported by the Public Safety Performance Project of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Center on the States; the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice; and the state.

Read the press release

Read the report

HILL UPDATE

Congress is continuing to work on an omnibus spending bill for Fiscal Year 2009 and has started working on the spending bills for Fiscal Year 2010. The Second Chance Act is expected to receive funding in both bills, but the level of funding has not been determined. The Department of Justice is scheduled to release the solicitation for the Second Chance Act grants to state and local government (sec.101) on March 23, 2009, with applications due by May 21, 2009. The solicitation for grants to nonprofit organizations (sec. 211) is expected to be released later this spring as well. To help potential applicants prepare for the release of the solicitations, the Justice Center has prepared fact sheets on the state and local grant program and the nonprofit program based on the requirements contained in the Second Chance Act statute. To learn more about the grants to state and local government, click here. To learn more about the grants to nonprofit organizations for mentoring and other transitional programs, click here. For more information about the Second Chance Act, click here.

CSG Justice Center Releases Preview of Employment Blueprint

The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, with support from the Department of Labor, recently released A Sneak Peek: Advice for State Policymakers on Designing Strategies That Improve Employment Outcomes and Increase Public Safety. This concise bulletin provides a preview of an upcoming blueprint, which will be made available with additional support from the Joyce Foundation, on how to promote employment opportunities for people returning from prison or jail and others in neighborhoods that struggle with high crime, poverty, and substance abuse. To view the Sneak Peek bulletin, click here.

PEW Center on the States, Public Safety Performance Project, releases Policy Framework to Strengthen Community Corrections

During 2008, the Public Safety Performance Project of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Center on the States brought together leading policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to discuss community corrections. From these conversations emerged a package of policy-level actions for state legislators and executives. The measures included in this report are part of the initial framework; others may be added as state and local leaders continue to innovate. To view the report, click here.

The Journal of the American Medical Association publishes Treating Drug Abuse and Addiction in the Criminal Justice System

In this report, researchers from the National Institute on Drug Abuse report that emerging neuroscience has the potential to transform traditional sanction-oriented public safety approaches by providing new therapeutic strategies against addiction that could be used in the criminal justice system. To find out more about this report, click here.

ANNOUNCEMENTS & EVENTS

2009 NAEH National Conference

National Alliance to End Homelessness
February 8-16, 2009
San Diego, CA

Occasional Series on Reentry Research: Incarceration and Sexually Transmitted Infections: A Neighborhood Perspective

Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College
February 27, 2009
New York, NY

Enterprise 2009 National Training Conference

National Correctional Industries Association
April 3-5, 2009
Dallas, TX

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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Legal Assistance for Victims Program

The United States Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, is seeking applications for the Legal Assistance for Victims Grant Program. This program furthers the Department of Justice’s mission by strengthening civil and criminal legal assistance programs for adult and youth victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, who are seeking relief in legal matters arising as a consequence of that abuse or violence.

Application Deadline: January 28, 2009

Evaluation of a Demonstration Program: Drug Testing, Certain and Swift Sanctions, and Treatment Referral for Chronic Drug Users Under Community Supervision

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, is seeking applications for funding research to evaluate the effectiveness of a demonstration program that includes a drug-testing, sanctions, and treatment protocol for chronic drug users under criminal justice supervision in the community. The basic principles of the program must include (1) frequent drug testing; (2) certain, swift, and proportionate sanctions for failed tests; and (3) access to residential treatment, as appropriate.

Application Deadline: February 4, 2009

National Field-Generated Training, Technical Assistance, and Demonstration Projects

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime, has announced that it is seeking applications for funding under the “National Field- Generated Training, Technical Assistance, and Demonstration Projects” cooperative agreement solicitation. This program furthers the Department’s mission by supporting the development of national-scope training, technical assistance, and demonstration project initiatives that strengthen the capacity of victim service and ancillary service providers to serve victims or enhance providers’ ability to support victims in accessing needed services and rights to which they are entitled.

Application Deadline: February 24, 2009

Technology Research and Development for Law Enforcement and Corrections Application

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice is seeking applications for funding to develop information and sensor technologies for application by law enforcement and corrections agencies. This program furthers the Department’s mission by sponsoring research to provide objective, independent, evidence-based knowledge and tools to meet the challenges of crime and justice, particularly at the state and local levels.

Application Deadline: March 2, 2009

Family Preservation-Improving the Well-Being of Children Project Implementation

The Administration for Native Americans (ANA), within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), announces the availability of Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 funds for projects that implement approaches to improve child well-being by removing barriers associated with strengthening families (including fatherhood, foster parenting, absentee parent activities, and grandparents raising grandchildren) and forming and preserving healthy families, relationships, and marriages (including Traditional Native American and Pacific Basin marriages). ANA's FY 2009 goals and program areas of interest are focused on strengthening children, families, and communities through financial assistance to community-based organizations, including faith-based organizations, Tribes, and Village governments.

Application Deadline: March 25, 2009

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REENTRY NEWS

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PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES

In this Issue

 Our Publications

Homelessness and Prisoner Reentry

Many people released from prison or jail are at risk for homelessness, which can increase the likelihood that they will commit new crimes and return to prison.

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