Second Chance Act Training and Technical Assistance Category 1: National Reentry Resource Center

The Council of State Governments Justice Center (CSGJC) seeks $3,000,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) through the Second Chance Act (SCA) Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Program. Category 1: National Reentry Resource Center. Our goals will be to: 1) advance the knowledge and practice of the reentry field by identifying and promoting evidence-based practices (EBPs) and supporting innovation; 2) serve as the centralized coordinator of all SCA TTA providers; and 3) educate correctional leaders, service providers, and the public about reentry issues and promising approaches. 

CSGJC will produce resources designed to ensure that grantees implement a system-wide, coordinated approach with accurate screening and assessment procedures, effective data-collection and program evaluation, and the development of sustainability plans. Leveraging our status as a thought leader in the reentry field, we will help SCA grantees and the broader field to plan, implement, expand, and/or sustain programs and policy changes that work to improve outcomes for people who are reentering their communities from carceral settings. We will employ a robust, multi-pronged strategy to improve and expand the NRRC website to uplift SCA grantee successes, offer thought leadership, promote EBPs to grantees and the field, and disseminate lessons learned. We will also offer numerous learning opportunities to advance innovation and peer learning in the reentry field. 

CSGJC will lean on more than a decade of experience serving as the SCA TTA provider across 25 grant tracks and the decade of experience operating, managing, and developing resources for the NRRC to produce high quality and easily digestible tools and publications geared to advance innovative and evidence-based strategies for grantees and the broader field to employ. To supplement our expertise, we have assembled a strong team of partners, including JustLeadership USA, the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, and Jeweld Legacy, to further enhance products created and TTA offered through this award.