BJA FY24 Coordinated Hate Crimes Resource Center

Hate crimes are a complex and ongoing threat against individuals and communities across the United States. Preventing, investigating, prosecuting, responding to, and healing from hate crimes requires a multidisciplinary, coordinated approach based in evidence and best practices. To support practitioners and researchers, Research Triangle Institute International (RTI) proposes to build and administer the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA’s) Coordinated Hate Crimes Resource Center (CHCRC). RTI has partnered with subrecipients Eradicate Hate Global Summit and the International Association of Chiefs of Police to serve on the CHCRC’s Advisory Committee and assist in product development, dissemination, and outreach. The Advisory Committee also includes representatives of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, the National Organization for Victim Advocates, and nationally recognized researchers. Fourteen additional subject matter experts will help guide priorities, develop products, and assist in training and education. The CHCRC will coordinate with BJA, project partners, and training and technical assistance providers and recipients to identify, develop, and disseminate valid and reliable resources (e.g., technical guidance, research briefs, webinars). Through the analysis of official and open-source data, the CHCRC will identify new partners that can assist in, or benefit from, center resources.

The purpose of this project is to build and administer the CHCRC for BJA as the de facto hub for resources, training, and education in preventing and responding to hate crimes. All CHCRC activities will support practitioners who are countering hate crimes and supporting victims in local, state, federal, and tribal jurisdictions across the nation. RTI will coordinate with a team of multidisciplinary experts to successfully complete five objectives. Objective 1 develops the administrative infrastructure through immediately convening an Advisory Committee and holding regular meetings CHCRC partners. Objective 2 builds and launches a website, dashboards, and a repository of dissemination products. This virtual community will be rolled out in phases so that the CHCRC can have an immediate presence online to facilitate communication and offer immediate access to existing resources. Objective 3 identifies those existing resources through online searches and outreach to partners. Valid and reliable resources will be distilled and translated into products useful to the CHCRC community. Objective 4 develops new products to fill existing gaps in the field. These materials will result in a suite of evidence-driven best practices and guidelines for immediate reference by practitioners. That suite enables RTI to develop and provide training, education, and outreach for Objective 5.