New York State Problem-Solving Courts Project

The Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program, administered by the Office of Justice Programs' (OJP's) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), furthers the Department's mission by assisting state and local jurisdictions in improving the criminal justice system and assisting communities in preventing drug abuse and crime. In fiscal year 2007, the Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program will focus on funding local, regional, and national efforts within six major categories: 1) targeting violent crime; 2) preventing crime and drug abuse; 3) enhancing local law enforcement; 4) enhancing local courts; 5) enhancing local corrections and offender reentry; and 6) facilitating justice information sharing. All categories combat, address, or otherwise respond to precipitous or extraordinary increases in crime, or in a type or types of crime.

The Fund for the City of New York's Center for Court Innovation will use the funds to support the New York State Problem-Solving Courts Project. The Project provides a national model for implementing problem-solving practices across the full spectrum of cases heard by a state court system, focusing the energies of judges, attorneys, court administrators and others on achieving more meaningful and lasting outcomes for victims, communities, litigants, and defendants. Since the Center for Court Innovation began developing problem-solving courts over ten years ago, research has shown that this approach can make a real impact, pointing to reductions in street crime, decreased recidivism, and increased trust in the justice system. To ensure that these new practices are made a permanent part of the way that the courts do business, new ideas will be tested, best practices will be identified and disseminated, and existing projects will be monitored closely. The New York State Problem-Solving Courts Project will enable the Center for Court Innovation to create national models in the following three program areas: 1) Community Justice Projects, 2) Domestic Violence and Sex Offender Courts, and 3) Drug Courts.

CA/NCF