Organizational Change for Improved Reentry

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. The Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program focuses 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 Vera Institute of Justice will use the grant funds to provide continued support for the Organizational Change for Improved Reentry Project. They will finalize the tools and materials developed by Family Justice, Inc. under Grant #2007-DD-BX-K176. The Vera Institute of Justice will help senior- and mid-level managers in Departments of Corrections and Divisions of Parole and Probation guide their organizations through a cultural shift towards a strength-based and family-focused approach to reentry, and test and refine those materials so that they can be used by similar staff in jails.

The Vera Institute of Justice will provide training and technical assistance that will result in: a curriculum for jails on applying a strength-based, family-focused approach; improved collaboration between jails and partnering community-based organizations in two locations, in order to create comprehensive support for a seamless transition from facilities back into the community; and a widely distributed project brief and an article published in an industry magazine or journal to inform other jurisdictions' reentry efforts to incorporate families.

CA/NCF