Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2009, $350,000)
This program is funded under both the Edward Byrne Memorial Competitive Grant Program (Byrne Competitive Program) and the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program. Authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 111-8), the Byrne Competitive Program helps local communities improve the capacity of state and local justice systems and provides for national support efforts including training and technical assistance programs strategically targeted to address local needs. The JAG Program (42 U.S.C. 3751) is the primary provider of federal criminal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions, and JAG funds support all components of the criminal justice system. The JAG Program authorization also states that the Attorney General may reserve not more than 5 percent, to be granted to 1 or more States or units of local government, for 1 or more of the purposes specified in section 3751 of this title, pursuant to his determination that the same is necessary(1) to combat, address, or otherwise respond to precipitous or extraordinary increases in crime, or in a type or types of crime(42 U.S.C. 3756).
The National Initiative: Encouraging Innovation: Field-Initiated Programs is designed to strengthen the criminal justice system by challenging those in the field to identify and define emerging or chronic systemic issues faced by one or more components of the criminal justice continuum (includes but not limited to law enforcement, corrections, courts, and community collaborations) and to propose innovative solutions to address these issues.
The Justice Management Institute (JMI), in partnership with the Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI) and the National Association of Counties (NACo), will use the federal funds to strengthen the ability of local policymakers to improve local level criminal justice planning and policy development. The project will bring together leaders and top-level staff from 30 criminal justice coordinating councils (CJCCs) that have major roles in shaping decisions regarding criminal justice. The project will accomplish four main objectives: provide a forum for CJCC leaders/senior staff to discuss common issues and opportunities for addressing them; facilitate a learning exchange on promising and evidence-based policy and practices; create a network of CJCC leaders and staff for on-going peer-to-peer technical assistance; develop materials that will aid CJCCs in their policy making and will assist other jurisdictions in developing effective CJCCs of their own.
NCA/NCF