FY24 Smart Supervision Program

JEFF LOCKE: Great. Thank you, Leilah. Welcome everyone to the Fiscal Year 2024 Smart Supervision Solicitation webinar.

This webinar is being recorded for information-sharing purposes. We're very glad you can join us this afternoon as we walk through elements of the solicitation. Next slide.

For questions, we ask that you remain on mute during the call and enter any questions into the chat. We'll review and let you know if we're able to offer anything in response and be helpful with these questions during today's discussion. You can also follow up with me at jeffrey.locke, L-O-C-K-E, @usdoj.gov. Next slide.

We have three presenters for this call this afternoon. Myself, my name is Jeff Locke. I'm a Senior Policy Advisor with the Bureau of Justice Assistance. I'll be joined as well by my colleagues, Cynthia Mausser, Senior Manager for the Center for Effective Public Policy. And Richard Stroker, Director, at the Center for Effective Public Policy. We're thrilled CEPP can partner with us on this conversation today. Next slide.

For today's call, we're planning to cover five agenda items, which include a welcome and introduction to the Office of Justice Programs and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a program overview of this specific solicitation, eligibility and application requirements, application resources, and questions and answers. Next slide.

To start, we're going to get going here with a welcome and introduction section. Next slide, please.

For those unfamiliar, "What is the Office of Justice Programs?" The Office of Justice Programs, or OJP, is one of the department's biggest grant-giving arms, alongside the Office of Violence Against Women and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. OJP is comprised of six program offices, of which one, the Bureau of Justice Assistance is hosting the conversation today around Smart Supervision, but we are partnered with the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, as well as the SMART Office. You may work with one or more of these entities. And please know, we're under the OJP umbrella together. Next slide.

So, BJA is one of the six line offices of the Office of Justice Programs, where our mission is to provide leadership and grant administration, and criminal justice policy development at the state, local, and tribal nation level. Our office, BJA, is led by Karhlton Moore, our Director, who was named by President Biden to this appointment in 2022. Next slide.

We predominantly support the field through three vehicles. One, Investments. So, we're here to talk about solicitation today on Smart Supervision. We have a whole number of investments in the community supervision. But in many areas of criminal justice, if you visit our website, www.bja.gov, that is one vehicle that we use. Secondly, Sharing Knowledge. We're partnering on this call with Center for Effective Public Policy, who is both our training and technical assistance provider partner for this grant. But also through the Community Supervision Resource Center, which is a vehicle that has been stood up to share what works in community supervision. We have a number of resource centers across BJA. But one vehicle in resource center and method to hold up, what's working in the US, and share that with the field. And then finally, Engagement. You may have met us at conferences or at meetings we posted, or attended, and we want to hear from you, the field, on what your needs are so that we can better position our investments moving forward to help support your efforts in those areas. Next slide.

The Smart Supervision award is funded and authorized out of the Second Chance Act, which is an authorization that has been around for some time. That was reauthorized several years ago that is designed to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for those leaving detention and incarceration and returning to their communities. So, over the last decade-plus of this award, more than $600 million has been given out to state, local, and tribal partners, to develop, implement, and test strategies around reentry and supervision issues. And we're here to talk about one of those programs, the Smart Supervision Program, today. Next slide.

As I mentioned, there's a number of different efforts funded under the Second Chance Act, both its authorization and annual appropriations by Congress. On this slide, there are eight different appropriations—and eight programs rather—that support reentry as well as community supervision. We are here to talk about the highlighted program here, Smart Supervision. But if you're also considering other potential grant programs from BJA in these areas, we'd encourage you to explore online, what may be available now and what may be coming here shortly over the coming months. And with that, I will turn to my colleagues at CEPP. I believe, Cynthia, you are up next.

CYNTHIA MAUSSER: Thank you, Jeff. Yeah. As Jeff said, my name is Cynthia Mausser. I'm a Senior Manager at the Center for Effective Public Policy. And one of the programs that we administer is the Community Supervision Resource Center. The Community Supervision field has made advances over the last several decades. For example, for evidence-based practices based on risk-need responsivity, are widely implemented by supervision agencies. However, agencies need more support to continue to improve outcomes for the people served in their communities. Through centralizing [INDISTINCT] resources, offering trainings, and providing technical assistance, the CSRC will strengthen agency practices and build a network of practitioners committed to pursuing innovative and best practices. The CSRC is managed by the Center for Effective Public Policy, with funding support and thought partnership from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and with support from the American Probation and Parole Association, the Association of Polling Authorities International, the Center for Justice Innovation, and the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies. Next slide, please.

The main components of the CSRC include a curated web-based library that will serve as a centralized resource for practitioners to obtain the most current research and accessible practice and policy guides. We have curated over 200 publications on a variety of community supervision topics, and are developing new resources to address pressing needs and emerging issues. Free webinars and training from leading experts in the field will be frequently offered on relevant topics, including racial and gender equity and community supervision, responsivity in sanctions and incentives, centering impacted people, and learning specific to pretrial probation and parole supervision. Our first webinar was earlier this month and featured a preview of CSRC in our website, along with a panel discussion of community supervision leaders that was robust, thoughtful, and well-received. Our next webinar is scheduled for April 10th and will focus on staff wellness, a topic of great interest to the field.

Technical assistance is already underway to select releasing authorities who applied to CSRC's initial TA offering released last fall. This cohort is focusing on issues related to community supervision, including condition setting, responding to non-compliant behavior, supervision termination, and performance measures. Additional TA cohorts will be offered in 2024, including one specific to probation agencies starting this spring. In addition, our website will contain an option for community supervision agencies to submit ad hoc TA requests which we'll review and respond to on an ongoing basis. In addition, an online peer learning community is in development that will provide a space for community supervision staff to learn and share with colleagues from across the country. All of the CSRC's resources and support opportunities will be housed on the CSRC website, which is communitysupervisioncenter.org. Please visit the website to access all the centralized resources, training, and technical assistance opportunities. Next slide, please.

So as we said, CEPP will be your TA coaches if you are a successful applicant in the Smart Supervision grant program. And as a successful applicant, you will be expected to complete an action plan consisting of a problem analysis summary, a summary of strategies and intended outcomes, and an initial evaluation plan within six months of the award. As the TA provider, CSRC staff will provide you with the planning and implementation guide and assist you with completing it. Completing the guide will be our main focus during this early phase of the grant cycle. After completing the action plan, our assistance to you will take the form of monthly calls for we will discuss how your implementation plans are progressing, and help you problem-solve any issues that may arise, as well as refer you to helpful resources to aid in your implementation efforts. You also have several opportunities to learn from your fellow grant recipients, including an in-person convening and in quarterly virtual meetings.

You will be able to connect with fellow grantees to share and learn about challenges, successes, and innovations across grant sites. These learning communities will explore and share best practices and community corrections, identify lessons learned, areas for growth, and next steps within the grant programs and the community supervision field. As your TA provider, it is our intention to provide you with the amount of TA that you need as the grant progresses. That may include a site visit on occasion if necessary. It is our goal to help you realize success. We want to be helpful and never a burden, so we will rely on you to dictate how much of our assistance is necessary for you to accomplish your goals. And with that, I will turn it over to my colleague, Richard Stroker

RICHARD STROKER: Thank you, Cindy. I'm Richard Stroker, a Director at the Center for Effective Public Policy. And like Cindy, I'm a TA coach under the current Smart Supervision Program. I'm going to talk with you for a few minutes today about some aspects of the Smart Supervision Program, and provide a brief overview. Next slide, Sam.

For FY24, it's anticipated that there will be up to eight awards with a maximum award amount of up to $850,000 per individual award. The expected performance duration for each award will be over a three-year period, over thirty-six months. And as Cindy mentioned, technical assistance will be provided to jurisdictions that receive awards through the Center for Effective Public Policy. Next slide, Sam.

In thinking about some of the broad goals of the Smart Supervision Program, you should appreciate the fact that Smart Supervision is part of BJA's Second Chance Act suite of programs. And the Smart Supervision Innovations and Supervision Initiative provide grants that will allow for services and supports to be developed that will effectively address the risks and needs of individuals, and help facilitate or maintain successful community reintegration. For each grant, it will be important to track the developments and outcomes that occur within the grant time, to help inform future decisions and to help inform future directions for the field. Next slide, Sam.

Speaking more specifically about the Smart Supervision Program, some of the key objectives of the program are to improve state, local, and tribal probation or parole supervision efforts and strategies. The program provides grants and technical assistance to agencies, help build their capacity to help adults successfully complete their supervision. Primary objectives are to pursue actions or innovations that will reduce recidivism and violent crime, that will align agency approaches with the best and evidence-based practices, that will develop and test innovative tools to predict recidivism, and specifically violent recidivism, and to promote information sharing and collaboration amongst the many partners within the criminal justice system. Next slide, Sam.

Over the past several years, Smart Supervision grantees have adopted and implemented a wide range of projects that support the broad goals of this program to include, targeting resources for those who are at highest risk of recidivism, using validated and normed assessment tools to help inform supervision service decisions, utilizing evidence-based supervision models, which can include numerous elements, incorporating technology to enhance the access to services for individuals. Certainly, training has been a large part of many of these Smart Supervision grants, and so investing an ongoing staff training to support best practices. Collaboration is another key element of Smart Supervision work, so collaborating across sectors. For example, by co-locating the supervision, or mental health, or substance use services, and working collaboratively with supervision agencies. Incorporating effective incentives and sanctions that support and promote positive behavior change. And developing and integrating comprehensive evaluation plans that will measure outcomes and support continuous quality improvement. Next slide, Sam.

Within the FY24 solicitation, there are some specific program priorities mentioned, and three of them that are mentioned in the solicitation, take a look at the solicitation and read through it for more information about everything that we’re talking about today. But the '24 solicitation indicates that jurisdictions are encouraged for applications that propose projects that are designed to advance equity and remove barriers to accessing services and opportunities for communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, or adversely affected by inequality. Applications are also encouraged from entities that can demonstrate they are a population-specific organization that serves communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, or adversely affected by inequality. In that category, the solicitation mentions that 40% of requested grant funds would have to be devoted to an organization that could demonstrate that they are in fact a subrecipient that has experience with a population-specific activity. And third, applicants who propose projects that are designed to create or enhance partnerships with behavioral health entities. Next slide, Sam. 

Here are some examples of potential grant programs. Again, these do not demonstrate what jurisdictions would necessarily request in their applications, but they perhaps would service a bit of a guide in terms of positive examples for interested jurisdictions. One example would be to explore the use of technology or tools to facilitate more effective supervision. Another might be to align policies and practices with best and promising practices across the nation, and implementing appropriate changes. Another example would be jurisdictions that are interested in exploring opportunities to improve the health and wellness of their supervision staff. Next slide, Sam. 

Some additional examples are opportunities through training, increase the knowledge and ability of supervision staff, to serve individuals with mental health or substance use disorders, and to improve partnerships with behavioral health providers to better serve individuals under supervision who may be experiencing behavioral health conditions. 

Another example of a potential grant might be a program in which cross-training with behavioral health providers is considered to align programs, culture, goals, and resources that are available. 

Another example could be the provision of critical treatment services by behavioral health organizations and organizations such as behavioral health clinics and crisis service providers, and other entities that are attempting to serve the needs of specific populations. Next slide, Sam. 

And some final examples of potential grant programs that might be funded through this program would include establishing specialized caseloads of people with mental health and substance use disorders. Or building community partnerships to ensure that necessary supports are in place to avoid returns to criminal justice systems, which might include improving access of healthcare or housing or employment services. And finally, another example would be to increase access to recovery supports based on the needs of the proposed target population. These are examples of potential grant programs that may be appropriate to pursue under the Smart Supervision Program. I'll now turn it back over to Jeff to talk a little bit further about specific aspects of this grant program.

JEFF LOCKE: Thank you, Richard. We'll next turn to the third section, around eligibility and application requirements. Next slide, please.

So, who is eligible to submit an application? First, state governments, special district governments, city or township governments, county governments, and federally-recognized Native American tribal governments are all eligible to submit an application. Additionally, for purposes of the solicitation, you will note that there's a possibility of an "other" referring to an organizing body that may elect to submit a single application of more than one office district or agency. And I would flag that as another potential vehicle for applicants. Next slide, please.

As you review the solicitation, you will note that there are several elements. These include a Proposal Abstract, Proposal Narrative, Budget Worksheet and Narrative in web-based form, as well as an Application for Federal Assistance, otherwise known as an SF-424. The grant solicitation does detail additional requirements, however, this is a top-level of what we wanted to highlight. Next slide.

So, take a few of these in term. The Proposal Abstract would include a summary of the purpose of the project, the activities you're proposing, the outcomes that you may expect to achieve, the service area, intended beneficiaries, and subrecipients. Additionally, as you draft such abstract, please contemplate it in the third-person for a public audience as accepted awardees will be publicly available on our OJP website, and will live there throughout the duration of the project. Next slide.

Let's talk a little bit about the Proposal Narrative. The solicitation asks for a statement of the problem, what is your jurisdiction seeking to address, what is the project design and implementation, what are the strategies that you're undertaking to address your jurisdiction's issues or needs that you've identified, and/or what are some of the descriptions of the requested priority considerations that you wish to highlight. Next slide.

Capabilities and Competencies. What can you say about your jurisdiction and the work that you're proposing there, and supportive capabilities and competencies that you'd like to highlight. What are your plans for collecting the data that you've identified as key to the issues you're seeking to address with respect to performance measures, and the timeline for the goals, objectives, and deliverables that you've sought out to achieve. Next slide.

In partnership with CEPP, and Cynthia and Richard, if awarded, your jurisdiction would embark on a multi-year effort to achieve what you set out to do in your application. And as such, we would ask for deliverables from your site that include an action plan which you would work with CEPP on, which would detail a problem analysis summary, strategies and intended outcomes, and an initial evaluation plan. At the conclusion of the project, we'd be seeking a final report that documents the interventions, some of the initial outcomes, and the lessons learned for your site. Next slide.

So, let's turn from here to review criteria, which includes the process we ask peer reviewers to review your applications includes basic minimum requirements. And some of what I just laid out in prior slides will be evaluated, such as the description of the issue, the project design and implementation, capabilities and competencies, the plan for collecting the data, and a budget with commensurate percentages for peer reviewers to award their reflective scores on. Next slide.

We'll next turn to our last section, dealing with application resources. So what are some things that you can look at, particularly if you're a new applicant to help with the process? Next slide, please.

First up, we have an OJP Grant Application Resource Guide. If this is your first time applying, I highly encourage you to go to the site, it will come up on a Google search, and you'll be able to seek through and look for different elements of the guide in which through the links on the right side of the page, will detail additional information that you may find helpful as you pull together your respective application. Next slide.

We have various systems at the Department. We have various systems for grants and payment management systems within the Office of Justice Programs. One such system is the JustGrants system, which is used across OJP, the COPS office, and the Office on Violence Against Women. There is an entire website dedicated to providing you with additional trainings, FAQs, user support, resources, and latest news about this site available to all applicants and/or grantees moving forward, so I wanted to flag that resource. Next slide.

Application assistance. There are two manners under which applicants can seek assistance. First, through Grants.gov. So Grants.gov can assist with questions with respect to the SF-424 and SF-LLL. They have a customer support hotline that's listed here, they also have web and email support that provides information, as well on Grants.gov on federal funding opportunities for a whole hosts of federal agencies, not just the Departments. Secondly, JustGrants has its own technical support vehicle as well. So that hotline is listed here, the hours under which they can take calls and attempt to assist, as well as email addresses that are monitored, as well as their website to engage there as well. Next slide.

We highly encourage you whether it be for this application or for future engagements or interested training and technical assistance opportunities, grants, et cetera, to subscribe to the Office of Justice Programs' email updates, different ways to stay connected, they have news releases, newsletters, funding news. You can subscribe to all of this and I promise you will be kept abreast of where the Office of Justice Programs is headed on a whole number of different issues. You can also text OJP or email address to this number here to subscribe. Next slide.

We also have numerous social media sites under which you can continue to keep abreast of our activities and engagements, Facebook, X, YouTube. You can also the QR code here on the screen to subscribe to updates from BJA. And again, for information on BJA's website, www.bja.ojp.gov, I may have misspoke earlier, but I wanted to flag that site here. Next slide, please.

So, for additional questions, again, you can always contact the OJP Response Center. Their email here is listed, the toll-free number here is listed, the TTY number is here as well, with the hours made available further assistance. Next slide.

I want to underscore that there are two applicable deadlines when you review this solicitation. It's a two-step process to submit. First, you're submitting an SF-424 and an SF-LLL at Grants.gov. There's a deadline listed on the solicitation for this specific award. Secondly, there's also a deadline for submitting the full application with attachments at our site, JusticeGrants.usdoj.gov. Both associated deadlines are listed on the application but I do want to call your attention to this and underscore to please read the solicitation carefully for further guidance for submission purposes. Next slide.

As you can tell, we're trying to provide as many resources to you as a potential applicant as possible. This is a slide here with important context, summarizing the last couple slides, so Grants.gov, JustGrants, as well as the OJP Response Center, so this is kind of the condensed, consolidated slide here that if you need to take a picture, please do so, we'll stay here for a moment. And these again are resources that we make available to the field, to state, local, and tribal members in this particular application to make sure that you feel that you've got your application readied and you don't have any remaining questions on some of the more technical aspects of submittal. We understand these processes are not easy. Okay.

Understanding that that may be the last slide, Sam, can you confirm? Perfect. We can stay on that slide, I guess, Sam, to conclude. Let me make sure that no questions have come into the chat. We'll give 30 seconds here for any broad-based questions that would be applicable to all applicants here. And if there are none that come in, on behalf of the Bureau of Justice Assistance and our partners at the Center for Effective Public Policy, we want to thank you all for considering this application. For those of you that do move forward and submit an application, we really appreciate the time and effort and care that goes into those applications. And for those that were lucky enough to have the chance to work with over the coming years on this program and others, you have our heartfelt thanks and appreciation for the partnership. And with that, Sam, I don't see anything else here into the chat, so I believe we're good to close out, and thanks everyone for your time this afternoon. Bye-bye.