The American Institutes for Research (AIR), with support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, operates the National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC), which was established by the Second Chance Act (SCA). SCA provides federal funding and support to jurisdictions and nonprofits that provide reentry services and those working to reduce recidivism. NRRC’s website provides various resources to help individuals involved in reentry including a reentry services directory by state, criminal records, employment, housing, and mental health. The site is easy to navigate and provides filter options to help you find the information you need.
Learn more about the National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC).
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s (NFFF) mission “is to honor and remember America’s fallen fire heroes, to provide resources to assist their families in rebuilding their lives, and work within the fire service community to reduce firefighter deaths and injuries.” NFFF’s website includes many of the available resources, including those directly available to families of fallen firefighters, online forms to request information and peer support, specialized grief materials, a calendar of events that includes support groups, and links to other resources and organizations. The website also features updated information on state benefits and access to individual state listings. They also honor fallen firefighters through messages and information shared by families and friends.
On April 19–25, 2021, NFFF is hosting a free series of events titled “Through a New Lens” to help individuals who are navigating the loss of a loved one.
Learn more about the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
AEquitas is the lead training and technical assistance (TTA) provider for the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Innovative Prosecution Solutions (IPS) initiative. As part of the IPS initiative, AEquitas developed an IPS website that provides helpful information to prosecutors’ offices responding to their communities’ violent crime problems. Their resources page includes webinars, tools and templates, and sample legal research. The site provides information on the latest strategies in the criminal justice field on the following topics: Alternatives to Incarceration, Combatting the Opioid Crisis, Community Engagement, Crime Analytics & Intelligence, Evaluating the Approach, Multidisciplinary Collaboration, and Promising Technologies & Digital Evidence.
During COVID-19 it has been challenging to connect people with appropriate medical care, especially incarcerated and recently released individuals. The rise in telehealth services can help address this problem and can be a cost-efficient and effective way to provide care.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA) Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) has developed several resources to help jails implement telehealth services, many of which can be found on their website. These include the briefing sheet “Using Telehealth for Behavioral Health in the Criminal Justice System” and the webinar slides “Implementing Telehealth in Jails.”
The Council of State Governments Justice Center, supported by BJA, hosted the following webinar with its Stepping Up Initiative partners: “Connecting People Who Have Serious Mental Illnesses to Care—Telehealth and Other Strategies.” This webinar focused on connecting people who have been discharged from jail with care and shared specific examples from counties.
Learn more about Stepping Up: A National Initiative to Reduce the Number of People with Mental Illnesses in Jails.
Learn more about BJA’s COSSAP.
On March 18, 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court granted that criminal defendants have the right to a state-appointed attorney if they are unable to afford one themselves. This Sixth Amendment right was found to be constitutionally justified for criminal defendants through the Fourteenth Amendment. Because of this landmark decision, March 18 marks National Public Defender Day.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) works to defend Sixth Amendment Rights through BJA’s Justice For All: Sixth Amendment Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) grant. The grant is “aimed at enhancing the capacity of state and local jurisdictions to protect the core rights enshrined in the Sixth Amendment.”
Through this grant, BJA supported the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and their partners, the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, National Center for State Courts, and RTI International, in launching the Strengthening the Sixth website (https://strengthenthesixth.org/). The website offers helpful information about the application of the Sixth Amendment along with various carefully curated resources. Resource topics include access to witnesses and evidence, confrontation clause and cross examination, impartial and representative juries, public trials, right to counsel, speedy trials, and vanishing trials. In addition to accessing resources, state and local jurisdictions can request TTA related to their application of the Sixth Amendment.
BJA also supported the Center for Court Innovation (CCI) and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) in creating “BJA’s Sixth Amendment Initiative: Strengthening the Constitutional Protections of the Accused: A Report on Ten Sites Participating in Strategic Planning.” While everyone is guaranteed their Sixth Amendment Rights, some individuals lack legal access because of overburdened and/or underqualified lawyers or lack of lawyers to represent them. To help address this issue, CCI and NLADA provided strategic planning support to 10 jurisdictions to protect Sixth Amendment rights. CCI notes of the report: “Grounded in the Center’s unique research-practice approach, this report describes how former public defenders are paired with experienced researchers to work as a team to support the jurisdictions' strategic planning goals. Detailing the successes, challenges, and lessons learned, this report offers insights for future efforts to strengthen the rights of all of those accused of a crime.”
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has over 20 open solicitations for grant funding with deadlines in March through May. These BJA competitive grants cover a wide range of issues in many criminal justice areas for law enforcement agencies and organizations who support them. If you have a funding need, consider applying for the current solicitations to get funded for the upcoming fiscal year.
As you prepare to apply, check out BJA NTTAC’s “Considerations for Applying for Grant Funding” blog post. Also consider attending a live JustGrants “Application Mechanics: Submitting an Application” webinar or reviewing the available slides and recording of a previous application mechanics webinar.
To help court officials develop an emergency preparedness plan, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), with support from the State Justice Institute, released an updated emergency planning guide titled “NCSC Courts Continuity of Operations (COOP) Planning Guide and Template.” This planning guide is designed specifically for courts and outlines a step-by-step plan to address emergencies and natural disasters before, during, and after they occur. The guide was developed starting with a 2019 meeting on lessons learned with court officials from states and territories that had experienced major national disasters (California, Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Texas, and the Virgin Islands). After the meeting, NCSC conducted technical assistance in many of the sites through the lens of the lessons learned, which also informs this guide.
Access the guide to start developing your COOP.
As part of the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA’s) Upholding the Rule of Law and Preventing Wrongful Convictions (URLPWC) Program, the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s Quattrone Center hosts webinars with subject matter experts on topics related to post-conviction innocence investigation and litigation. These topics include eyewitness identification, investigating innocence cases, examining wrongful convictions, false confessions, ethics, working with victims, cognitive interviewing, and data collection.
The National American Indian Court Judges Association (NAICJA) provides support, resources—including webinars, podcasts, training videos, and COVID-19 resources—and training and technical assistance (TTA) to enhance tribal justice systems. NAICJA is an advocate for tribal justice systems. Their website lists their primary goals: “securing needed increases in funding for the daily functioning of tribal justice systems; serving as the national voice of tribal justice systems when advocacy is needed; ensuring that quality, culturally appropriate tribal judicial education is available nationwide; improving cooperation between tribal, state, and federal judiciaries; and providing support to tribal judiciaries by creating opportunities for networking and mentorship.”
Visit NAICJA’s website to access valuable resources and to learn more about the organization.
The National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, “provides a nationwide support system for law enforcement and regulatory agencies involved in the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of economic and high-tech crime.” They offer training and technical assistance on responding to white collar and related crimes. As part of this effort, they have developed short roll call videos, each under 10 minutes, that are meant to work as quick lessons for law enforcement. They are available in the following topics: business email compromise, utility suite, dark web, and device seizure.
Visit NW3C’s website to learn more.