The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) connects state, local, and tribal justice agencies in need of assistance with no-cost training and specialized guidance—also known as training and technical assistance—both in person and virtually on a wide variety of criminal justice topics. In fiscal year (FY) 2019, BJA Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) providers served thousands of agencies by delivering a variety of TTA activities and creating many resources tailored to the needs of the field, some of which are highlighted below.
Breaking Down Deliverables
BJA TTA providers delivered nearly 5,000 TTAs and deliverables across 7 program areas—the most prevalent being law enforcement, adjudication/courts, and corrections. BJA TTA providers also delivered a range of services to criminal justice agencies, including:
- Responding to 38,276 inquiries from the field.
- Supporting 117 focus/advisory group working sessions serving 712 agencies.
- Supporting 6,929 agencies with program implementation management/support.
In addition, 69,239 criminal justice professionals attended BJA-funded training events. Of those who attended trainings, 42,169 (61 percent) attended classroom trainings, 16,623 (24 percent) attended online trainings, 10,384 (15 percent) attended webinars, and 58 (<1 percent) attended phone trainings.
Positive Feedback on Training Evaluations
BJA TTA providers collected evaluations from 37,480 participants at 1,015 trainings.
Ninety-eight percent of respondents indicated that the training was satisfactory or better and 97% indicated that their knowledge increased as a result of the training provided.
Details on resources
In addition to providing hands-on TTA in FY 2019, TTA providers produced nearly 800 resources on a variety of criminal justice topics. The chart below shows a breakdown of the resources created in 2019.
Highlighting BJA-Funded TTA Resources
The examples below provide a small snapshot of the wide range of activities BJA TTA providers engage in to enhance the justice community.
Capital Case Litigation Initiative
As part of the Capital Case Litigation Initiative, the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys developed a series of webinars designed to educate prosecutors on best practices in handling capital litigation cases. Topics include victims’ rights, meeting with victims’ families, mitigating mental health defenses, mass shootings and victim considerations, and jury selection. Access the webinars on BJA’s YouTube channel.
Prison Rape Elimination Act Resource Center
Impact Justice implemented the National Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Resource Center to help eliminate sexual abuse in confinement. They help corrections facilities meet the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) PREA standards by providing research, resources, and technical assistance from subject matter experts to help enable best practices in corrections, law enforcement, victims’ services, and sexual abuse prevention and response.
Child Sex Trafficking Training Series Toolkit
Child sex trafficking can be difficult to identify for various reasons, including its hidden nature and the unlikelihood of victims to come forward. Having the tools necessary to identify potential victims help frontline officers better respond to and locate victims of sex trafficking. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) developed the IACP Child Sex Trafficking: A Training Series for Frontline Officers Toolkit, which is designed to help address the issue.
TTA Addressing the Opioid Epidemic
The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) supported Dayton, Ohio, in responding to crime and disorder related to opioids. The article Community-Police Partnerships Fight the Opioid Epidemic Where It Lives, by Mona Mangat, national director of LISC’s Safety and Justice programs, and Matthew Perkins, senior program officer and criminologist at LISC, outlines how TTA from LISC and a DOJ grant helped Dayton, Ohio, address the opioid problem and how it could provide a model for other communities throughout the country.
VALOR Officer Safety and Wellness Program
Managed by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research, the Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement and Ensuring Officer Resilience and Survivability (VALOR) Initiative aims to enhance both short- and long-term officer safety and wellness and aid in officer resiliency. VALOR provides many resources to law enforcement officers, including publications, collaborative partnerships, and no-cost professional training and education. By aiding in officer safety and wellness they hope to help create strong partnerships between officers and the communities they serve.
Providing Future TTA
The TTA Resources section on BJA NTTAC’s website displays free resources from BJA-funded activities, offering specialized guidance on justice topics including webinars, publications, toolkits, and fact sheets. To find more learning opportunities, the BJA NTTAC TTA Catalog provides a list of upcoming training events.
If your jurisdiction is in need of TTA, or if you know of a community that would benefit from this type of assistance, please contact BJA NTTAC at BJANTTAC@ojp.usdoj.gov and we can connect you to the appropriate training, assistance, TTA partner, and/or resources.
If you are interested in submitting the work of your organization or jurisdiction for consideration in a future TTA Today blog post or in obtaining information related to a particular topic area, please email us at BJANTTAC@ojp.usdoj.gov.
Points of view or opinions on BJA NTTAC’s TTA Today blog are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of DOJ, BJA, or BJA NTTAC.