§ 3797w. Adult and juvenile offender State and local reentry demonstration projects
(a)
Grant authorization
The Attorney General shall make grants of up to $1,000,000 to States, local governments, territories, or Indian Tribes, or any combination thereof, in partnership with stakeholders, service providers, and nonprofit organizations.
(b)
Adult offender reentry demonstration projects
Funds for adult offender demonstration projects may be expended for—
(1)
providing offenders in prisons, jails, or juvenile facilities with educational, literacy, vocational, and job placement services to facilitate re-entry into the community;
(2)
providing substance abuse treatment and services (including providing a full continuum of substance abuse treatment services that encompasses outpatient and comprehensive residential services and recovery);
(3)
providing coordinated supervision and comprehensive services for offenders upon release from prison, jail, or a juvenile facility, including housing and mental and physical health care to facilitate re-entry into the community, and which, to the extent applicable, are provided by community-based entities (including coordinated reentry veteran-specific services for eligible veterans);
(4)
providing programs that—
(5)
encouraging the involvement of prison, jail, or juvenile facility mentors in the reentry process and enabling those mentors to remain in contact with offenders while in custody and after reentry into the community;
(c)
Juvenile offender reentry demonstration projects
Funds for the juvenile offender reentry demonstration projects may be expended for any activity described in subsection (b).
(d)
Applications
A State, unit of local government, territory, or Indian Tribe, or combination thereof, desiring a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Attorney General that—
(1)
contains a reentry strategic plan, as described in subsection (h), which describes the long-term strategy and incorporates a detailed implementation schedule, including the plans of the applicant to pay for the program after the Federal funding is discontinued;
(2)
identifies the local government role and the role of governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations that will be coordinated by, and that will collaborate on, the offender reentry strategy of the applicant, and certifies the involvement of such agencies and organizations;
(e)
Requirements
The Attorney General may make a grant to an applicant under this section only if the application—
(1)
reflects explicit support of the chief executive officer of the State, unit of local government, territory, or Indian Tribe applying for a grant under this section;
(2)
provides extensive discussion of the role of State corrections departments, community corrections agencies, juvenile justice systems, or local jail systems in ensuring successful reentry of offenders into their communities;
(3)
provides extensive evidence of collaboration with State and local government agencies overseeing health, housing, child welfare, education, substance abuse, victims services, and employment services, and with local law enforcement agencies;
(f)
Priority considerations
The Attorney General shall give priority to grant applications under this section that best—
(1)
focus initiative on geographic areas with a disproportionate population of offenders released from prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities;
(2)
include—
(A)
input from nonprofit organizations, in any case where relevant input is available and appropriate to the grant application;
(3)
demonstrate effective case assessment and management abilities in order to provide comprehensive and continuous reentry, including—
(A)
planning while offenders are in prison, jail, or a juvenile facility, prerelease transition housing, and community release;
(4)
review the process by which the applicant adjudicates violations of parole, probation, or supervision following release from prison, jail, or a juvenile facility, taking into account public safety and the use of graduated, community-based sanctions for minor and technical violations of parole, probation, or supervision (specifically those violations that are not otherwise, and independently, a violation of law);
(g)
Uses of grant funds
(1)
Federal share
(A)
In general
The Federal share of a grant received under this section may not exceed 50 percent of the project funded under such grant.
(h)
Reentry strategic plan
(1)
In general
As a condition of receiving financial assistance under this section, each applicant shall develop a comprehensive strategic reentry plan that contains measurable annual and 5-year performance outcomes, and that uses, to the maximum extent possible, random assigned and controlled studies to determine the effectiveness of the program funded with a grant under this section. One goal of that plan shall be to reduce the rate of recidivism (as defined by the Attorney General, consistent with the research on offender reentry undertaken by the Bureau of Justice Statistics) by 50 percent over a 5-year period for offenders released from prison, jail, or a juvenile facility who are served with funds made available under this section.
(2)
Coordination
In developing a reentry plan under this subsection, an applicant shall coordinate with communities and stakeholders, including persons in the fields of public safety, juvenile and adult corrections, housing, health, education, substance abuse, children and families, victims services, employment, and business and members of nonprofit organizations that can provide reentry services.
(i)
Reentry Task Force
(1)
In general
As a condition of receiving financial assistance under this section, each applicant shall establish or empower a Reentry Task Force, or other relevant convening authority, to—
(A)
examine ways to pool resources and funding streams to promote lower recidivism rates for returning offenders and minimize the harmful effects of offenders’ time in prison, jail, or a juvenile facility on families and communities of offenders by collecting data and best practices in offender reentry from demonstration grantees and other agencies and organizations; and
(j)
Strategic performance outcomes
(1)
In general
Each applicant shall identify in the reentry strategic plan developed under subsection (h), specific performance outcomes relating to the long-term goals of increasing public safety and reducing recidivism.
(2)
Performance outcomes
The performance outcomes identified under paragraph (1) shall include, with respect to offenders released back into the community—
(3)
Other outcomes
A grantee under this section may include in the reentry strategic plan developed under subsection (h) other performance outcomes that increase the success rates of offenders who transition from prison, jails, or juvenile facilities.
(4)
Coordination
A grantee under this section shall coordinate with communities and stakeholders about the selection of performance outcomes identified by the applicant, and shall consult with the Attorney General for assistance with data collection and measurement activities as provided for in the grant application materials.
(k)
Performance measurement
(1)
In general
The Attorney General, in consultation with grantees under this section, shall—
(A)
identify primary and secondary sources of information to support the measurement of the performance indicators identified under this section;
(B)
identify sources and methods of data collection in support of performance measurement required under this section;
(l)
Future eligibility
To be eligible to receive a grant under this section in any fiscal year after the fiscal year in which a grantee receives a grant under this section, a grantee shall submit to the Attorney General such information as is necessary to demonstrate that—
(1)
the grantee has adopted a reentry plan that reflects input from nonprofit organizations, in any case where relevant input is available and appropriate to the grant application;
(2)
the reentry plan of the grantee includes performance measures to assess progress of the grantee toward a 10 percent reduction in the rate of recidivism over a 2-year period;
(m)
National Adult and Juvenile Offender Reentry Resource Center
(1)
Authority
The Attorney General may, using amounts made available to carry out this subsection, make a grant to an eligible organization to provide for the establishment of a National Adult and Juvenile Offender Reentry Resource Center.
(2)
Eligible organization
An organization eligible for the grant under paragraph (1) is any national nonprofit organization approved by the Interagency Task Force on Federal Programs and Activities Relating to the Reentry of Offenders Into the Community, that provides technical assistance and training to, and has special expertise and broad, national-level experience in, offender reentry programs, training, and research.
(3)
Use of funds
The organization receiving a grant under paragraph (1) shall establish a National Adult and Juvenile Offender Reentry Resource Center to—
(A)
provide education, training, and technical assistance for States, tribes, territories, local governments, service providers, nonprofit organizations, and corrections institutions;
(B)
collect data and best practices in offender reentry from demonstration grantees and others agencies and organizations;
(C)
develop and disseminate evaluation tools, mechanisms, and measures to better assess and document coalition performance measures and outcomes;
(D)
disseminate information to States and other relevant entities about best practices, policy standards, and research findings;
(E)
develop and implement procedures to assist relevant authorities in determining when release is appropriate and in the use of data to inform the release decision;
(F)
develop and implement procedures to identify efficiently and effectively those violators of probation, parole, or supervision following release from prison, jail, or a juvenile facility who should be returned to prisons, jails, or juvenile facilities and those who should receive other penalties based on defined, graduated sanctions;
(n)
Administration
Of amounts made available to carry out this section—
(1)
not more than 2 percent of the authorized level shall be available for administrative expenses in carrying out this section; and
(2)
not more than 2 percent of the authorized level shall be made available to the National Institute of Justice to evaluate the effectiveness of the demonstration projects funded under this section, using a methodology that—
(o)
Authorization of appropriations
(1)
In general
To carry out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated $55,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 and 2010.
(2)
Limitation; equitable distribution
(A)
Limitation
Of the amount made available to carry out this section for any fiscal year, not more than 3 percent or less than 2 percent may be used for technical assistance and training.
(B)
Equitable distribution
The Attorney General shall ensure that grants awarded under this section are equitably distributed among the geographical regions and between urban and rural populations, including Indian Tribes, consistent with the objective of reducing recidivism among criminal offenders.
[1] See References in Text note below.