Justice Assistance (Dollars in Thousands)

Justice Assistance TOTAL Amount

2010 Enacted with Rescissions $235,000

2010 Supplementals 0

2010 Enacted w/Rescissions and Supplementals 235,000

2011 CR 235,000

Adjustments to Base and Technical Adjustments (45,000)

2012 Current Services 190,000 2012 Program Increases 263,000 2012 Program Offsets (24,500) 2012 Request 428,500 Total Change 2011-2012 $193,500 1. Account Description

OJP requests $428.5 million for the Justice Assistance appropriation, which is $193.5 million above the FY 2011 Continuing Resolution level. This account includes programs that provide grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements for research, development, and evaluation; development and dissemination of quality statistical and scientific information; victim services for children; and nationwide support for law enforcement agencies.

Through leadership, funding, and technical support, OJP plays a significant role in the research and evaluation of new technologies to assist law enforcement, corrections personnel, and courts; in protecting the public. OJP also guides the development of new techniques and technologies in the areas of crime prevention, forensic science, and violence and victimization research. The research and statistical data compiled by OJP are used at all levels of government to guide decision making and planning efforts related to law enforcement, courts, corrections and other criminal justice issues.

Some key programs funded under this appropriation account include:

 The Research, Development, and Evaluation program serves to enhance the

administration of justice and public safety by providing objective, independent, evidence- based knowledge, and tools to meet the challenges of crime and justice, particularly at the state and local levels. This program is the core program supporting the mission of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) who serves as the research and development arm of the Department of Justice, as authorized by 42 U.S.C. 3721-3723. NIJ research,

development, and evaluation efforts support practitioners and policy makers at all levels of government.

 The Criminal Justice Statistics Program is the base program that supports the majority of OJP’s statistical studies. This program is administered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) who serves as the principal statistical agency of the Department of Justice as authorized by 42 U.S.C. 3731-3735. BJS collects and analyzes statistical data on all

aspects of the criminal justice system; assists state, local, and tribal governments in collecting and analyzing justice statistics; and disseminates quality information and statistics to inform policy makers, researchers, criminal justice practitioners and the general public.

 Missing and Exploited Children Program, authorized by the Missing Children’s

Assistance Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 5771 as amended) and the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008, is administered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency

Prevention, and is the primary vehicle for building an infrastructure to support the national effort to prevent the abduction and exploitation of our nation’s children.  Additionally, OJP will fund the following projects via the three percent set-aside for

research, evaluation, or statistical purposes:

o Redesign and Development of Data Collection Programs for Indian Country:

Conducts a feasibility study in Indian Country to obtain data from: 1) tribal jails; 2) tribal justice agencies-law enforcement 3) prosecution and adjudication; and 4) a limited victimization study in Indian Country. ($0.5 million)

o Eliminating the Second Largest Cause of Line-of-Duty Deaths to Law

Enforcement: Supports research, evaluation, and technology development that examine law enforcement line-of-duty deaths associated with vehicular accidents as well as test and evaluation of safety technologies, vehicle designs, and

equipment placement and storage strategies that address safety issues. ($3.0

million)

o Inmate Reentry Evaluation: Supports basic research around the problem of

prisoner reentry and reducing reoffending and will enhance our knowledge of what works for successful prisoner reentry. ($2.6 million, of which $1.3 million is

to be transferred to Bureau of Prisons for this purpose)

o Maximizing the Value of Forensic Evidence for the Criminal Justice System:

Establishes a national forensic science program to enhance foundational scientific research in the forensic sciences and supports accreditation, practitioner

certification, standards development, and training in forensic science. ($10.0

million)

o Measuring Crime Harms, Balancing the Criminal Justice System, and Saving

Costs: Supports a program to enhance crime data for measuring the harms and costs of crime; provides a state-level decision-making mechanism for calculating balanced investing in police and prisons; and provides evidence of effectiveness for this approach through a multi-state demonstration experiment. ($2.0 million) o Indian Country Crime Research: Examines the nature and extent of crime in

Indian Country; provides basic research on specific crime problems; and measures

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the fairness and effectiveness of specific criminal justice responses to crime and victimization in Indian Country. ($3.0 million)

o Research on Diversion Strategies: Builds on work of drug courts, community

supervision of offenders, and other offender diversion strategies to develop, test, and evaluate the next generation of cost-effective diversion programs. ($10.0

million)

o Prescription Drug Monitoring Pilots and Evaluation: Examines effective

implementation of prescription drug monitoring programs by providing funding for implementation pilots in a select number of states and evaluation to help determine the avenues that hold the greatest promise for effectively responding to this public safety-public health threat. ($3.0 million)

o Rape Kit Backlog Pilots: Develops an action research project to help identify

workable solutions for reducing and ultimately eliminating the DNA sexual assault kit backlog. ($5.0 million)

o Domestic Radicalization Research: Builds research begun by NIJ following 9/11

on terrorism and incorporates what works from research on other organized crime networks, like gangs. The goal is to articulate the most vulnerable aspects in the process of radicalization and the most promising strategies for effective

intervention and prevention of violence, terrorism, and other criminal outcomes.

($2.0 million)

For additional information and a complete listing of OJP programs, please visit

2. Performance and Resource Tables