Bureau of Justice Assistance Awards $2 Million to Implement and Enhance Community Courts

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) today announced they have awarded $2 million to the Center for Court Innovation to fund 10 sites to implement or enhance a community court. The Center for Court Innovation is making the funds available, through a grant from BJA, under the 2016 Community Court Grant Program.

"Community courts help make communities safer and hold offenders accountable, while simultaneously helping to build public trust in the justice system," said Denise O'Donnell, Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, as she announced the winners today at the Community Justice Summit 2016 in Chicago, IL. "The Bureau of Justice Assistance is proud to support the growing movement of community courts," she said.

Each selected site will receive $200,000 as well as technical assistance from the Center for Court Innovation to implement or enhance a community court. Community courts respond to lower level crimes by ordering offenders to pay back the communities they've harmed through visible community service projects—for example, painting out graffiti, beautifying neighborhood parks, and cleaning up litter and debris from public streets.  At the same time, community courts link offenders to services designed to help them address the underlying issues fueling their criminal behavior, such as drug and alcohol treatment, mental health services, job training, and public benefits. Nationally, research has shown that the community court model can reduce crime and substance use, increase services to victims, reduce unnecessary use of jail, save money, and improve public confidence in justice. BJA received over 70 applications from jurisdictions across the country and after a rigorous peer review process, these 10 applicants were selected for funding:

For more information about the community court model, go to: www.courtinnovation.org/topic/community-court.

For more information about the Bureau of Justice Assistance, please visit www.bja.gov.

About the Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
OJP, headed by Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason, provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP has six components: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking. More information about OJP can be found at www.ojp.gov.

SOURCE Bureau of Justice Assistance

Related Links

http://www.bja.gov