Office of Justice Programs Weekly News Brief

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following release is being issued by the Office of Justice Programs:

Communities receive funds for Court-Based Program, Prevents Reoffending – The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance and National Institute of Justice recently announced funding to four communities to create court-based programs to prevent probationers from re-offending.  The four communities - Clackamas County, Ore; Essex County, Mass; Saline County, Ark; and Tarrant County, Texas – are part of the Honest Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) project and funded through the Second Chance Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-199, section 245).  The project is modeled after a successful court-based program initiated in 2004 by Judge Steven S. Alm of Hawaii's First Circuit Court, titled the Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement program, identifying probationers with a high risk for re-offending, focusing on reducing drug use, new crimes, and incarceration. Offenders are deterred from using drugs and committing crimes by frequent and random drug tests, backed by swift and certain jail stays, along with treatment. The sites vary widely in population, density, and geographic location.  For more about the HOPE program, visit http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/hopesol.htm.

NIJ Announces New Fiscal Year 2011 Grant Award – The Office of Justice Program's National Institute of Justice recently announced the selection of the University of Missouri, St. Louis, as a grant recipient to study gang desistance.  While many studies have examined why people join gangs, this research attempts to determine why individuals leave gangs.  The study is based on and extends an on-going NIJ funded evaluation of Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT), a school based gang prevention program.  The research will add to existing data on gangs through use of interviews and questionnaires, and examines different pathways in which individuals attempt to leave gang membership.  For more about the program, please visit http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/hopesol.htm.

SOURCE Department of Justice

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