US DOJ Offers Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Grants

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is seeking applications for two grant programs. The first grant program application is for the Second Chance Act Addressing the Needs of Incarcerated Parents With Minor Children Program. This program provides funding for states, territories, and units of local government to promote and expand services in detention and correctional facilities for people who are incarcerated and have children younger than age 18. Watch the webinar about applying for this grant program. To apply for the grant please click here. Applications are due by May 22.

The second grant program application is for theSecond Chance Act Ensuring Public Safety and Improving Outcomes for Youth in Confinement and While Under Community Supervision program. This program furthers the Department’s mission by supporting state and local efforts to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for youth returning to their communities after out-of-home detention or placement. For additional information and to apply for the grant, please click here. Applications are due by May 24.

Stepping Up Webinar: Four Key Measures

The next series of Stepping Up webinars will focus on providing counties with the tools they need to collect accurate data on each of these measures and use this data to inform policy and practice decisions to impact them. Join Stepping Up for the first webinar in the Four Key Measures series, which will provide an overview of each of the measures, describe strategies for reducing the number of people with mental illnesses who are booked into jails, and outline key data points to collect, analyze, and track measures of success. The webinar will be held on Thursday, June 7, from 11:00 am – 12:15 pm. For additional information and to register for the webinar, please click here.

National Stepping Up Day of Action – May 16

On Wednesday, May 16, Stepping Up is hosting a National Day of Action, during which counties are encouraged to hold an event or participate in local activities to share with constituents the progress they have made toward reducing the number of people who have mental illnesses in their jails, raise public awareness and understanding of this important issue, and emphasize their commitment to creating data-driven, systems-level changes to policy and practice to achieve their Stepping Up goals.

More details and a toolkit to help you plan your Day of Action are available at StepUpTogether.org.

Administration of Justice Bill of Interest

SB 1303 (Pan): This bill, as amended, would require that six non-charter counties with a population greater than 500,000 separate the office of sheriff-coroner and establish a new medical examiner office. Currently, county boards of supervisors have the statutory power to do this. SB 1303 would have significant fiscal impacts on the larger counties by requiring them to create the new office and would put forensic pathologists in the role of administrator instead of performing exams. Ultimately, SB 1303 would remove a county’s local control to decide how to organize their sheriff-coroner operations and could result in unnecessary upheaval in counties. SB 1303 is set to be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, May 14. CSAC and UCC are opposed to SB 1303.