Guidelines
Criminal and Juvenile Justice
Program Priorities and Funding Strategies
Priority 1: To help prisoners make a successful transition from incarceration to productive, crime-free lives in the community, thereby increasing public safety and reducing recidivism.
Most prisoners re-enter the community without having participated in a pre-release program and without any transitional services. They often leave prison without a place to live, without a job or viable job skills and without any financial resources. Many times, they have not received addictions counseling, academic or vocational education while imprisoned.
Most ex-offenders look to family and friends to provide basic needs, such as housing and food. Yet many families do not have the resources, or, having become estranged, the will to help the ex-offender. Ex-offenders are not informed of community resources available to them. In the community, support services such as job readiness training or housing assistance generally are not designed to address the specific needs of ex-offenders. In short, it is difficult for ex-offenders to access the services and training they need. Consequently, ex-offenders face significant obstacles to building constructive, crime-free lives. It is not surprising, under these circumstances, that recidivism rates remain high.
There are several strategies that could be effective in addressing the needs of released prisoners. First, providing integrated services in the community to ex-offenders can help them acquire the resources, skills and support necessary to establish a constructive life "on the outside." Mainstream social service providers need to expand their client populations to include ex-offenders.
To that end, the program will fund efforts by community organizations, agencies and religious institutions to assist people in transition from prison, before and after their release. The program will also fund service providers that focus specifically on offenders, linking them with the housing, drug treatment, mental health services, job training and other support services they need to make a successful transition into the community. In funding these services, the program will seek to demonstrate their capacity to increase public safety and reduce public expenditures. If these programs show success, grantees and OSI can make a strong case for their expansion and duplication through community and public resources.
A second strategy is to address the needs of prisoners in transition before they are released, through the resources of the criminal justice system and community organizations. Transition services and referrals to community resources are likely to be more effective if they are initiated before inmates are released into the community. Although case managers, probation and parole officers are charged with assisting inmates in transition, various obstacles may impede effective intervention. For example, case managers, parole and probation officers may not be aware of resources in the community or may suffer from burdensome caseloads. Further, the system may not place priority on duties that facilitate inmate transition into the community. To increase the chance that inmates will make a successful transition, the Crime, Communities & Culture Program will fund efforts to link inmates with community resources and to provide advocacy and services to assist in the transition period. Through these grants, the program hopes to encourage the criminal justice system to allocate increased resources to facilitating prisoners' transition.
Finally, the Criminal Justice Program will fund public education and advocacy initiatives to galvanize support for assisting prisoners in their transition to the community. To reduce recidivism, people must receive assistance with job training and job placement, housing, drug treatment and other services. There is a need for more public education about the obstacles that people face upon release from prison and about the capacity of transition programs to improve public safety and reduce public expenditures.
Priority 2: To encourage policies and practices that divert juvenile offenders from correctional facilities to appropriate community-based programs in order to reduce juvenile incarceration.
The Criminal Justice Program seeks to fund programs that will encourage policies and practices that reduce juvenile crime and incarceration. Most children in the juvenile system have had to cope with learning disabilities, limited positive reinforcement, few role models, negative peer pressure and dysfunctional families, which often have high rates of drug abuse. Juveniles may also have substance abuse problems themselves and may have a history of disciplinary problems in school. Many of these children have been involved in the abuse and neglect system or have been involved with the juvenile justice system on several occasions. Yet, most juveniles do not receive counseling, training or services that address the reasons they committed crimes in the first place.
Juvenile offenders must receive more than a sentence of incarceration to change their behavior. With early intervention, juvenile offenders can access substantive services-such as special schooling, behavioral management training, drug treatment, peer group programs, employment opportunities, vocational education and interpersonal skills training-that address their underlying problems and help reduce recidivism. Early intervention presents an opportunity to get the community and family involved before a youth becomes entrenched in the juvenile justice system and develops into a repeat offender.
To provide constructive alternatives to juvenile incarceration, the program will fund organizations that advocate for the development of a network of appropriate community-based programs for juveniles. Projects could include efforts to study the cost-effectiveness and availability of community-based programs and to publicize model programs. The program will also fund public education and policy advocacy to ensure that the juvenile justice system offers more diversion programs for juvenile offenders. Appropriate community-based programs will provide the treatment and other vital support services juveniles need to help them avoid continued involvement with the criminal justice system.
The Criminal Justice Program is also interested in providing alternatives to the criminal justice system that encourage community involvement. To this end, the program will fund initiatives that increase community participation in resolving conflicts with juveniles, such as community conferencing and mediation.
Priority 3: To support systemic reform that reduces the rates of incarceration, both the number of people incarcerated and the length of their incarceration, and the disproportionate confinement of racial minorities.
Grants focus on organizations that engage in public education and advocacy to encourage systemic reform that reduces incarceration. For instance, reforms could include increasing the use of diversion or community-based alternatives to incarceration; or improving parole policies and practices in order to shorten certain prison terms and reduce re-incarceration. As opportunities arise, the program also assists public agencies in their efforts to design and implement systemic reform efforts. Other initiatives seek to infuse public debate on crime with a broader discussion of the causes of incarceration and effective strategies to reduce crime and recidivism.
Application Process
Step 1: Letter of Inquiry
Applicants should submit a letter of inquiry of two to three pages which includes: a description of the program to be funded; the qualifications of the organization to carry out the program; the ways in which the program reflects the priorities of the Criminal Justice Program; the amount of the budget and the funds requested; and a copy of the IRS letter stating the organization's tax-exempt status.
Step 2: Proposal Submission
If OSI determines that the proposal is of interest, it will invite the applicant to submit a full proposal. Applicants submitting a grant proposal should use the following format: On institutional letterhead, the cover page should state: a one-sentence description of the proposed initiative; the amount requested from OSI-Baltimore; the total organizational budget; the name of the organization that would serve as the fiscal sponsor for the grant if awarded; and a contact name, address, and telephone number.
The proposal should describe: the need or issue to be addressed; the organization's capacity to carry out the proposal; the program's objectives, activities and methodology; the program's expected outcomes; the financial sustainability of the program; and the organization's plans to assess the program's impact. Appendices to the proposal should include:
- A budget for the project or program for every year funding is requested.
- A list of current and proposed funders of the project or program.
- A one-page program implementation timeline for year one of the proposed project or program.
- Resumes of the organization's director, project director and other key staff.
- A copy of the IRS letter stating the organization's tax-exempt status, if not submitted with the letter of inquiry.
- A copy of the organization's overall budget.
- A copy of the most recent annual report and audit (or financial statement).
To learn more about the program, please contact Monique Dixon at mdixon@sorosny.org or 1-410-234-1091, ext. 208.
