Corrections Program Office
Fiscal Year 1998 Program Plan
OJP's Corrections Program Office (CPO) provides financial and technical assistance to state and local governments to assist them with the implementation of corrections-related programs created by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Crime Act). CPO administers two formula and two discretionary grant programs authorized by the Act. Fiscal Year 1998 is the third year of funding for these grant programs. In its first year, FY 1995, CPO funded a small boot camp program that is no longer being funded.
Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing (VOI/TIS) Incentive Grants
This formula grant program helps states to build or expand correctional facilities for the incarceration of violent adult and juvenile offenders, to build or expand correctional facilities for nonviolent offenders to free space for violent offenders, or to build or expand jails. Eligible applicants include the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Approximately $509 million is available for distribution under the formula grant program in FY 1998. Half of the funds are available for Violent Offender Incarceration Grants and half for Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants. States may apply for both grant categories.
Violent Offender Incarceration (VOI)
Violent Offender Incarceration grant funds are allocated to states using a three-tiered formula. Each tier of the formula has different criteria for eligibility, and eligible states may receive funding under all three tiers. Of the total funds available for Violent Offender Incarceration grants, 85 percent is available for the first two tiers, with 15 percent reserved for the third. No state may receive more than 9 percent of the total funds available for Violent Offender Incarceration grants.
Tier 1: To receive a Tier 1 base award, a state must assure that it has implemented or will implement correctional policies and programs, including truth-in-sentencing laws, to ensure that violent offenders serve a substantial portion of the sentences imposed, that punishment is sufficiently severe, and that the prison time served is appropriate to the crime and to protect the public. For FY 1998, each eligible state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico will receive a base allocation of 0.75 percent of the total funds available for Tiers 1 and 2 (approximately $1.6 million). The Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands will receive a base allocation of 0.05 percent (approximately $108,000), if eligible.
Tier 2: A state that receives Tier 1 funds is eligible to receive additional funds if it demonstrates that, since 1993, it has increased: the percentage of violent crime arrestees sentenced to prison; or the average prison time served; or the percentage of sentence served. The VOI funds for Tiers 1 and 2 remaining after distribution of the Tier 1 base awards are allocated to an eligible state based on its share of total Part 1 violent crimes for all eligible states.
Tier 3: A state that qualifies for Tier 1 funds is also eligible to receive Tier 3 funds if it demonstrates that it has: increased since 1993 the percentage of violent crime arrestees sentenced to prison and the percentage of sentence served; or has increased new court commitments by 10 percent in the last three years. For FY 1998, each eligible state, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico will receive a base allocation of 3 percent (approximately $1.1 million). The Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands will receive a base allocation of 0.03 percent (approximately $11,000), if eligible. The remaining funds are allocated to each eligible state on the basis of its share of the average annual number of Part 1 violent crimes for the preceding three years, as reported to and published by the FBI for all eligible states.
Truth-in-Sentencing (TIS)
A state is eligible for TIS funds allocated on the basis of Part 1 violent crimes if it demonstrates that persons convicted of a Part 1 violent crime serve not less than 85 percent of the sentence imposed. The statute provides five variations on this criteria to accommodate the various sentencing structures in the states. No state may receive more than 25 percent of the total funds available for this portion of the program.
The variations on the criteria for a state to be eligible to receive a TIS incentive award follow:
Determinate Sentencing States:
The state has implemented TIS laws that require persons convicted of a Part 1 violent crime to serve not less than 85 percent of the sentence imposed; or
The state has implemented TIS laws that result in persons convicted of a Part 1 violent crime serving on average not less than 85 percent of the sentence imposed; or
The state has enacted, but not yet implemented, TIS laws that require the state, not later than three years after it submits its application for funds, to provide that persons convicted of a Part 1 violent crime serve not less than 85 percent of the sentence imposed.
Indeterminate Sentencing States:
To qualify for funds as an indeterminate sentencing state, the state must demonstrate that it practiced indeterminate sentencing and met one of the following two criteria on April 26, 1996:
Persons convicted of a Part 1 violent crime on average serve not less than 85 percent of the prison term established under the state's sentencing and release guidelines; or
Persons convicted of any Part 1 violent crime on average serve not less than 85 percent of the maximum prison term allowed under the sentence imposed by the court.
States that receive funds must demonstrate an ability to operate facilities and recognize the rights of crime victims. States are required to report inmate deaths and to implement a program of drug testing, intervention, and sanctions for offenders incarcerated in state prisons and while under correctional supervision following release, according to the FY 1997 DOJ Appropriations Act language.
In December 1997, OJP issued the FY 1998 VOI/TIS Program Guidance and Application Kit, which included the Drug Testing Guidelines and a companion Answers to Frequently Asked Questions document. Tier 1 applications are due by February 10, 1998, with awards expected to be made within 30 days. FY 1998 applications for Tier 2, Tier 3, and/or Truth-in-Sentencing funds are due July 1, 1998, with awards expected by the end of the fiscal year. This two-phased application process will enable OJP to make the Tier 1 base awards to the states as quickly as possible, while providing states time to pass truth-in-sentencing legislation and to provide more recent data on sentencing and release practices to enable more states to qualify for funds.
VOI/TIS Native American Discretionary Grants
The FY 1998 DOJ Appropriations Act language allocates $5 million of the Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing (VOI/TIS) funds for discretionary grants to Indian tribes for the purpose of constructing jails on tribal lands for the incarceration of offenders subject to tribal jurisdiction. For FY 1998, the funds will be used to assist tribes with juvenile detention facilities to keep incarcerated juveniles in culturally sensitive facilities on tribal lands.
Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State Prisoners
CPO also administers the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State Prisoners Formula Grant Program, which assists states and units of local government in developing and implementing residential substance abuse treatment programs in correctional facilities in which prisoners are incarcerated for a period of time sufficient to permit substance abuse treatment. These programs provide individual and group substance abuse treatment for offenders in residential facilities operated by state and local correctional agencies and must: 1) last between six and twelve months; 2) be provided in residential treatment facilities set apart from the general correctional population; 3) focus on the substance abuse problems of the inmate; and 4) develop the inmate's cognitive, behavioral, social, vocational, and other skills to solve the substance abuse and related problems.
Participating states must establish a program of drug and alcohol testing for program participants and must give preference to subgrant applicants that provide aftercare services to program participants. Coordination between corrections and local substance abuse treatment programs is also required.
The appropriation for FY 1998 is $63 million. The distribution of funds is based on a formula that provides each participating state, the District of Columbia, and the territories with a base allocation equal to 0.4 percent of the funds, plus a portion of the remaining funds based on the state's or territory's share of the total prison population for all participating states. The FY 1998 Program Guidance and Application Kit will be issued in January 1998. Applications are due on February 27, 1998; awards will be made 30 days after the application deadline.
Technical Assistance
CPO has developed a comprehensive technical assistance program that includes conferences, workshops, training, and site-specific assistance to assist states with the effective implementation of its grant programs, policy and operations issues related to program implementation, and the impact of the policy changes required to qualify for grant funds.
Technical assistance is available to state, local, and tribal officials and practitioners responsible for making policy decisions related to sentencing, corrections, and substance abuse treatment and for developing and implementing programs related to CPO grants. To respond to the states' needs, CPO established a toll-free Technical Assistance Line (1-800/848-6325), which can be used to request assistance. Technical assistance available from CPO is generally provided without charge to a requesting agency. CPO also has published a Technical Assistance Plan for FY 1998 that will be disseminated to the field. The schedule for CPO conferences, workshops, and training sessions can be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/cpo.