Second Chance Act State, Local, and Tribal Reentry Courts Grants

The Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) will award grants of up to $500,000 to support the operation of state, local, and tribal reentry courts aimed at successfully reintegrating criminal offenders into society.

The grants, part of the Second Chance Act, support programs that “monitor offenders and provide them with the treatment services needed to establish a self-sustaining and law-abiding life.”

“Modeled after the success of the drug-court approach, reentry courts represent a relatively new form of jurisprudence,” according to BJA. “Focused on the back end of the criminal-justice system, the reentry court is designed to leverage partnerships between courts and corrections to facilitate successful offender reintegration. The concept of the reentry court necessitates considerable cooperation between corrections and local judiciaries, as it requires the coordination of the work of prisons and jails in preparing offenders for release and actively involving community corrections agencies and various community resources in transitioning offenders back into the community through active judicial oversight.”

Application deadline is June 3. Government agencies may apply; programs must be run by corrections agencies and an entity with judicial authority, such as a state or local court, or probation and parole.

For more details, see the full grant announcement online (PDF).