Strategic Initiatives Unit

The Oregon SAA's office reached out regarding language access TA. In collaboration with language access expert Dr. Omara Rivera-Vasquez, the Center for Justice Planning is developing a technical assistance initiative tailored to the specific needs of states and territories to address language access.

Received a question from the CA Office of State Public Defender regarding if Byrne JAG funds going to state entities. NCJA clarified that some states choose to allow competitive JAG funds to go to state agencies, such as indigent defense commissions, however, it is entirely up to the state and isn't a JAG requirement, it's a policy determined by each state.

The Nebraska Crime Commission, in collaboration with NCJA, conducted a statewide justice system needs assessment survey to evaluate the needs of their stakeholders, including new and prospective Byrne JAG recipients. Nebraska's unique geographic landscape enabled the survey to reach rural and tribal communities, aligning with their goal to strengthen engagement with these populations. The survey will serve as a critical component in shaping the state’s JAG strategic planning process.

The SAA out of American Samoa requested assistance in the development of a stakeholder needs assessment survey for their upcoming JAG strategic plan. Specifically, they requested help in developing the questions, formatting the survey and analyzing it on the backend. In conjunction with the SAA, NCJA staff designed a stakeholder survey and the AS SAA distributed the survey on November 20, 2024. The survey will close on February 28th.

The SAA out of DC requested assistance in the development of a stakeholder needs assessment survey for their upcoming JAG strategic plan. Specifically, they requested help in developing the questions, formatting the survey and analyzing it on the backend. In conjunction with the SAA, NCJA staff designed a stakeholder survey and the DC SAA distributed the survey on November 8, 2024. The survey closed on December 23rd with 33 responses.

To strengthen our relationship with U.S. territories, I reached out to the U.S. Virgin Islands' State Administering Agency (SAA), the Law Enforcement Planning Commission (LEPC), to explore their training and technical assistance (TTA) needs. With LEPC under new leadership, this outreach provided an excellent opportunity to assess island-wide TTA requirements and support their strategic planning goals.

The NGA Public Safety and Legal Counsels team hosted nine monthly briefings for the Criminal Justice Policy Advisors (CJPA) network, with an average of 10 states and territories represented on each call. Topics included human trafficking, homelessness and reentry, mass violence response and criminal justice data systems. Additionally, NGA completed over 52 technical assistance requests responding to inquiries from 22 states and territories.

NCJP Deputy Director Simone Greene and NCJP Program Manager Anica Stieve were in attendance at NACo's Annual Conference. NCJP Deputy Director Simone Greene moderated this panel discussion at the Annual NACo Conference. This session explored examples of collaborative initiatives within county justice systems. By exploring innovative methods through partnerships, community engagement and diverse approaches to funding, the panel provided insights and strategies to drive meaningful improvements while fostering access, resilience and lasting impact.

On the afternoons of October 29-30, the NCJP team hosted a Byrne JAG strategic planning crash course training. This was previously offered in person and was adapted for the virtual setting.

NCJP staff helped MN with a JAG stakeholder needs assessment survey around a year ago. The survey was created in collaboration, disseminated, and then a final report was analyzed and sent over. MN reached out again in September to request that we open the same survey again--specifically, they hoped to gain some additional responses for categories of stakeholders that had low response rates in the first round of survey responses. The survey was opened that month and closed December 31. Currently, the data is being analyzed, and a report is being drafted based on the results.