Deaths in Custody Reporting Program and Annual Survey of Jails, 2016-2020

This solicitation covers research and data-collection activities for the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP) and the Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ), two of the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) annual data collections on the U.S. correctional system. This award will cover project activities spanning 5 data collection years, 2016–2020, and 5 fiscal years. Work will begin October 1, 2015, and end September 30, 2020. This marks the first time the two programs will be competed together.The ASJ and DCRP are BJS’s flagship data collections measuring the size and composition of local jail populations each year. The two collections complement each other by obtaining administrative data to describe and compare the jail population over time. The ASJ, a sample survey, is conducted in years between the Census of Jail Facilities and is used to estimate the number and characteristics of jail inmates. The DCRP data collection has two components. From local jails, BJS collects individual-level data on inmates who died in jails and the circumstances of their deaths, as well as jail-level population data. The population component of the DCRP is used to produce jail population data and calculate jail mortality rates. From state prisons, BJS collects individual-level data on decedents only. Prison population data is culled from existing BJS prison databases. BJS is authorized to issue this solicitation under 42 U.S.C. § 3732(c).