State Justice Statistics Program for Statistical Analysis Center, 2013

This program announcement describes the guidelines and requirements of the FY 2013 State Justice Statistics (SJS) Program for Statistical Analysis Centers (SACs). Since 1972, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and its predecessor agency, the National Criminal Justice Information and Statistics Service, have provided support to state and territorial governments to establish and operate SACs to collect, analyze, and report statistics on crime and justice to federal, state, and local levels of government and to share state-level information nationally. The information produced by SACs and their involvement in criminal justice projects have been, and will continue to be, critical to federal, state, and local criminal justice agencies and community organizations as they develop programs and policies related to crime, illegal drugs, victim services, and the administration of justice. The SJS Program is designed to maintain and enhance each state’s capacity to address criminal justice issues through the collection and analysis of data. The program provides limited funds to coordinate statistical activities within the state, conduct research to estimate the impacts of legislative and policy changes, and serve as a liaison role to assist BJS with gathering data from respondent agencies in their states. Each application for funding under this program must specify the participating organizations in the state and the particular issues to be addressed. Each year, BJS designates specific topics for analysis and encourages applicants to give careful consideration to planning activities that fit within one or more of the designated topics (see section SJS Program Themes). If a SAC does not feel that any of the topics are relevant to its state, then it may identify a topic or statistical activity of critical importance to its jurisdiction. The SJS program themes are selected jointly by BJS, the Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA), and selected SAC directors. The themes reflect the issues of current concern and significance to criminal justice practitioners. JRSA also plays a role in publishing reports based on SJS themes and organizes an annual conference that helps SACs to share the results from their work. Some SJS funding priorities help build the infrastructure that allows SACs to collect and disseminate information to state, national, and international audiences.