Byrne Bytes
NCJA, with support from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, is proud to launch the Byrne Bytes social media campaign. Byrne Bytes highlight important programs and services funded by the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program.
States, tribes and local jurisdictions use Byrne JAG funding across the criminal justice system to improve the administration of justice, reduce incarceration, enhance fairness, improve outcomes for the justice-involved, and save taxpayer money. These funds support programming in prevention, diversion, enforcement, courts, prosecution and defense, corrections, victim assistance, mental health and substance use disorder treatment, state crisis intervention programs, and other community-based supports.
Byrne Bytes are brief factoids about the Byrne JAG program and highlight successful programs and practices in states around the country.
To find Byrne Bytes on social media, follow us or look for hashtag #ByrneBytes on NCJA’s Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Byrne Bytes
NCJA, with support from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, is proud to launch the Byrne Bytes social media campaign. Byrne Bytes highlight important programs and services funded by the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program.
States, tribes and local jurisdictions use Byrne JAG funding across the criminal justice system to improve the administration of justice, reduce incarceration, enhance fairness, improve outcomes for the justice-involved, and save taxpayer money. These funds support programming in prevention, diversion, enforcement, courts, prosecution and defense, corrections, victim assistance, mental health and substance use disorder treatment, state crisis intervention programs, and other community-based supports.
Byrne Bytes are brief factoids about the Byrne JAG program and highlight successful programs and practices in states around the country.
To find Byrne Bytes on social media, follow us or look for hashtag #ByrneBytes on NCJA’s Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Byrne Bytes
NCJA, with support from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, is proud to launch the Byrne Bytes social media campaign. Byrne Bytes highlight important programs and services funded by the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program.
States, tribes and local jurisdictions use Byrne JAG funding across the criminal justice system to improve the administration of justice, reduce incarceration, enhance fairness, improve outcomes for the justice-involved, and save taxpayer money. These funds support programming in prevention, diversion, enforcement, courts, prosecution and defense, corrections, victim assistance, mental health and substance use disorder treatment, state crisis intervention programs, and other community-based supports.
Byrne Bytes are brief factoids about the Byrne JAG program and highlight successful programs and practices in states around the country.
To find Byrne Bytes on social media, follow us or look for hashtag #ByrneBytes on NCJA’s Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Who is Your SAA?
Want to apply for funding? Not sure what an SAA is?
Byrne JAG funding is administered by the State Administering Agencies, or SAAs, in all 56 states and territories. Learn more about what the SAA does, visit our primer on the role of the SAA. To find your SAA, visit our Agency Directory.
Saving Lives in KY
Byrne JAG is an important source of funding for Multijurisdictional Drug Task Forces who are fighting the scourge of fentanyl and other illegal substances. This funding allows these task forces to continue enforcement efforts and stem the flow of dangerous drugs while saving lives from overdoses and keeping families and communities safe and healthy. For example, in Kentucky, the Byrne JAG-funded Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force has made
a number of fentanyl arrests while investigating overdoses, leading to a 5 percent decline in overdose deaths across Kentucky. The number of overdose deaths declined for the first time in four years, making Kentucky one of only eight states to see decreases.
At-Risk Youth
Promoting positive interactions between at-risk youth and law enforcement prevents at-risk juveniles from entering or further penetrating the justice system. These prevention and early intervention efforts can include gang prevention and juvenile-focused community engagement programs, anti-bullying, counseling and mentoring initiatives, life skills and job development trainings and safe streets programming.
In Michigan, Byrne JAG funding supports the Westland K-12 Jefferson Barns Learning Lab. The Learning Lab offers after-school and summer tutoring for kids in an at-risk neighborhood. The lab is equipped with tablets, computers, 3D printers, robots and a hydroponics lab and is housed in a space originally allocated for Westland Police Department. It is staffed with certified educators via a partnership with Brain Media Technology and mentors from a local high school and local college’s engineering department. Officers from the Westland PD participate in the lab and interact with the kids. Often the students teach the police what they learn, providing confidence and pride in their technology education.
The Justice System
Byrne JAG is supported by a broad cross-section of the criminal and juvenile justice systems, including representatives from impacted communities, who recognize the central role Byrne JAG plays in preventing victimization, supporting innovative law enforcement practices, advancing the fair administration of and access to justice, serving and protecting crime victims, improving outcomes for the justice-involved, interrupting the
cycle of crime, and leveraging other federal, state, local and
private dollars in the balanced functioning of the criminal justice system.
Reducing Incarceration
Pennsylvania is home to the country's first Stepping Up Technical Assistance Center. Originally funded by Byrne JAG, this TA Center helps counties participating in the Stepping Up Initiative with obtaining accurate baseline data on the number of people with mental illness in county jails, develops customized implementation plans and strategies, sets progress goals and assists in achieving results in reducing disproportionate incarceration of individuals with mental
illness. In addition to direct technical assistance, the center provides counties with peer-to-peer interactions and offers resources and opportunities to connect with national experts on promising practices.
Information Sharing
Byrne JAG funding requires states to undertake a strategic planning process that guides the use of these funds. The strategic planning process is a systematic way for an organization to set priorities, focus resources, ensure all stakeholders are working toward common goals, establish a process for evaluating planning processes and priority outcomes, adjust direction, and adapt within a changing environment. Byrne JAG strategic plans are required every five
years and outline each state’s planning process and identify key priorities and goals for the funding. To learn more about strategic planning, listen to the strategic planning episode of The NCJA Podcast, which discusses the who, what, how and why of strategic planning and highlights the basic steps for creating an effective plan.
Responding to Violence
Byrne JAG funding is crucial to supporting information sharing and improving data systems, particularly for cross-agency collaboration. When it comes to gang-related investigations and prosecution, many law enforcement agencies work in silos, with little knowledge of gang activity outside of their jurisdiction. One program, funded in part by Byrne JAG, aims to track gang members and their crimes, and overall, to track any movement by the organizations and ensure connections can
be made between and across cases. Georgia developed a gang intelligence platform using Byrne JAG funding that allows law enforcement to input elements of crimes. On the backend, prosecutors and law enforcement can search and identify other crimes, both locally and statewide, that have similar characteristics. The platform is available in 15-20 counties with a goal to expand. As of 2018, 25,000 connections had been made across case files.
Responding to Violence
Byrne JAG is a critical resource for preventing and responding to gun violence and other forms of violent crime in urban and rural communities. The funds provide law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and public defenders with resources to implement innovative approaches to violence prevention and intervention, to improve the criminal justice system and build trust within their communities. The grants also allow law enforcement and prosecutor collaboration within communities and across
states to target regional drug trafficking organizations and other cross-boundary crimes.
Supporting Reentry
Targeting reentry services with an age and gender-responsive focus reduces recidivism rates. Connecticut used Byrne JAG funding to implement WORTH (Women Overcoming Recidivism Through Hard Work), a first-of-its-kind unit in the York Correctional Institution, Connecticut’s sole female-only prison. WORTH is an innovative housing unit designed to meet the unique needs of young adult women aged 18 to 25. The progressive curriculum was largely developed by the program’s
founding members and is designed to help women acquire and maintain the necessary skills to become successful following their release. The program has a restorative justice focus and a strong emphasis on family engagement and community involvement. Participants live alongside older mentors where they benefit from supportive staff and specialized services. The WORTH unit was featured on The NCJA Podcast.
Supporting Innovation
One of the hallmarks of the Byrne JAG program is its capacity for supporting innovative programs that later find alternative funding sources. The New Hampshire Manchester Safe Station Initiative was started with Byrne JAG funds during the opioid crisis, allowing individuals struggling with substance misuse to walk into a Manchester fire station seeking help. First responders checked vitals, referred the individual to a local hospital or provided care, if needed, and connected the person
with recovery and support services. As of late 2021, after 8,000 walk-ins, services transitioned to Doorway of Greater Manchester. Doorway receives funding from a State Opioid Response (SOR) grant.
What is Byrne JAG?
Byrne JAG funding supports programs and practices in every state and a broad cross-section of local communities, from large urban areas to smaller townships and rural counties. Funds are awarded by a formula based on each state’s population and crime rate. Sixty percent of a state’s allocation is awarded to the state criminal justice planning agency (known as the State Administering Agency, or SAA) which, in turn, makes the funding available to local governments and
Reducing Recidivism
Proper support and services are integral to ensuring these individuals returning to the community can live productive and fruitful lives. For individuals released from state prisons, recidivism rates average 68% within the first 3 years of release and 83% at 9 years post-release. Byrne JAG funds the Unlocking Doors program in Dallas, Texas which functions as a statewide reentry brokerage network to help individuals released from incarceration or living within the community on probation.
Clients, who can be referred through the Texas Department of Criminal Justice receive an individualized action plan and risk/needs assessment during the intake phase of the process; after intake, clients are referred to needed services and resources. The program collects data from clients as they work through their reentry plans to ascertain primary challenges and needs.
Who is Edward Byrne?
Named in honor of Officer Edward Byrne who was killed in the line of duty, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (Byrne JAG ) provides states, tribes, and local governments with critical funding necessary to support a range of program areas including law enforcement, prosecution, indigent defense, courts, crime prevention and education, corrections and community corrections, drug treatment and enforcement, planning, evaluation, technology improvement,
crime victim and witness initiatives, mental health programs and related law enforcement and corrections programs, including behavioral programs and crisis intervention teams, and implementation of state crisis intervention programs or initiatives.
Helping States Innovate
What is the Funding For?
Byrne JAG Funds Diversion
Byrne JAG and Specialty Courts
Promoting Public Safety
Helping Ohio Find Hope
Reducing Recidivism
Paving the Way for Reentry
Protecting Public Safety
Byrne JAG and Restorative Justice
Can Byrne JAG Reduce Recidivism?
Byrne JAG and Crime Prevention
Byrne JAG is Collaborative
Law Enforcement Training
Curbing Gun Violence
Supporting Communities
Byrne JAG is Local
Funding CJ Reform
Funding Deflection
Who is Your SAA?
This series was created with the support of Grant No. 2019-YA-BX-K002 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the SMART Office, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions are those of the authors.