Core Function II: Assistance to Tribal, State, and Local Governments

One of the most important roles of the Department of Justice is to provide leadership and support to tribal, state, and local efforts to prevent and control crime. Five Strategic Goals directly related to this key mission are: (1) improving the crime fighting and criminal/juvenile justice system capabilities of tribal, state, and local government; (2) strengthening community policing; (3) supporting community-based strategies to reduce crime, delinquency, and violence; (4) improving services to crime victims; and (5) reducing violence against women.

Strategic Goal 2.1
Improve the crime-fighting and criminal/juvenile justice system capabilities of tribal, state, and local governments.

In helping tribal, state, and local governments improve their capacity to prevent and control crime, the Department focuses on efforts to increase understanding of crime and justice issues, to share critical research and statistical information, and to provide needed financial and technical support. FY 1999 Performance Goals specifically addressed research and evaluation activities, financial assistance provided under the Byrne formula grant program, efforts to improve the criminal and juvenile justice systems in Indian Country, assistance in improving state and local preparedness against domestic terrorism, assistance in dealing with white collar crime, and provision of technical support services, such as fingerprint identification and background checks.

Performance Goal 2.1.1
Research and Evaluation

DOJ will expand and improve its research and statistical gathering efforts in order to advance knowledge of, and provide timely and useful information to, state and local governments on major research and evaluation findings about crime and crime control efforts.

In 1999, the Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) made a concerted effort to make its research and statistical products more useful, accessible, and readily available over the Internet. For example, when police officers doing community policing wanted to survey community residents about police performance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) made available on its web site the Crime Victimization Survey, an innovative desktop survey software package that replicates questions asked of thousands of households by the National Crime Victimization Survey. Police, local governments, and researchers used this new instrument to measure citizen attitudes toward crime, neighborhoods, and local policing services. This cutting-edge software is a major step toward empowering communities to examine crime and its consequences for victims. Other automated tools made available include the 1999 Census of Jails Questionnaires, the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, and the Police Public Contact Survey. BJS also published an array of data collections and reports in 1999 that addressed such topics as school crime and safety, mental health of inmates and probationers, state sex offender registries, and presale handgun checks.

The Department’s research and development arm, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), engaged in a wide variety of research efforts covering all aspects of crime and the criminal justice system. NIJ is charged with developing knowledge that will reduce crime, enhance public safety, and improve the administration of justice. In FY 1999, NIJ research publications addressed such pressing social issues as appropriate use of security technologies in U.S. schools; post-conviction DNA testing; an update on HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, and tuberculosis in correctional facilities; and the latest on drug use among adult and juvenile arrestees. All in all, BJS and NIJ provided more than 2 million research, evaluation, and statistical reports to requesters.

Performance Goal 2.1.1 / Research and Evaluation

Data Source: JUSTNET, NACJD, and BJS’ Criminal Justice Statistics Online.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

The deviation between the targeted and actual number of requests was slight and can be attributed to technical difficulties with the Web tracking software, which resulted in an undercounting of reports and files downloaded. This issue will be resolved by mid-2000.

Performance Goal 2.1.2
Integration of Technology

DOJ will expand efforts to promote integration of technology among state and local criminal justice agencies. Efforts will focus on promoting planning efforts among state and local governments to ensure that law enforcement radio systems will be compatible with digital narrowband radio systems used by Federal law enforcement organizations—Deleted. This Performance Goal was not funded.

Performance Goal 2.1.3
Violent Crime Prevention

DOJ will continue to emphasize both enforcement and prevention strategies to counter youth violence through targeted programs that provide funding and specialized assistance to states and localities.

The Department encourages states and local entities to adopt promising programs with proven successes, promoting replication of best practices through information dissemination (publications and conferences), training, and financial and technical assistance. Under the Byrne Formula Grant program in 1999, BJA funded 18 grant projects to replicate promising program models to help states develop multi-year plans and improve operations. The Byrne projects had several significant achievements in 1999.

Select Byrne Project Achievements—1999

• Boys and Girls Clubs expanded to serve 3 million youth in 2,260 clubs nationwide, including clubs for military families and Native American communities.
  
  
• "National Night Out" in 1999 involved more than 32 million people in more than 10,000 communities.
  
  
• Model court systems were developed for mentally impaired offenders.
  
  
• Law enforcement agencies received training to deal with cybercrime issues.
  
  
• Alaska Native villages received technical assistance to conduct community analysis and community problem solving through the Alaska Native Technical Assistance and Resource Center.

Performance Goal 2.1.3 / Byrne Grants to Support Drug Control and Violent Crime Prevention

*OJP has determined that this measurement cannot be validated. OJP anticipates developing a new indicator for the next budget cycle that will more effectively and accurately measure performance.
Data Source: OJP internal files.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

(1) BJA’s awarding of 18 grant projects to replicate promising program models in FY 1999 fell 2 short of its target. Because the performance goal was set at an approximate target level and the deviation is slight, overall program performance was not compromised.

Performance Goal 2.1.4
Indian Country

DOJ will focus on criminal and juvenile justice system improvements in Indian Country.

As part of the President’s Indian Country Law Enforcement Initiative, the Department provided financial assistance to support law enforcement improvements in tribal communities. Under the Tribal Resources Grant Program, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) awarded $25 million to 137 different tribal agencies. These grants funded additional law enforcement officers, training, and equipment. Under the Construction of Correctional Facilities in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities Grant Program, OJP provided more than $24 million to support the construction of detention facilities in Indian Country. Under the Tribal Courts Program, OJP anticipates awarding about 70 grants by mid-2000. A key part of the President’s Initiative is to make the most of Indian Country resources by sharing information and coordinating efforts .

CIRCLE Surrounds Public Safety

Included in the overall initiative to improve law enforcement in Indian Country is the CIRCLE (Comprehensive Indian Resources for Community and Law Enforcement) program, which evaluates the most effective ways to address public safety. CIRCLE also promotes intertribal exchange of ideas and experiences and fosters coordination among tribes for more efficient use of resources. OJP awarded more than $16 million to three tribes to serve as CIRCLE demonstration sites: the Pueblo of Zuni in Arizona, the Northern Cheyenne Nation in Montana, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.

Performance Goal 2.1.4 / Indian Country

*Grants were awarded in FY 1999 for the construction of detention facilities. These grants are for a 2-year period. We are projecting that 68 detention beds will be constructed by the end of FY 2000.
Data Source: (1) CMS. (2) OJP internal files.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target.

(1) While the target of 200 grants to tribes was not met, the shortfall of 11 grants is considered a slight deviation that does not affect overall program performance. Eleven additional applicants had outstanding compliance issues on previous COPS grants that could not be resolved but that will not adversely affect long-term implementation of the Indian Country Initiative.

Performance Goal 2.1.5
Improve Domestic Preparedness

DOJ will provide training and grants for the procurement of equipment to improve the Nation’s capacity to respond to terrorist incidents involving weapons of mass destruction.

Federal leadership in counterterrorism training and equipment acquisition helps prepare state and local public safety agencies to respond to the increasing threat of chemical and biological attacks related to domestic terrorism. In 1999, dollars aimed at improving counterterrorism efforts went to several entities (see Figure 11). OJP’s Office of State and Local Domestic Preparedness (OSLDPS) made great strides in providing comprehensive training programs for first responders through technical assistance and a basic-level equipment program for states and localities. A unique approach is the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP), Fort McClellan, Alabama, which allows OSLDPS to offer advanced-level counterterrorism courses to the full spectrum of first responder personnel, including firefighters, emergency medical personnel, Hazardous Material (HAZMAT) units, and law enforcement officials. The CDP is one of five members of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, which brings a unique set of assets to OJP’s domestic preparedness initiative .

Consortium Formed to Fight Domestic Terrorism

The National Domestic Preparedness Consortium provides an established body of expertise as well as the ability to deliver specialized training to the emergency response community. Consortium members, excluding the CDP, are as follows: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (National Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center), Louisiana State University (National Center for Bio-Medical Research and Training), Texas A&M University (National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center), and U.S. Department of Energy’s Nevada Test Site (National Exercise, Test, and Training Center). In 1999, 1,672 first responders were trained at these four consortium sites. More than 40 percent of these were law enforcement officers and trainers.

Figure 11
Counterterrorism Funding to State and Local Governments FY 1999

Source: Office of Justice Programs

Performance Goal 2.1.5 / Improve Domestic Preparedness

*More than 700 law enforcement officers were trained. The rest were firefighters, emergency medical personnel, and HAZMAT units.
Data Source: OJP internal files.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

(1) The deviation between the targeted and actual number of training sessions conducted was slight and did not affect overall program performance.
(2) Previously, this indicator included training by other consortium members. This year’s figure reflects only CDP training.
(3) All of the 1999 equipment grants have not yet been awarded because of program development delays. OJP anticipates awarding the remaining 70 equipment grants by June 2000.

Performance Goal 2.1.6
New Technologies and Unusual Crime Problems

Support improved criminal and juvenile justice capabilities at the state and local levels by providing high-quality training, research, evaluation, and assistance with new technologies, and, if requested, direct operational support for resolving unusual crime problems.

The development of new technologies, such as the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), supports the Department’s mission of providing support and assistance to the Nation’s law enforcement community and other organizations through high-quality communications, computing, and data storage and retrieval technologies. A significant accomplishment in 1999 was the FBI’s successful transition from the old manual fingerprint card system to IAFIS, which processes electronic fingerprint data received directly from the submitting agency and from the FBI's Card Scanning Service. IAFIS has reduced processing time from days to 2 hours for criminal and 24 hours for civil, providing law enforcement and other users with timely information on an individual's criminal history status.

Performance Goal 2.1.6(a) / New Technologies and Unusual Crime Problems

*In the 1999 Summary Performance Plan, this indicator was intended to measure response times under the new IAFIS system. However, IAFIS came on-line at the end of July 1999 and was operational for only 2 months during the fiscal year (August and September). As a result, this indicator has been adjusted to reflect planned and actual response time overall. Response times under IAFIS will be reported in FY 2000.
Data Source: (1) IDAS.

The Department also supports state and local efforts to prevent, investigate, and prosecute white collar crimes. In 1999, OJP resources trained 1,301 criminal justice and regulatory personnel in computer crime, exceeding the target of 1,200. BJA’s National White Collar Crime Center funded 24 multistate investigations, exceeding the 1999 target of 22.

Performance Goal 2.1.6(b) / New Technologies and Unusual Crime Problems

Data Source: (2) and (3) OJP internal files.

Performance Goal 2.1.7
National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)

DOJ will use the NICS to assist state and local law enforcement in performing criminal background checks of prospective firearms purchasers, as provided by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.

Successfully initiated in November 1998, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System identifies individuals legally prohibited from purchasing firearms, such as people with criminal histories and those served with dishonorable discharges or restraining orders. In FY 1999, FBI NICS checks denied firearm purchases to 62,189 individuals having a disqualifying record. As of October 1, 1999, all states participate in NICS.

To improve the quality, timeliness, and immediate accessibility of criminal history and related records, the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) helps states meet Federal and state requirements through funding and technical assistance. Established in 1995, NCHIP also provides funds and technical assistance to support the interface between states and national record systems, including the FBI’s NICS, the National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR), and the National Protective Order File, which facilitates compliance with Federal full faith and credit requirements. In 1999, BJS awarded a total of nearly $43 million under the NCHIP program to all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Performance Goal 2.1.7 / National Instant Criminal Background Check System

*This includes people who were disqualified for having criminal histories, dishonorable discharges, or restraining orders.
Data Source: (1) NICS. (2) OJP internal files.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

(1) The planned target number of 133,566 persons with criminal records prevented from purchasing firearms assumed the FBI would conduct NICS checks for all states and territories. However, it presently performs these checks for only 27 states and territories and long gun purchases for only 11 states, which explains the significant target shortfall. (The remaining states/territories use the NICS system as well as their own proprietary databases to determine whom to deny the privilege of purchasing a firearm. States must give 30 days notice before choosing to perform these checks on their own.) The FBI is adjusting outyear targets accordingly.

Strategic Goal 2.2
Strengthen and improve community police services.

In 1999, the COPS Office awarded nearly $900 million in grants for 18,167 additional officers on the streets, bringing the ranks of community policing officers funded since 1994 to 103,720 officers. The COPS Office, therefore, fulfilled a key element of its mission in FY 1999—funding its 100,000th community policing officer 1 year ahead of schedule. As of April 1999, more than 55,000 COPS-funded law enforcement officers were on the Nation’s streets.

The COPS Office worked to ensure that officers hired under its grant programs were properly trained and retained beyond the term of the initial Federal grant, so that quality officers remain on the streets. It also provided technology capabilities to local police departments. This Strategic Goal includes one Performance Goal that addresses several aspects of community policing.

Performance Goal 2.2.1
Community Policing

DOJ, through the COPS program, will advance the implementation of community policing

Working in partnership with OJP and the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education, COPS awarded grants under the presidential-sponsored Safe Schools, Healthy Students Initiative. It developed two grant programs—School-Based Partnerships and Cops-In-Schools—to address school-related crime and school violence. The School-Based Partnerships program provides funds to local law enforcement agencies, schools, and community-based organizations that together use the problem-solving techniques of community policing to address crime in and around schools. The Cops-In-Schools program provides funding for law enforcement agencies to permanently place school resource officers in local schools. In FY 1999, COPS awarded $196 million through the two programs and funded 1,550 school resource officers.

Training and technical assistance remains critical to helping grantees strengthen and improve community policing. In FY 1999, the Regional Community Policing Institutes (RCPIs) and Community Policing Consortium, both funded by the COPS Office, trained approximately 50,000 citizens and officers on such community policing topics as problem-solving partnerships, organizational change management, strategic implementation, rural community policing and technology, and special populations. In addition, the RCPIs offered specialized courses in cultural diversity, violence prevention, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and crime mapping, and collaboration with corrections. In FY 1999, the COPS Office asked the RCPIs to develop plans to continue community policing absent Federal funding.

Performance Goal 2.2.1 / Community Policing

*In the FY 2001 Summary Performance Plan, these indicators are deleted and replaced by (1) the number of officers funded and (2) the number of officers on the street.
Data Source: COPS Management System.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

(1) The goal of distributing 12,000 packages of materials was not achieved because the final production and distribution of a racial profiling training tape was delayed to ensure that it included relevant information generated from the Attorney General’s conference (June 1999) on police integrity.

(2) A key factor in not meeting this 1999 target was the withdrawal of some 800 agencies as a result of aggressive program management by the COPS Office. COPS continued to contact agencies that had previously been awarded grants but had not taken action to accept the award or to hire officers. For a variety of reasons, some agencies felt it was preferable to withdraw from the program. Also, throughout the year, COPS found that the majority of applications were from agencies that had already received COPS grants. Consequently, even though the number of grants awarded and officers funded was largely as projected, this circumstance did not translate into new agencies receiving grants. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the $75,000 maximum per officer may discourage some new agencies with higher salary and benefit costs from applying.

Strategic Goal 2.3
Support innovative, community-based strategies aimed at reducing crime, delinquency, and violence in our communities.

Through a focus on problem-solving, strong community linkages, and community-based alternatives to crime and justice, the Department is committed to making America’s communities safer and better places to live. In 1999, the Department continued to assist state and local governments with community-based initiatives and local strategies that give citizens a real opportunity to solve problems. Strategies to fight crime and reduce racial and ethnic tensions embraced the concept of community justice in an effort to build community capacity, reduce violence, and prevent crime, focusing on bringing together the community’s leadership and citizens to make neighborhoods safer. Through the efficient and effective operations of drug courts and community-based programs such as Weed and Seed, the Department fostered community cooperation and provided innovative alternatives to crime and delinquency. This Strategic Goal includes three Performance Goals that address responding to racial and ethnic tensions in communities, community-based approaches to crime and justice, and drug courts.

Performance Goal 2.3.1
Responding to Racial and Ethnic Tensions in Communities

DOJ will play a more active role in assisting communities to respond to and resolve racial and ethnic tension. Through the Community Relations Service (CRS), DOJ will provide conflict resolution services, conflict prevention and resolution training, and technical assistance to communities.

Through CRS, the Department continues to provide specialized Federal conflict resolution and violence prevention services to state and local officials to help resolve and prevent racial and ethnic conflict, violence, and civil disorder. CRS helps local officials and residents tailor locally defined resolutions when conflict and violence threaten communities. It is the only Federal agency dedicated to preventing and resolving racial and ethnic tensions, incidents, and civil disorders. In FY 1999, CRS assisted state and local governments, private and public organizations, and community groups in resolving conflicts, preventing violence, and restoring community racial stability.

Performance Goal 2.3.1 / Responding to Racial and Ethnic Tensions in Communities

Data Source: CRSIS.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

(1) The actual number of cases ameliorated through mediation and/or conciliation services fell short of the target by 18 cases, a slight deviation. This shortfall did not adversely affect the overall program or its related activities.

Performance Goal 2.3.2
Community-Based Approaches to Crime and Justice

DOJ will continue to encourage community-based approaches to crime and justice at the state and local level.

The Department’s flagship neighborhood program is Weed and Seed, a community-based, multidisciplinary approach to combating crime. Weed and Seed supports law enforcement initiatives to "weed out" drug dealing, gang activity, and violent offenders in a particular area. Seeding activities range from prevention activities located in Safe Havens to physical improvements and economic development. Many positive community changes have occurred as part of the Weed and Seed program.

Weed and Seed Secures Shelter for Domestic Violence Victims

In the Eastern District of California, as part of the Weed and Seed initiative, a residential home and real property forfeited in a February 1999 Federal drug case, was transferred to a social service agency that will operate the property as a shelter for women and children victims of domestic violence.

In 1999, Abt Associates, under a grant from NIJ, completed a national evaluation of Weed and Seed that found the program to be a strong stimulant to community coalition building.⁹ It also found varying effectiveness of "weeding and seeding" activities across the eight sites it studied, noting significant favorable effects of Weed and Seed on key outcome measures for some sites and time periods. Although the evidence is modest in terms of its statistical significance, the indicators consistently point in favorable directions. With assistance from NIJ, the Executive Office of Weed and Seed (EOWS) will enhance its data collection and performance assessment capacity so that existing sites can better evaluate the effectiveness of their Weed and Seed strategies.

On the down side, the evaluation noted the limited and tenuous role that many local prosecutors play in the weeding process. A number of local prosecutors reported they simply lack the funding and personnel to conduct enhanced prosecutions generated by more aggressive policing activities. Recognizing the value of Weed and Seed, U.S. Attorneys have stepped up their involvement with Weed and Seed sites in their districts. At the end of FY 1999, 81 districts had used the U.S. Attorneys’ Weed and Seed fund to help develop, train, and sponsor community activities associated with the programs in their districts. More than $3 million has been allocated to the fund since 1996, and more than $2.7 million has been expended. OJP representatives and U.S. Attorneys on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee met during 1999 to discuss how to further the U.S. Attorneys’ role in community efforts such as Weed and Seed.

Performance Goal 2.3.2 / Community-Based Approaches to Crime and Justice

*The previous 1997 actual of 74% was a clerical error.
**Data for this indicator are based on customer surveys, the results of which will not be available until FY 2000. EOWS is working with NIJ to design a new program element that will provide credible ethnographic documentation of local Weed and Seed experience, which will lead to improvements in performance measurements. At the same time, during 1999, the General Accounting Office (GAO) prepared a report discussing ways the program can improve progress measurement of Weed and Seed sites. As a result, EOWS proposes to (1) help sites improve their capacity to do small-scale evaluations by providing technical assistance and (2) look at 22 different variables, such as household income, truancy rates, new business startups, home ownership, unemployment, out-of-wedlock births, and other measures to get a better sense of the impact Weed and Seed has had at its 200 sites.
Data Source: EOWS.

Performance Goal 2.3.3
Drug Courts

DOJ will expand its Drug Courts Initiative. We expect an increase in the number of drug courts participants who will not commit other crimes while participating in the program.

Drug courts are another effective strategy for reducing drug-related crime. By combining supervision with sanctions, drug testing, treatment, and an array of other services, drug courts encourage nonviolent, drug-abusing offenders to stop the cycle of drug use and crime. In addition, drug courts save money by reducing the use of jail space and probation services, as well as the number of drug-addicted babies born to addict mothers. Drug courts achieved several notable outcomes in FY 1999 .

Drug Courts— Noteworthy Outcomes

Nationwide, for all drug courts:¹⁰

• More than 140,000 offenders enrolled in drug courts to get the supervision and treatment they need to stop abusing drugs and committing crimes.
  
  
• More than 4,500 parents have become current in their child support payments after participating in a drug court program.
  
  
• More than 850 drug-free babies were reported born to drug court participants in the 415 operational drug courts in the United States. Had these mothers continued to use drugs and given birth to drug-addicted infants, by the time these children turned 18, costs related to hospital care, foster care, and special education could reach $750,000.

While many courts and treatment providers like the drug court concept, they have little experience with the rethinking and effort required to carry out this approach to managing offenders. Additionally, court administrators and judges have trouble knowing which questions to ask about program impact, as noted in the recent U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) report on drug courts.¹¹ These issues can best be addressed through training and technical assistance designed to promote and support best practices in developing, implementing, evaluating, and institutionalizing drug courts.

Another issue is that drug courts have generated only limited research and evaluation, both locally and nationally. To address this problem, the Drug Court Program Office (DCPO) and NIJ are conducting research on treatment in drug courts to see whether what appears to be working day to day is actually working over the long term. In 1997, NIJ awarded Drug Court Evaluation Program I grants to study four drug courts—Las Vegas, Nevada; Portland, Oregon; Kansas City, Missouri; and Pensacola, Florida. The purpose was to examine "process" issues, such as the operational features of the courts and the dynamics of program development. In 1999, NIJ awarded Drug Court Evaluation Program II grants to evaluate the 16 drug courts receiving 1995-96 implementation grants from DCPO.

This phase will look more closely at program outcomes. From 1995 through 1999, OJP funded more than 250 drug courts—60 percent of the 415 operational drug courts in the United States. For the first time, all 50 states have a funded drug court, and more than 200 drug courts are in the planning stage.

Performance Goal 2.3.3 / Drug Courts

Data Source: (1) Drug Court Clearinghouse survey of grantees. (2) Drug Court Clearinghouse survey of all operational drug courts.

Strategic Goal 2.4
Uphold the rights of and improve services to America’s crime victims.

One of the key principles of community justice is to protect the rights of all Americans by making the justice system more responsive and fair, stressing victims’ rights and the prevention of crime. Accordingly, this Strategic Goal includes two Performance Goals that address Crime Victims Fund (CVF) programs and crime victimization and prevention programs.

Performance Goal 2.4.1
Crime Victims Fund Programs

DOJ will continue full implementation of programs supported through the Crime Victims’ Fund, as well as other initiatives designed to ensure the safety of, and assistance to, all victims and witnesses.

In 1999, the Department’s focus on victim services in the correctional field continued to emphasize development and replication of promising practices through support for long-term demonstration projects and promotion of promising victim services programs already in place. Overall, correctional agencies adopted 10 promising practices related to victim/witness assistance, meeting the 1999 target for this indicator.

Performance Goal 2.4.1 / Crime Victims Fund Programs

*This indicator has been discontinued and will not appear in subsequent reports.
**Information for these indicators is from the National Evaluation of Victims of Crime Act Compensation and Assistance Program, The Urban Institute.
Data Source: Grantee progress reports.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

An evaluation by the Urban Institute shows that 84 percent of states developed long-range funding strategies for victims’ programs in 1999, and 84 percent implemented needs assessments to identify gaps in victim services. Although these results fell slightly short of 1999 targets, overall program and activity performance was not affected. In fact, since 1997, overall progress by states in implementing these two major reforms has been dramatic and is due largely to Federal leadership and training and to technical assistance programs sponsored by OJP.

Performance Goal 2.4.2
Child Victimization and Prevention Programs

DOJ will expand child victimization prevention programs, such as the Missing Children’s Program and the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program.

The Missing and Exploited Children’s program of OJP’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) strives to reduce crimes against children, particularly kidnapping and sexual exploitation, and to improve the criminal justice, social services, and treatment systems responsible for dealing with these crimes. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), each year in America approximately 900,000 children are reported missing. To report a missing child and to get help in their search, families and law enforcement agencies use the NCMEC hotline, which operates around the clock in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Many missing children are runaways, while others are taken by noncustodial parents and often used as pawns in custody battles; some wander away and are unable to find their way home, and others are victims of child predators. In 1999, approximately 47,400 law enforcement and other personnel received training in missing and exploited children’s issues, well above the 1999 target of 40,000 trainees.

The Department also surpassed goals for all indicators under the CASA program in 1999. The CASA program is a national program that supports volunteer advocates who represent abused and neglected children’s interests in court. In 1999, CASA served 906 jurisdictions across the United States. This number reflects a significant increase from the 810 jurisdictions served in 1998. CASA programs are now established in jurisdictions where 72 percent of the U.S. population resides. Similarly, the number of children served increased by more than 10,000 in 1999. These two program outcomes, along with a greater number of state and local CASA programs, demonstrate CASA’s significant national impact.

Performance Goal 2.4.2 / Child Victimization and Prevention Programs

*The FY 1999 Summary Performance Plan mistakenly referred to the Missing Children’s program in this indicator.
Data Source: (1) Fox Valley Technical College. (2) NCMEC, per MCI-WorldCom reports. (3) and (4) Results of CASA programs survey for that year.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

(2) NCMEC received 125,169 hotline calls in FY 1999, 10 percent fewer than the goal. This shortfall stems from the fact that the number of hotline calls depends on uncontrollable external factors, such as citizen and law enforcement reports and requests for technical assistance.

Strategic Goal 2.5
Reduce the incidence of violence against women.

Domestic violence is a continuing threat to the fabric of America’s families. And the statistics are staggering. Of women who reported being raped or physically assaulted since the age of 18, three-quarters were victimized by a current or former husband, cohabitating partner, date, or boyfriend.¹² Forty percent of girls age 14 to 17 report knowing someone their age who has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend,¹³ and husbands or boyfriends were identified as the murderers of 32 percent of female victims slain in 1998.¹⁴ Sadly, children are present in nearly half of reported incidents of domestic violence. These statistics and the devastation that domestic violence brings to families call for continued vigilance in pursuing the assailants and bringing them to justice.

In this vein, the U.S. Attorneys’ offices continued their aggressive training and education efforts in 1999, focusing on Federal domestic violence laws, such as the 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) . Districts hosted district- specific and multidistrict conferences to ensure the availability of Federal domestic violence laws as a tool. These efforts have resulted in more than 200 indictments and 140 convictions to date. The partnership between Federal, state, local, and tribal components remains a critical element in the effort to stem this nationwide crime problem.

Prison Term for Batterer Crossing State Lines

In the District of Idaho, a defendant became the first Idahoan sentenced for interstate travel to commit domestic violence under the 1994 Violence Against Women Act. The defendant was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and a $2,000 fine after he pled guilty to charges of battering his domestic partner and burglary with intent to commit assault with a deadly weapon. The defendant was charged under VAWA because he crossed Indian Country boundaries with the intent to commit battery.

This Strategic Goal includes just one Performance Goal addressing the formidable problem of family violence in this Nation.

Performance Goal 2.5.1
Family Violence

DOJ will continue to develop and expand programs and services that target the reduction of the incidence and consequences of family violence, including domestic violence and child victimization.

OJP’s Violence Against Women Office (VAWO) helps communities improve their response to violence against women— domestic violence, stalking, and domestic assault. Under the STOP (Services, Training, Officers, Prosecutors) formula grant program, funds are provided to state governments for use by governmental and nonprofit agencies to improve victim services and to develop and strengthen law enforcement strategies. A recent report by the Urban Institute found that STOP monies have a positive impact on the experience of women victims of violence in the criminal and other service systems. It also found that these monies foster cohesion and collaboration among service providers. According to subgrantees interviewed by the Urban Institute evaluators, victims are now safer, better supported, and better treated. VAWO also provides discretionary STOP funds to help tribal governments. The Northern Cheyenne Special Prosecutors Unit illustrates the work they are doing . In 1999, a total of 137 states, localities, and Indian tribal governments introduced coordinated justice approaches addressing violent crimes against women.

Tribal Governments Make Strides in Curbing Domestic Violence

The Northern Cheyenne Special Prosecutors Unit has a 90-percent conviction rate and is responsible for sharp declines in domestic violence incidents among a population of 6,000 people. The success of this unit can be attributed in part to the following:

• Revision of the Tribal Code, fundamental to increasing prosecutions.
  
  
• Training of personnel to properly handle domestic violence cases.
  
  
• Adoption of a pro-prosecution policy, which is also changing social tolerance of domestic violence.
  
  
• Coordination with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Attorney’s office, crucial to the successful transfer of cases.

In FY 1999, OJP/VAWO grant programs addressed family violence issues by encouraging coordinated community responses and by reaching out to underserved populations. For example:

• The Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies program encourages jurisdictions to implement mandatory or proarrest policies as part of a coordinated community response to domestic violence. In 1999, 52 new grantees received funding, leading to several outstanding projects with notable success at the local level.
  
  
• The Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement grant program funds projects to improve and increase services available to women and children and to encourage community involvement in responding to domestic violence and mistreatment of children. In 1999, 68 new jurisdictions received funding to provide services to previously underserved populations in rural communities.

Rural Victim Assistance Program Targets Ethnic Communities

Missoula County, Montana, supports a victim assistance satellite program in isolated Seeley Lake, educating the public and providing legal advocacy, crisis counseling, and transportation to victims of domestic violence. In 1999, Missoula expanded its rural program by reaching out to people in the Hmong and Russian communities, using this same grassroots model. The project team is translating and developing materials, teaching domestic violence classes, talking with community members and elders, and providing direct services to battered women and their children.

Also in 1999, 28 new jurisdictions received funding to implement new polices and procedures on sex offender management. VAWO is developing a comprehensive training curriculum for managing sex offenders in communities and is providing technical assistance to two tribal resource sites: the Navajo Nation in Arizona and the Yankton-Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, which are now providing services to other tribes.

Performance Goal 2.5.1 / Family Violence

*This indicator has been discontinued and will not appear in subsequent reports.
Data Source: VAWO internal files.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

(2) and (4) Grant programs created by VAWA require that changes be made and institutionalized throughout local and state criminal justice systems (e.g., creation of special units within police departments, enhanced victims’ services, domestic violence courts, and new information systems to gather cumulative data on the impact of VAWA). These changes cannot be accomplished in 1 or even 2 year’s time. Most jurisdictions requested continuation funds for 2 and 3 years running to let them sustain and enhance the systemic change that the grant programs require.