The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles has been awarded a Swift, Certain, and Fair Supervision grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance in the amount of $700,000.
The Bureau’s awarded project is called the Responsive Monitoring of Violent and Sex Offenders Program. The project will focus on recidivism reduction of violent offenders and sex offenders that are moderate to high risk or high needs in six Alabama counties: Jefferson, Madison, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, Etowah and Lee.
Bureau Director Cam Ward said, “Grants like these are another tool we can use to further rehabilitative efforts in Alabama. I’m proud of our staff for earning a resource that can help so many probationers and parolees stay on track.”
The goal of the project is a 50 percent reduction in revocations – or the failure to comply with the terms of supervised release – in each of these six counties using swift, certain, and fair sanctions. The project period for this grant award is four years.
“The Bureau’s Interdisciplinary Grant Team has worked diligently this year to apply for several grant funding opportunities that advance our agency’s core mission. We are excited to receive this award that will provide much needed resources to aid our officers in monitoring and responding to certain high risk and high need offenders,” said Dr. Jessica Gratz, Director of the Bureau’s Data Policy and Research Unit.
These participants will receive intensive supervision and be reprimanded by using a specialized response matrix that will define appropriate responses to both violations and compliance. The matrix will accommodate the current environment and availability of jail sanctions, and incorporate GPS monitoring and house arrest as intermediate sanctions.
More information about the award can be found here.