Meet the Center for Justice Planning Team!

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the NCJA Center for Justice Planning (NCJP) team’s State Administering Agency (SAA) newsletter! This newsletter will reach your inbox every month; tune in for short blurbs on promising programs, practices and resources; a short poll relevant to your work as an SAA; upcoming events and opportunities; NCJP staff-recommended resources and media and key releases you may have missed. 

Since fall officially started on September 23, get to know the NCJP team by reading about their favorite fall activities. For full bios, click on the team member’s name. To find your program manager, view the color-coded map below ( Key: Allison, Simone, Demaxia, Jessica and Amanda) or click here. 

Picking pumpkins with her three-year-old son, Saul, is Director Allison Badger's favorite fall activity.

Deputy Director Simone Greene debates whether fall ever hits the deep south, but her favorite fall(ish) activity is going to haunted houses.

Although Program Manager Amanda Blasko supports watching horror movies during all times of the year, there is nothing quite like watching a terrifying film in the newly dark evening hours.

Program Manager Demaxia Wray's favorite fall activity is dressing up in cozy sweats and drinking a warm fall-inspired drink.

Apple picking is Program Manager Jessica Grisler’s favorite fall-time activity.

New From the NCJA Center for Justice Planning

Every two years, the NCJP team asks SAAs how they spent the formula portion of their Byrne JAG money in a particular federal fiscal year. We are pleased to announce the newly released fact sheet on Byrne JAG spending during federal fiscal year 2020 (FFY2020)!

For the data collection in the federal fiscal year 2020, Byrne JAG allocation data was received through a Survey Monkey link. Additionally, NCJP staff conducted interviews with each state and created a document that describes the overall story of Byrne JAG and the wide variety of projects it can fund. Click here to learn more about FFY2020 state JAG spending. 

The NCJP team will begin the federal fiscal year 2022 (FFY2022) data collection process soon. Please stay tuned, as we will be reaching out to all the Byrne JAG SAAs to schedule interviews. We look forward to hearing about how you administer Byrne JAG and the programs you fund and learning more about your challenges and how we can provide TTA to meet your needs.

In Case You Missed It

Listen to the most recent episode of the NCJA Podcast and hear about a capacity-building program for community-based organizations run by the Illinois SAA. 

Our most recent NCJA Innovation Lab has come to an end! Read the final report, which details findings and recommendations from your fellow SAAs on innovating within the Byrne JAG law enforcement program area. The lab discussed ideas for innovation within the grants administration cycle and innovation within programming itself. 

Staff Recommends

Allison recommends this article on reframing an individual’s failure to appear in court; when faced with a problem, understanding the why can be the greatest path toward a solution. 

Demaxia suggests browsing this library of over 4,200 resources and tools for achieving racial equity; the library touches on community engagement, stakeholder engagement, rural barriers and more.