National Prisoner Statistics Program (NPS) and National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP), Reference Years (RY) 2020-2024

Award Information

Awardee

ABT GLOBAL LLC

Award #

2020-85-CX-K001

Funding Category

Competitive Discretionary

Location

ROCKVILLE, MD

Congressional District

Status

Open

Funding First Awarded

2020

Total funding (to date)

$4,599,795

Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2020, $2,699,795)

The National Prisoner Statistics program (NPS) and the National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) are BJSs flagship data collections measuring the size and composition of state and federal prison populations on an annual basis. The two collections complement each other by obtaining aggregate and detailed individual-level information on prisoners, which is used to describe and compare the prison population over time. The NPS collects aggregate counts of the male and female custody and jurisdictional prison populations as of December 31 each year. Through the NCRP, BJS collects individual (or offender) level data on prisoners entering or leaving the custody of state prison systems and post-custody community supervision programs (PCCS; formerly known as parole). BJS uses these data collections to study a wide variety of special topics in corrections: recidivism of state prisoners, prisoner reentry, aging of the prison population, trends in state PCCS, outcomes of PCCS supervision, and other issues. BJS also uses these data to support its ongoing efforts to study changes in the racial and offense composition of national corrections populations, to study movements and transitions between stages of the corrections process, and to compare differences among states correctional populations and practices. This award covers the five collection cycles for reporting years (RY) 2020 through 2024.

Statutory Authority: Section 302 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (34 U.S.C. § 10132(c)(1)), authorizes BJS to make grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with public agencies, institutes of higher education, private organizations, or private individuals for purposes of collecting and analyzing criminal justice statistics.

Under 34 U.S.C. § 10132(c)(3), BJS is authorized to collect and analyze data that will serve as a continuous and comparable national social indication of the prevalence, incidence, rates, extent, distribution, and attributes of crime, juvenile delinquency, civil disputes, and other statistical factors related to crime, civil disputes, and delinquency, in support of national, state, tribal, and local justice policy and decision making.

Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law," and complies with Part 200 Uniform Requirements - 2 CFR 200.210(a)(14).

CA/NCF

The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) and National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) are the nation’s premier source of data and statistics on offenders incarcerated in the nation’s prisons. NPS provides aggregate counts of prison populations and movements into and out of state and federal prisons. NCRP collects offender-level information from states, including offender, offense, and sentence characteristics, as well as unique person identifiers that allow BJS to link NCRP records to other federal and state administrative records. As states and the federal government take steps to reform the criminal justice system, the importance of NPS and NCRP is heightened, as policymakers, practitioners, and researchers increasingly depend on timely, accurate, and complete correctional data.

Working collaboratively with BJS, Abt will perform the following during the proposed project:

Collect NCRP and NPS data, for reference years 2023-2024.
Work with data providers to improve data timeliness, completeness, and reliability.
Maintain the data securely, in compliance with 28 CFR Part 22.
Maintain good communication with BJS and respond promptly to ad-hoc data requests.
Continue to enhance the NCRP term record algorithm.
Deliver all required annual files and data products to BJS according to the schedule specified in the solicitation.
Conduct a survey on maternal health and healthcare.
Develop, in collaboration with BJS, a plan to increase use of NCRP and NPS data, including a research agenda that informs policy discussions and demonstrates the value of the NCRP and NPS data to federal and state policymakers and practitioners.
Participate in annual data provider conferences.

For the proposed project, Abt offers an experienced project leadership team as well as a team of programmers, data scientists, methodologists, and subject matter experts who are currently working on the NCRP and NPS project. Abt also offers several ideas for improving the quality and utility of NCRP and NPS data, including continuing to improve the CSAT-Prisoners web tool, undertaking new studies at the Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies, continuing to adapt NCRP to emerging policy concerns, and expanding the scope of NCRP to include additional components of the criminal justice system.

Date Created: September 16, 2020

National Prisoner Statistics Program (NPS) and National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP), Reference Years (RY) 2020-2024

Award Information

Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2020, $2,699,795)

Supplemental Award 1 (Fiscal Year 2023, $1,900,000)