NCJ Number
207391
Date Published
September 2004
Length
1 page
Annotation
This report reviews the history and current status of the Value-Based Initiative (VBI) and the Value-Based Reentry Initiative (VBRI) of the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).
Abstract
The VBI and the VBRI fund projects that partner law enforcement agencies with faith-based organizations and other community groups to assist ex-offenders in adjusting to life in the community after the completion of their sentences (reentry). COPS has invested more than $6.7 million in these projects throughout the country. The VBI provides the start-up resources to develop a local program and create the infrastructure to implement it. In 2003, COPS expanded its VBI program to include the new VBRI, which involved the selection of five sites to serve as national models that can be replicated in other jurisdictions. As part of the VBRI program, mentors are selected from faith-based and other nonprofit community organizations to serve as liaisons between the offender and various community resources and services. The five recipients of the VBRI grants for fiscal year 2004 are listed.