FY 2013 Continuation of the Federal Justice Statistics Program

archived

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is the statistics agency of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and a component of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP). BJS is announcing a public solicitation for the continuation of the Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP) through a Cooperative Agreement. The FJSP is managed by BJS and serves as the national clearinghouse of federal case processing data. Under this program, data provided by six federal justice agencies are standardized, maintained, analyzed, and archived (currently under Award #2010-BJ-CX-K079).1 The FJSP produces annual, cross-sectional data files (Standard Analysis Files, or SAFs) which represent the stages from arrest and prosecution through pretrial release, adjudication, sentencing, appeals, and corrections. BJS has used these files to report on defendants processed at a specific stage at a point in time. In the late 1990s, the FJSP developed a methodology to link person-case records to improve statistical reporting. Recognizing the greater analytical rigor that linked or “longitudinal” data provides in addressing policy questions, the FJSP created the Dyad Link File System to enable analysis of linked cohorts. The clearinghouse currently contains annual cross-sectional data files and Dyad Link Files from 1994 to 2010. Tasks under this award will include receiving 2013, 2014, and 2015 datasets from six federal agencies, converting 2012 (already received), 2013, and 2014 data into SAF format using SAS statistical software code, implementing guidelines to ensure data quality and confidentiality standards, and updating and expanding the Dyad Link File System to include all available data. The recipient will also provide technical assistance to BJS and others in using the FJSP data, preparing data and documenting files to update and expand the BJS online query tool, and assisting BJS to create additional online statistical reporting capabilities. The recipient will also prepare data files and documentation for submission to the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). BJS is authorized to issue this solicitation under 42 U.S.C. § 3732(c). The recipient will prepare the annual Federal Criminal Justice Statistics bulletin and annually produce four data briefs on issues of timely substantive importance. The successful applicant will receive all relevant computer code developed to date by the FJSP to create the SAFs, the Dyad Link Files, the BJS online query tools, and the files submitted to NACJD.

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