Any local or tribal jail facing significant risk to the life, health, and safety of its staff, incarcerated population, and/or visitors is eligible to apply for assistance. Agencies currently under federal or state interventions will be placed on a waiting list pending resolution of the intervention.

Your agency’s CEO must sign the TA request letter. For example, the director of corrections, the sheriff, or county administrator must sign the TA request letter.

The JJSC provides local and tribal jails with a wide range of customized TA services on specific core topics (to learn more, visit our About Page with a focus on life, health, and safety issues including in-depth assessments, strategic or long-range planning, peer learning, educational seminars, training, consultation, coaching, and more.

The JJSC’s TA services are paid for through federal funds provided by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and collaboratively administered by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) to support the work of the JJSC. Therefore, services are offered at no direct cost to the requesting agency. Given this investment, the JJSC expects participating jurisdictions to make a commensurate investment of time, effort, and resources (i.e., training support materials, space for meetings or trainings, information related to assistance request, etc.)

The JJSC will work with agencies to provide services directly or coordinate a direct referral from the JJSC to an existing provider, with resources set aside to assist the JJSC, who are more suitable to provide the service. During fiscal year 2024 (FY 24) and fiscal year 2025 (FY 25), the JJSC offers national and state-level engagement with the following:

•     16 initial sites

•     Two state sheriffs association sites

•     Peer learning opportunities

Once the JJSC begins a TA engagement with an agency, we may discover that, due to changing circumstances, the
services requested are not as originally planned. The JJSC maintains a flexible stance and a willingness to appropriately adjust each TA engagement to ensure that services provided meet the actual needs of the requesting agency, remains within the JJSC’s scope, and that JJSC’s resources are used efficiently and effectively. Changes must be submitted and approved in the TTA plan.

The JJSC, BJA, NIC, and the agency representative who requested the technical assistance will receive a copy of the final technical assistance report. The requesting agency is free to distribute the report. Although the JJSC, BJA, and NIC will not publicly post the report without the express, written approval of the agency, it may be subject to release, in whole or in part, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Learn More: For more information about the Freedom of Information Act, visit FOIA.gov – Freedom of Information Act.

No, the JJSC does not certify jails because it is not a regulatory, oversight, or investigatory body; advocacy organization; funding authority, accrediting body; or surety for effective jail operations. The JJSC does coordinate and facilitate the direct delivery of innovative and industry leading services and support focusing on justice and correctional policy, operational practices, and professional development for America’s jails.