The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) was created in 1984 to reduce violent crime, create safer communities, and reform our Nation’s criminal justice system. BJA’s mission is to provide leadership and services in grant administration and criminal justice policy development to support state, local, and tribal justice strategies to achieve safer communities. BJA works with communities, governments, and nonprofit organizations to reduce crime, recidivism, and unnecessary confinement, and promote a safe and fair criminal justice system.
The grant program aims to bolster family-based alternative justice diversion initiatives. It focuses on enhancing the capabilities of states, communities, courts, local governments, and Tribal governments. The primary goal is to develop or improve diversion and alternative justice programs targeting parents or primary caregivers entangled in the criminal justice system. This initiative aims to lessen the adverse effects of incarceration on children and families, thereby fostering better outcomes for children, parents, and families as a whole.