In 2014, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Office of Justice Services (OJS) created the Diversion to Re-entry Division (DRD) within the Tribal Justice Support (TJS) Directorate to address the need for reducing criminal recidivism in tribal communities through identification of need and risk, referral, treatment, re-entry and tracking offenders along a cascade of justice services. The primary intent of the Indian Country Recidivism Reduction Initiative (ICRRI) is two-fold: Identify primary root-causes of recidivism, which most often are driven by excessive use of alcohol and illegal use of drug substances, and strengthen the current institutional practices by assisting participating tribes to consider creating more of an Integrated Justice System of Services approach that includes improved access to a full and comprehensive menu of justice system services that at a minimum include: Infrastructure development, standardized risk and need screening/ assessment, application of alternative to incarceration sentencing options that build onto and link to existing community treatment service continuums, create and provide links to long-term detention-based treatment options when warranted and available, provide for dedicated re-entry preparation services and longitudinal performance evaluation. The ICRRI provides training and technical assistance to tribes to implement best practices to achieve these goals. We have received new funding to begin the software development process for a Practice Management System for use across the justice and behavioral health system.
