Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities (SISFCF), 2012

The Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities (SISFCF) has been conducted periodically by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) since 1974, and the primary purposes of this omnibus survey are to generate nationally-representative estimates of the characteristics of prisoners, to track changes in these characteristics over time, to conduct studies of prisoners on special topics, and to identify policy-relevant changes in the Nation's prison population.

The funding for this initial award of the SISFCF 2012-2014 will cover activities associated with finalizing and programming the survey instrument, developing survey and field management protocols, obtaining approvals from the Research Triangle Institute's (RTI) and jurisdictions' Institutional Review Boards (IRB), preparing and submitting a clearance package to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), finalizing the sample design and drawing a sample of facilities, working with facilities to schedule data collection and necessary logistics, conducting interviewer training, fielding the first cycle of data collection, and conducting trend and other analytic activities. The SISFCF 2012-2014 will build on current redesign efforts now underway as part of the Survey of Inmates in Prisons and Local Jails (SIPLJ): Design and Testing Phase involving research activities to inform the future design of the SISFCF.

This initial award covers approximately one-half of the total cost of the SISFCF 2012-2014 project. BJS intends to make a supplemental award to complete the project depending on the availability of funds and RTI's performance on this initial project.
CA/NCF