National Prisoner Statistics Program (NPS) and National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP), Reference Years (RY) 2020-2024

The National Prisoner Statistics program (NPS) and the National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) are BJS’s flagship data collections measuring the size and composition of state and federal prison populations on an annual basis. The two collections complement each other by obtaining aggregate and detailed individual-level information on prisoners, which is used to describe and compare the prison population over time. The NPS collects aggregate counts of the male and female custody and jurisdictional prison populations as of December 31 each year. Through the NCRP, BJS collects individual (or offender) level data on prisoners entering or leaving the custody of state prison systems and post-custody community supervision programs (PCCS; formerly known as “parole”). BJS uses these data collections to study a wide variety of special topics in corrections: recidivism of state prisoners, prisoner reentry, aging of the prison population, trends in state PCCS, outcomes of PCCS supervision, and other issues. BJS also uses these data to support its ongoing efforts to study changes in the racial and offense composition of national corrections populations, to study movements and transitions between stages of the corrections process, and to compare differences among states’ correctional populations and practices. This award covers the five collection cycles for reporting years (RY) 2020 through 2024.

Statutory Authority: Section 302 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (34 U.S.C. § 10132(c)(1)), authorizes BJS to “make grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with public agencies, institutes of higher education, private organizations, or private individuals” for purposes of collecting and analyzing criminal justice statistics.

Under 34 U.S.C. § 10132(c)(3), BJS is authorized to “collect and analyze data that will serve as a continuous and comparable national social indication of the prevalence, incidence, rates, extent, distribution, and attributes of crime, juvenile delinquency, civil disputes, and other statistical factors related to crime, civil disputes, and delinquency, in support of national, state, tribal, and local justice policy and decision making.”

Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law," and complies with Part 200 Uniform Requirements - 2 CFR 200.210(a)(14).

CA/NCF