The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) and National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) are the nation’s premier source of data and statistics on offenders incarcerated in the nation’s prisons. NPS provides aggregate counts of prison populations and movements into and out of state and federal prisons. NCRP collects offender-level information from states, including offender, offense, and sentence characteristics, as well as unique person identifiers that allow BJS to link NCRP records to other federal and state administrative records. As states and the federal government take steps to reform the criminal justice system, the importance of NPS and NCRP is heightened, as policymakers, practitioners, and researchers increasingly depend on timely, accurate, and complete correctional data.
Working collaboratively with BJS, Abt will perform the following during the proposed project:
Collect NCRP and NPS data, for reference years 2023-2024.
Work with data providers to improve data timeliness, completeness, and reliability.
Maintain the data securely, in compliance with 28 CFR Part 22.
Maintain good communication with BJS and respond promptly to ad-hoc data requests.
Continue to enhance the NCRP term record algorithm.
Deliver all required annual files and data products to BJS according to the schedule specified in the solicitation.
Conduct a survey on maternal health and healthcare.
Develop, in collaboration with BJS, a plan to increase use of NCRP and NPS data, including a research agenda that informs policy discussions and demonstrates the value of the NCRP and NPS data to federal and state policymakers and practitioners.
Participate in annual data provider conferences.
For the proposed project, Abt offers an experienced project leadership team as well as a team of programmers, data scientists, methodologists, and subject matter experts who are currently working on the NCRP and NPS project. Abt also offers several ideas for improving the quality and utility of NCRP and NPS data, including continuing to improve the CSAT-Prisoners web tool, undertaking new studies at the Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies, continuing to adapt NCRP to emerging policy concerns, and expanding the scope of NCRP to include additional components of the criminal justice system.
