Corrections Initiative

In the United States, more than 2.1 million Americans are incarcerated at the end of 2019 (1.43 million in federal and state prisons, 735,000 in jails).1 In addition, another 4.5 million people are on probation and parole, collectively known as community supervision (or community corrections).2 Approximately 600,000 individuals reenter our communities each year. Reentry into society of incarcerated people remains one of the most significant challenges facing the criminal justice system.3 Corrections agencies maintain offender records that are valuable to a variety of audiences and can generate a wide range of benefits. Timely access to accurate information can enable successful strategies for reducing recidivism, lowering the costs of supervision, and managing the risks of dangerous offenders at key points in the decision-making process. Corrections, law enforcement agencies, courts, and community-based service providers have much to gain from sharing offender information they have at their disposal. Historically, the sharing data across these stakeholders has been very limited or non-existent. The justice community has not communicated well concerning information of justice-involved individuals or other matters of mutual interest with other branches of the criminal justice system, let alone service providers in the community. There is much at stake, especially the short- and long-term safety and security of these agencies, as well as the communities they serve. As correctional agencies develop and implement offender management information systems, it is essential, not to mention cost-effective, that they are aware of existing standards and the expanding need to share information across stakeholder audiences. National standards—like the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM), Global Reference Architecture (GRA), and the Global Federated Identity and Privilege Management (GFIPM)—are tools that can be used to enhance and expand information sharing and safeguarding capabilities. The use of these national standards accelerates development and implementation efforts, encourages and enables reuse by others implementing comparable information sharing, and helps foster greater agility in operating and maintaining information systems. The IJIS Institute has worked to develop reentry information sharing solutions funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, to overcome the gap in information sharing capabilities between corrections, criminal justice, public health, and other service providers. We have worked with a number of our Member companies to help develop interoperable solutions to enable information sharing among local law enforcement, public safety agencies, and relevant service providers in ways that are designed to reduce victimization.

Other Key Initiatives

Supporting Health and Human Services Interoperability

June 15, 2022

The Health and Human Services’ Administration of Children and Families recognized that human services would benefit from having better coordinated and integrated services, and achieving ...

About Us

Our Focus

Our Work

Committees & Task Forces

Community Resources