WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2011--The following release is being issued by the US DoJ Office of Justice Programs:

Communities receive funds for Court-Based Program, Prevents Reoffending

The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance and National Institute of Justice recently announced funding to four communities to create court-based programs to prevent probationers from re-offending.

The four communities - Clackamas County, Ore; Essex County, Mass; Saline County, Ark; and Tarrant County, Texas - are part of the Honest Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) project and funded through the Second Chance Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-199, section 245).

The project is modeled after a successful court-based program initiated in 2004 by Judge Steven S. Alm of Hawaii's First Circuit Court, titled the Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement program, identifying probationers with a high risk for re-offending, focusing on reducing drug use, new crimes, and incarceration. Offenders are deterred from using drugs and committing crimes by frequent and random drug tests, backed by swift and certain jail stays, along with treatment.

The sites vary widely in population, density, and geographic location. For more about the HOPE program, visit http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/hopesol.htm.

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Related: Judge Steven Alm: Justice Reinvestment and the future of HOPE Probation