University of Chicago

Sexual violence is a significant criminal justice problem with long-term effects for its victims. In particular, sexual assault on or related to college campuses across the United States presents a growing public health and economic burden, starting with significant impacts on academic outcomes.

Reauthorized in 2018, the Second Chance Act (SCA) aims to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for people returning from state and federal prisons, local jails, and juvenile facilities through the provision of federal grants. During this panel, National Institute of Justice-funded researchers will detail two ongoing evaluations of the SCA grant program:

1. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the SCA grant program per Title V of the First Step Act.
2. A longitudinal examination of the long-term impacts of the SCA program.

Across the country, child welfare and juvenile justice systems now recognize that youth involved in both systems (i.e., dual system youth) are a vulnerable population who often go unrecognized because of challenges in information-sharing and cross system collaboration. In light of these challenges, national incidence rates of dual system youth are not known.

At this Research for the Real World seminar, NIJ brought together law enforcement practitioners and leading researchers in the field of stress to discuss the current research evidence and practical benefits of targeted stress-management interventions and how they can promote officer mental wellness.