About OJP

Since 1984 the Office of Justice Programs has provided federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, improve the criminal and juvenile justice systems, increase knowledge about crime and related issues, and assist crime victims. OJP's senior management team - comprised of the Assistant Attorney General (AAG), the Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG), and the five bureau heads - works together with dedicated managers and line staff to carry out this mission.

The Assistant Attorney General is responsible for overall management and oversight of OJP. The AAG sets policy, ensures that OJP policies and programs reflect the priorities of the President, the Attorney General, and the Congress.

The AAG promotes coordination among the bureaus and offices within OJP. The bureaus are the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

OJP also includes the Community Capacity Development Office, the Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education. OJP's American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Affairs Desk, coordinates AI/AN-related programmatic activity across the bureaus and program offices and serves as an information resource center for American Indian and Alaskan Native criminal justice interests.

Seven other offices within OJP provide agency-wide support. They are the Office of Communications, the Office of Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Office, the Office for Civil Rights, the Office of Budget and Management Services, the Office of the Comptroller, and the Office of General Counsel. Additionally, the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) provides information services in support of the bureaus and program offices.

Through the programs developed and funded by its bureaus and offices, OJP works to form partnerships among federal, state, and local government officials to control drug abuse and trafficking; reduce and prevent crime; rehabilitate neighborhoods; improve the administration of justice in America; meet the needs of crime victims; and address problems such as gang violence, prison crowding, juvenile crime, and white-collar crime. The functions of each bureau or program office are interrelated. For example, the statistics generated by the Bureau of Justice Statistics may drive the research that is conducted through the National Institute of Justice and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Research results, in turn generate new programs that receive support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Although some research and technical assistance is provided directly by OJP's bureaus and offices, most of the work is accomplished through federal financial assistance to scholars, practitioners, experts, and state and local governments and agencies.

Many of the program bureaus and offices award formula grants to state agencies, which, in turn, subgrant funds to units of state and local government. Formula grant programs in such areas as drug control and system improvement, juvenile justice, victims compensation, and victims assistance, are administered by state agencies designated by each state's governor. Discretionary grant funds are announced in the Federal Register or through program solicitations that can also be found through bureau and OJP Websites. Grant applications are made directly to the sponsoring OJP bureau or program office.