Title
FY 2017 BJA Sentinel Events Initiative Demonstration Project : Technical Assistance Provider
Agencies
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
Description
Currently, criminal justice agencies in the United States lack consistent mechanisms by which to
learn from error and prevent their recurrence. Often times, inquiries into unanticipated events
that signal an underlying system weakness focus
on whether there is an identifiable individual
who can be blamed and subsequently punished for the error or failure. Little to no effort is made
to understand why an individual chose specific courses of action or failed to catch and correct
an error when positioned to do so. The context in which these decisions were made and the
impact of other elements and actors in the system on these decisions are similarly ignored or not well understood.
NIJ’s SEI is built on the belief that when adverse events occur in a complex social system, it is
rarely the result of one person’s mistake. Rather, multiple small errors — which include both
intentional action and failure to identify and correct an error when possible — combine and are
exacerbated by underlying weaknesses in the system
such as system policies and procedures.
In order to truly understand the causes of an
unanticipated event that signals an underlying
system weakness, the criminal justice system
must shift its focus from blame to continuous
risk assessment and system improvement, where all individuals who contributed to an event are
empowered to share information across silos with the goal of forward-looking understanding and
prevention rather than retrospective liability. NIJ anticipates that this program, which will
enhance our understanding of how adverse events occur within the justice system, will highlight
system improvements that could, for example, support effective prosecution or reduce the
potential for harm to law enforcement officers. While the impacts of these reviews in criminal
justice must still be studied, if the effects on the criminal justice system mirror the effects
experienced in other industries, we expect to see an increase in system safety, and an improvement in the system’s ability to fulfill its mission of reducing crime, protecting the public, and advancing the administration of justice in the U.S.
More Information
https://www.bja.gov/Funding/SEI17.pdf
Submission Limits
Under this solicitation, only one application by any particular applicant entity will be considered. An entity may, however, be proposed as a subrecipient (“subgranteeâ€) in more than one
application.
Deadlines
Internal Notice of Intent |
Jun 29, 2017 |
Notification of Internal Competition |
Jun 30, 2017 |
Internal Pre-proposal |
Jul 7, 2017 |
Results of Internal Competition |
Jul 14, 2017 |
Agency Notice of Intent/Pre-proposal |
N/A |
Agency Proposal |
Jul 27, 2017
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