National Inmate Survey (NIS-4) 2019-20 – Jails

(Solicitation)
The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA; P.L. 108-79; henceforth “the Act”)
was enacted on September 4, 2003. The Act requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics
(BJS) to “carry out, for each calendar year, a comprehensive statistical review and
analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape.” The Act further instructs BJS
to collect survey data: “the Bureau shall…use surveys and other statistical
studies of current and former inmates….” The law was passed, in part, to overcome
a shortage
of available research on the incidence and prevalence of sexual violence in
correctional facilities.

To implement the Act, BJS developed the National Prison Rape Statistics Program,
which includes four separate data collection efforts: the Survey of Sexual
Victimization (SSV, formerly Survey of Sexual Violence), National Inmate Survey
(NIS), National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC), and National Former Prisoner
Survey (NFPS).

Each of these collections is independent, and, while not directly comparable, they
provide measures of the prevalence and characteristics of sexual assault in
correctional facilities. The SSV collects information about incidents of sexual
violence reported to and investigated by adult and juvenile correctional authorities
and characteristics of substantiated incidents. The NIS collects allegations of
sexual assault self-reported by inmates in correctional facilities. The NSYC gathers
self-reported sexual assault data from youth in juvenile correctional facilities.
The NFPS measures allegations of sexual assault experienced during a person’s last
incarceration, as reported by former inmates under community active supervision.

The award resulting from this solicitation will provide funding, through a
cooperative agreement, for a collection agent to administer the fourth round of the
NIS (NIS-4) in jails. The NIS is an audio computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI)
instrument administered to inmates in correctional facilities to measure the
prevalence of sexual assault at the facility level. Project activities include
drawing a national sample of local and privately operated jail facilities;
administering the survey to sampled inmates in these facilities; and conducting all
data collection, analyses, and reporting activities.

BJS anticipates making one initial award for a 48-month period (January 1, 2019, to
December 31, 2022). The initial award may be supplemented depending on available
funding and performance.
All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on June 14, 2018.

Read the syndicated article here