Enhancements    

ENHANCING HOUSING PLACEMENT DECISIONS TO IMPROVE PRISON SAFETY

ENHANCING HOUSING PLACEMENT DECISIONS TO IMPROVE PRISON SAFETY
PI: Melinda Tasca
Sponsor: U.S. Department of Justice
Criminal Justice
Amount awarded: $506,901

Housing placement decisions shape daily contact, access, and risk inside correctional facilities, making them a powerful lever for improving institutional safety. Enhancing Housing Placement Decisions to Improve Prison Safety applies recent research on prison violence to strengthen housing policy within the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry (ADCRR). The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) leads the effort in partnership with The University of California, Irvine, and ADCRR. Project activities include comprehensive policy review, analysis of serious violence incidents, stakeholder interviews, and collaborative development and implementation of enhanced housing strategies. Deliverables include a toolkit to support violence reduction through housing policy improvement, a webinar on innovative housing strategies, and a final report. Project effort is split evenly between research and technical assistance and corrections-focused implementation.

Posting date: Wed, 01/21/2026

Award start date: Tue, 10/01/2024
Award end date: Wed, 03/31/2027