Community Planning

At BJA, we firmly believe that the best decisions are those made closest to the people. States and communities know what they need and have a perspective that no one in the Federal Government can have. BJA can give out grant dollars, but it is the people who work on the front lines who can make lasting change. Every state and community faces limited resources. As a result, it is crucial that those resources are focused and produce results.

Community planning is a valuable tool that not only helps to focus resources and gauge results but also to raise community awareness and garner support. Communities big and small can achieve their goals by planning for their futures, and we believe that communities should have access to the tools they need to find their most urgent problems and choose the best ways to deal with them.

• We will work with OJP to develop tools and provide assistance to help states and communities build their capacities to conduct the planning needed to help them target their limited resources toward their most crucial needs.

• BJA will also work with OJP on a web-based community planning guide that teaches a simple community planning model and includes tools to help find and analyze the data needed to plan properly.

• BJA will identify and share the lessons learned by communities that have made positive changes from their local planning efforts.

• We will assist community planning groups by providing a web site that will help find, collect, and analyze data about their communities.

Related Publications

BJA has released three publications about the Comprehensive Communities Program (CCP). CCP was designed to prevent violence and restore community well-being, initiate comprehensive planning, develop a multiagency strategy, encourage citizens to take an active role in problem solving, and coordinate federal, state, local, and private agency resources.

• Comprehensive Communities Program: A Unique Way To Reduce Crime and Enhance Public Safety (Fact Sheet) PDF or ASCII

• Comprehensive Communities Program: Program Account (Bulletin) PDF or ASCII

• Comprehensive Communities Program: Promising Approaches (Monograph) PDF or ASCII

Business Alliance: Planning for Business and Community Partnerships ASCII

This monograph describes the Business Alliance pilot program in Florida, which was designed to help disadvantaged communities improve economic self-sufficiency and stimulate entrepreneurship.

East Bay Public Safety Corridor Partnership PDF or ASCII

This monograph presents a brief history of the East Bay Public Safety Corridor Partnership in California, details the partnership's strategic planning process and organizational structure, assesses the partnership's impact on communities, and describes examples of partnership initiatives.

For more BJA publications, visit our Publications database.

Related Web Sites

The Community Justice Exchange provides information and assistance to community justice planners across the country. Planners can find out what's happening with other community justice initiatives, receive advice and tools for planning community justice projects, and connect with peers.

For more links, search our Related Web Sites database.

Training

For detailed information on BJA-sponsored training and technical assistance initiatives, search our Training and Technical Assistance database.