About the First Step Act

In December 2018, Congress passed and the president signed into law the First Step Act (FSA). This major bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation is intended, in part, to reduce the risk of post-release recidivism by federal inmates and ease their safe, and productive reentry into civilian life. FSA’s Title I directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to develop and implement a new, objective, and statistically validated “risk and needs assessment system” by which the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will use to evaluate both the risk that individual prisoners may reoffend upon release and the evidence-based recidivism reduction programming that is most likely to reduce that risk. FSA’s Title I also establishes an Independent Review Committee (IRC) of outside experts to advise and assist DOJ in the development and implementation of this risk and needs assessment system.