System assessment

Paving the Way: Lessons Learned in Sentinel Events Reviews

This report reviews the lessons learned by three forward-leaning teams in their review of a negative criminal justice outcome ("sentinel event") in their jurisdictions.

Positive Outcomes: Strategies for Assessing the Progress of Youth Involved in the Justice System (2018)

This report reviews a number of prominent frameworks that are available to help youth justice systems rely on positive outcomes rather than recidivism to measure their effectiveness.

Arches Transformative Mentoring Program: An Implementation and Impact Evaluation in New York City (2018)

This report evaluates the New York City-based Arches Transformative Mentoring program, finding that participation in the program reduces one-year felony reconviction by over two-thirds, and reduces two-year felony reconviction by over half, with especially profound impacts for the youngest progra

Assessing the Impact of Georgia’s Sentencing Reforms: Justice Reinvestment Initiative (2017)

In 2012, Georgia passed comprehensive criminal justice reform legislation. The reforms restructured offense classifications and sentencing policies for drug and property offenses with the goal of tailoring justice system responses to the severity of the offense committed.

Assessing the Impact of South Carolina’s Parole and Probation Reforms: Justice Reinvestment Initiative (2017)

In 2010, South Carolina passed the Sentencing Reform Act, enacting comprehensive criminal justice reforms.

Standardized Program Evaluation Protocol (SPEP) (2018)

The Standardized Program Evaluation Protocol (SPEP) is a validated, data driven rating scheme for determining how well an existing program or service matches the research evidence for the effectiveness of that particular type of intervention for reducing the recidivism of juvenile offenders.

Juvenile Justice System Improvement: Implementing an Evidence-Based Decision-Making Platform (2017)

This report explains how jurisdictions have integrated the JJSIP [Juvenile Justice Systems Improvement Project] and the JJRRI [Juvenile Justice Reform and Reinvestment Initiative] into a successful “evidence-based decision-making platform, consisting of validated risk and needs assessment tools,

Local Validation of SPEP Ratings of Juvenile Justice Program Effectiveness: A Case Study (2017)

The Standardized Program Evaluation Protocol (SPEP) system rates how effectively juvenile justice services reduce recidivism.

Strategies for Reducing Criminal and Juvenile Justice Involvement: Building Ladders of Opportunity for Young People in the Great Lakes States, Brief 4 (2017)

Crime, victimization, and justice system responses greatly affect the life prospects of the most vulnerable Great Lakes youth, restricting their access to ladders of opportunity.

Implementation and Sustainability of Juvenile Reentry Programs in Second Chance Act Sites: Evaluation Sites in Oklahoma and Virginia (2017)

Delivering reentry services to youth proves challenging. This brief describes the implementation and sustainability of two Juvenile Second Chance Act reentry programs in Oklahoma and Virginia.