IV. Recommendations for Follow-Up to the Focus Group Meetings

At the focus group meeting, a number of ideas were developed for follow-up work in which the Drug Courts Program Office (DCPO) would play a key role, working with technical assistance providers and local drug court practitioners. The ideas are organized under three main categories: (A) areas in which DCPO guidance would be helpful; (B) areas in which delivery of direct technical assistance is needed; and (C) areas in which education and training are desirable.

A. Areas in Which DCPO Guidance Will Be Helpful

There are four principal areas in which it would be helpful for local-level drug court programs -- especially those funded at least in part by grants from the DCPO -- to have guidance from DCPO with respect to policy and program development. They are:

Evaluation Expectations and Priorities. Provide guidance with respect to DCPO expectations and priorities concerning (a) collection and maintenance of data on program operations for purposes of possible externally funded national-level evaluation of the drug court, and (b) locally conducted evaluation of the drug court, especially when the local evaluation is funded in part with DCPO grant funds.

Minimum Data Set. Delineate a basic minimum data set, to be maintained by all drug courts, with definitions of key terms. (See appendix A)

Monitoring Report Form. Design and disseminate a monitoring report form that includes descriptive information about the program and information about activities since program inception and during a defined reporting period. (See appendix A)

Information Needs Assessment Instrument. Support development of an instrument that drug court practitioners and others in local jurisdictions can use to conduct an "information audit" that will identify information currently available and indicate what additional information is needed for operations, monitoring, and evaluation.

B. Direct Technical Assistance Needs

There are eight high-priority areas for direct technical assistance to jurisdictions with respect to development of monitoring, evaluation, and MIS capabilities. They are as follows:

• Provide for assistance in conducting a management information needs assessment or audit. The availability of an assessment instrument (see previous section) would be helpful for this purpose, but outside assistance will sometimes be needed.

• Provide for assistance in defining the scope of work to produce needed management information, whether through modification of an existing system or development of a separate PC-based system.

• Provide for assistance and advice on selection of vendors and products, including help on preparing Requests for Proposals (RFPs); on selecting consultants, hardware, and software; and on drafting and negotiating contracts with vendors.

• Encourage and support peer-to-peer technical assistance. In particular, provide for assistance in facilitating site visits to jurisdictions with well-functioning drug court management information systems, to enable the visiting drug court practitioners to observe operations and ask questions about system design features, costs, and operational policies and procedures. Site visits should include key drug court practitioners, including the drug court judge, treatment provider(s), and MIS representative.

• Maintain, through the AU Drug Court Clearinghouse, information about what information systems are functioning in specific jurisdictions, to enable drug courts that are planning MIS development to focus on learning about systems used in drug courts that are similar in terms of size and key operational features.

• Develop and periodically update a list of "Frequently Asked Questions About Drug Court Management Information Systems," together with answers provided by leading experts in the field. This list can be made available both in hard copy form and on the Internet.

• Encourage the development of an Internet chat room to enable drug court practitioners to ask questions and exchange information and ideas about monitoring, evaluation, and MIS development.

• Through the Clearinghouse, identify, describe, and disseminate information about well-functioning drug court management information systems. To the extent feasible, encourage sharing of information about these systems.

C. Education and Training

Focus group members developed a number of ideas about ways to deliver education and training on monitoring, evaluation, and MIS development. Key ideas included the following:

• Incorporate a strong MIS component in future DCPO-sponsored workshops on drug court planning and implementation. Strongly encourage inclusion of an MIS representative on the drug court team that attends the workshop.

• Develop a series of special workshops that focus on drug court monitoring, evaluation, and MIS development. Include demonstrations of good operating systems at the workshops. Seek to bring together jurisdictions that have drug courts of roughly similar size and scope at each workshop.

• Develop a capacity for conducting videoconferences targeted to specific monitoring, evaluation and MIS issues.

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