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Assessment of Evaluation-Related Needs of State, Local, and Tribal Juvenile Justice Grantees

NCJ Number
240129
Author(s)
Carrie E. Williamson; Mary E.. Poulin
Date Published
March 2012
Length
90 pages
Annotation
This report presents findings from an online survey of State, local, and tribal grantees of the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency (OJJDP), in order to determine their needs related to their capacity to perform evaluation and performance measurement.
Abstract
The respondents provided valuable information on their evaluation and performance measurement-related training and technical assistance needs. The survey found that information about evaluation, performance measurement, and evidence-based practices has reached grant-making agencies to a greater extent than service-provider agencies. Since service-provider agencies were more likely to report having developed their own performance measures and logic models, it is critical that information on these topics continues to disseminate through agencies and organizations working directly with youth in service provision, treatment, and policies affecting youth in the criminal justice system. Tribal responses reflected State and local responses in many ways, but revealed some specific concerns and issues faced by the tribes regarding evaluation and performance measurement. These tribal-specific issues include low retention of youth in programs and difficulty obtaining high-quality baseline data. Survey recipients received an e-mail that provided a brief explanation of the project and needs assessment. Each e-mail contained links to both the State/local survey and the tribal survey, so as to permit respondents to self-identify as a member of one group or the other. The potential respondents were requested to forward the survey to other individuals if they were not in a position to answer the survey questions. Appended questionnaires