Services
Creating effective solutions for our clients is our priority. Our
recommendations are practical and grounded in real-world
experience. We understand the unique challenges and issues
facing juvenile justice providers and agencies, and we strive
to assist our clients in overcoming obstacles and ensuring sound program implementation and services. Information is
knowledge. We help our clients document their successes and
effectively evaluate their outcomes. We are not satisfied until
we deliver the results you need.
Research
- Accountability Assessments
- Client Tracking and Follow-Up
- Dashboard Reporting
- Database Development and Management
- Grant Writing
- Inferential Statistical Analysis
- Management and Operations Reviews
- Meta-Analysis
- Policy Development
- Process and Outcome Evaluations
- Project Management
- Blueprint Model Program Submission
- Research Design Development
- Quality Assurance Assessments
- Strategic Planning
- Survey Design and Administration
- Web-Based Data Collection and Reporting
Training
- Aggression Replacement Training®
- Applied Change Strategies
- Change Management
- Communicating for Change for Direct Care Staff
- Crossroads Juvenile Curricula
- Effective Management Strategies
- Evidence-Based Practices in Juvenile Justice
- Gender-Responsive Programming
- Implementation Strategies and Action Planning
- Legal Rights of Juveniles
- Motivational Interviewing (MINT Certified)
- National Training and Curricula Institute
- Practical Skills for Emotional Literacy
- Quality Assurance Improvement
- Skillstreaming the Adolescent
- Strengths-Based Training
- Thinking for a Change
Prior Experience Includes
- Annual statewide Fear of Crime Survey administered to Floridians
- National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) Case Tracking and Youth Follow-Up Questionnaire
- Correctional facility surveys of inmate violence
- Vehicle Anti-Theft Network Survey in Baltimore, MD
- Structured surveys of public defenders, state attorneys, juvenile probation officers, and commitment managers on services available to female juvenile offenders in Florida
- Peer review staff and management surveys
- Restorative justice knowledge acquisition surveys for youths in the juvenile justice system
- In-depth comprehensive interviews of female juvenile offenders in Florida
- Educational attainment tracking surveys for youths confined to residential juvenile justice facilities.
Survey Design and Administration
Surveys are an effective data collection tool. They can be used to elicit client, staff and management perceptions regarding operations and processing. They are likewise a useful method of gaining insight into individual behaviors and attitudes. JRC staff members have extensive experience in the development and administration of surveys including structured and unstructured instruments, telephone and mail administration, reliability and validity testing, and the reduction of response bias.
Process and Outcome Evaluation
The JRC has contracted with a number of state juvenile justice agencies around the nation to perform extensive process and outcome evaluations. The Center has developed a comprehensive program accountability measures methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of juvenile and criminal justice programs. The model goes beyond traditional recidivism outcome evaluations by examining expected recidivism, given the underlying risk to re-offend of youth served, and comparing it to actual program performance. The model has been nationally recognized as a semi-finalist (top 50 in nation) in the Harvard University, Innovations in American Government Awards. The National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ) has also deemed analyses conducted by the Justice Research Center in Florida as a national best practice in the use of juvenile justice data. Outcome evaluations conducted by JRC researchers have included Disproportionate Minority Contact Benchmark Reports, Juvenile Residential Report Cards, and the statewide assessments of programming across the continuum of the juvenile justice system including prevention, probation, intake, and residential services.
Program Accountability Measures
Traditional juvenile justice outcome evaluation
focuses on recidivism rates which fail to address cost
effectiveness or account for the fact that juvenile
facilities serve youth whose risk to re-offend varies
widely. The innovative Program Accountability
Measures (PAM) evaluation model goes beyond
recidivism rate comparisons by calculating a program’s
expected recidivism given the underlying seriousness
of the youth served by the program. Expected
recidivism is compared to observed recidivism
and programs are ranked relative to how well they
performed. An overall PAM score is derived from a
formula which combines this recidivism effectiveness
measure with a program cost effectiveness measure.
The PAM Report presents standardized program scores
on a scale from 1 to 100, making scores comparable
to academic grades. The JRC has been successful in
replicating this model in Louisiana. In 2005, the Florida
PAM Report was named a semifinalist (top five percent
in the nation) in the Harvard University Innovations in
American Government Awards Program.
Database Development and Analysis
In the current information age, it is vital for public and private sector providers to implement and maintain functional management information systems to meet their administrative as well as clientele needs. The JRC has extensive experience developing, operating, and maintaining large-scale databases. Staff members have more than 30 combined years of experience working with database structures exceeding three million records. The Center’s expertise extends to the matching of data records from multiple statewide database systems facilitating the integration of criminal and juvenile court, probation, arrest, parole, and incarceration records. JRC researchers routinely conducted probabilistic and deterministic matching procedures in analyzing justice system data. Staff are adept at high-level database programming as well as front-end user-friendly interfaces. Recent projects conducted by staff members include: post-service client tracking database, families in need of services database of clients served, court processing database of juvenile transfer cases, and medical/ mental health service administration for youths incarcerated in the juvenile justice system.
Statistical Analysis
Quantitative data analysis is a critical component in research and evaluation. The JRC performs descriptive and inferential statistical analyses for various public and private sector clients. Working within a rigorous methodological framework to ensure the suitability of analyses, JRC staff members have extensive experience with multivariate linear regression, analysis of variance, factor analysis, analysis of covariance, aptitude-treatment-interaction analysis, logistic regression, discriminant analysis, causal modeling, and Hierarchical Linear Modeling.
Fidelity Monitoring & Documentation
Effective delivery of program services is dependent upon consistent internal fidelity monitoring. The Justice Research Center provides clients with assistance in comprehensively tracking treatment fidelity and proactive management of barriers to successful service delivery.
JRC services include:
- Correctional Program Assessment Inventory (CPAI) Reviews
- Quality Assurance Monitoring
- Staff and Client Satisfaction
- Behavior Management System Review
- Identification of Implementation Barriers
- Technical Assistance for Program Staff
- Evidence-Based Trainings
- Action Plan Development and Implementation
This web site follows modern web standards guidelines in an effort to be as accessible to as many people and devices as possible. It appears that the browser you are using is not up to date and does not support these standards. Please consider using a more modern client like Firefox or Internet Explorer 7 to enhance your site experience.