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Practical Program Evaluation for Criminal Justice shows readers how to apply the principles of fiscal responsibility, accountability, and evidence-based practice to criminal justice reform plans. Unlike other policy-based texts, which tend to focus more on implementation than assessment, this book provides applicable, step-by-step instruction on determining an initiative's necessity prior to its adoption (reducing the risk of wasting resources), as well as how to accurately gauge its effectiveness during initial roll-out stages. The book gradually introduces basic data analysis procedures and statistical techniques, which, once mastered, can be used to prove or disprove a program's worth. Lastly, the book introduces the types of stakeholders who should review evaluation results for quick action, as well as how to best structure reports to ensure their buy-in. Individually examines every major evaluation type (as well as the benefits, concerns, and constraints of each), including needs, theory, process, outcome/impact, and cost efficiency Defines the precise data points each evaluation type requires, and the exact manner in which this data can be collected Demonstrates how different types of evaluations can be used together to provide clear information regarding a program's overall performance level Cites and makes use of real-world policy evaluations and vetted programs
The number of people incarcerated in the United States has increased significantly over the past three decades from approximately 419,000 inmates in 1983 to approximately 1.5 million inmates in 2013. Concerns about both the economic and social consequences of the country's growing reliance on incarceration have led to calls for reforms to the nation's criminal justice system. There have been legislative proposals to implement a risk and needs assessment system in federal prisons. The system would be used to place inmates in rehabilitative programs. Under the proposed system some inmates would be eligible to earn additional time credits for participating in rehabilitative programs that reduce their risk of recidivism. Such credits would allow inmates to be placed on prerelease custody earlier. The proposed system would exclude inmates convicted of certain offenses from being eligible to earn additional time credits. This book provides information on the use of risk and needs assessment in the criminal justice system. It starts with an overview of risk and needs assessment and a discussion of some of the critiques of it, and also discusses issues policymakers might consider if they debate legislation to expand the use of risk and needs assessment in the federal prison system. Moreover, the book reviews mandatory minimum sentencing legislation in the 114th Congress.
Provides comprehensive coverage on recidivism risk/needs assessment tools Correctional and healthcare professionals around the world utilize structured instruments referred to as risk/needs assessment tools to predict the likelihood that an offender will recidivate. Such tools have been found to provide accurate and reliable evaluations and are widely used to assess, manage, and monitor offenders both institutionally as well as in the community. By identifying offenders in need of different levels of intervention, examining causal risk factors, and individualizing case management plans, risk/needs assessment tools have proven invaluable in addressing the public health issue of recidivism. Recidivism Risk/Needs Assessment Tools brings together the developers of the most commonly-used risk/needs assessment tools to provide a comprehensive overview of their development, peer-reviewed research literature, and practical application. Written by the leading professionals in the field of risk/needs assessment, the book provides chapters on: Recidivism Risk Assessment in the 21st Century; Performance of Recidivism Risk Assessment Instruments in Correctional Settings; Correctional Offender Management Profiles for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS); the Federal Post-Conviction Risk Assessment Instrument; the Inventory of Offender Risks, Needs, and Strengths (IORNS); the Level of Service (LS) Instruments; the Ohio Risk Assessment System (ORAS); the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ); the Service Planning Instrument (SPIn); the Static Risk Offender Needs Guide-Revised (STRONG-R); the Offender Group Reconviction Scale (OGRS); the Forensic Operationalized Therapy/Risk Evaluation System (FOTRES); the RisCanvi; and more. Systematically identifies currently-validated recidivism risk/needs assessment tools Reviews research on recidivism risk/needs assessment tools used internationally Each chapter presents sufficient detail to decide whether a given recidivism risk/needs assessment tool is right for your practice Recidivism Risk/Needs Assessment Tools is ideal for correctional, probation and parole, and behavioral health professionals.
Intended for federal, state, and local policymakers in the area of criminal justice research and development, this report includes guidelines for improvement of the quality, relevance, and utilization of research results. In order to cover these issues, part two of this report focuses respectively on the needs of research and development policymakers who fund criminal justice research and development, researchers who conduct research and development, and practitioners who put research and development results into use. Guidelines and principles are proposed which should assist policymakers at all levels of government. However, some topics tend to be addressed more to the federal level, where major research and development decisions are often made. The first chapter of this part presents a detailed discussion of institutional support for criminal justice research and development. It describes the federal role in supporting this effort, focusing on who the agencies are, the extent of their involvement, and how the principal agencies are organized to manage their research and development programs. Recommendations regarding the research and development management activities of criminal justice funding agencies are included. Several important issues in the conduct of criminal justice research and development are examined in the second chapter. Among the topics discussed are constraints on research, ethical issues, research designs and methodologies, prerequisites for sound planning and project selection, ways of maintaining the confidentiality of data, and ways of making data more easily available for research and statistical purposes. The final chapter of this section discusses research and development utilization practices and the assumptions underlying current policies in this area. A criticism of these policies and recommendations for new strategies is presented. The final part of this report provides an analysis of the kinds of problems often encountered in research and development. Three general types of criminal justice research and development are discussed: technology (e.g., hardware) research, research on problems of criminal justice organizations (e.g., arrest, prosecution, sentencing, and parole), and research on new criminal justice problems. For each type of research and development, the relevant issues and recommendations are discussed. Most of these, however, still related to either the support or conduct of research and development. The report also attempts to provide concrete illustrative examples by raising the relevant issues in the context of crime prevention at commercial and residential sites (technology research), sentencing (research on problems of criminal justice organizations), and problems of the victim (research on new criminal justice problems).