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Evidence Based Practices

Evidence Based Practices . Juvenile Justice Stakeholders. Welcome and Background. Welcome Course background Introductions. Presenter Information. OBJECTIVES. Review key evidence based research findings and how it is being applied across the country

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Evidence Based Practices

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  1. Evidence Based Practices Juvenile Justice Stakeholders

  2. Welcome and Background • Welcome • Course background • Introductions

  3. Presenter Information

  4. OBJECTIVES • Review key evidence based research findings and how it is being applied across the country • Examine the ways this evidence can aid in the improvement of public safety by identifying the • Individual traits in juveniles that influence illegal behavior (criminogenic needs) • Interventions that increase or decrease the likelihood of future illegal behavior

  5. Knowledge Test • Take the short, pre-class knowledge test • Do not put your name on it (anonymous) • At the end of class we will administer the post-class knowledge test • Goal is to determine how well we were able to impart information to you

  6. Introduction • Answers the questions of • What are evidence based practices? • What makes up research evidence and how can I have confidence in it? • Why is the field falling short of its risk reduction potential? • How can EBP improve public safety and advance Pennsylvania’s BARJ mission? • How does JJSES align with evidence based practices?

  7. Evidence Based Practices Definition • Evidence based practices is the use of scientific research to guide and inform efficient and effective justice services. • Began in the medical field in the 1800’s, evidence based practices are now used by all professions. • A growing body of research says we can make significant improvements in outcomes if we use scientific evidence to guide policy and practice

  8. How Reliable is the Research? “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Mark Twain • Skepticism about research is healthy • Caution should be applied “Figures don’t lie, but liars figure.” Source Unknown “There are two kinds of statistics, the kind you look up, and the kind you make up.” Rex Stout

  9. Adapted from the following sources: National Institute of Corrections (2010). A Framework for Evidence-Based Decision Making in Local Criminal Justice Systems, 3rd Edition. Washington, DC: National Institute of Corrections; Criminal Justice Institute (2004). Implementing Evidence-Based Practice in Community Corrections: The Principles of Effective Intervention. National Institute of Corrections.

  10. Why Policymakers Care About EBP • Status quo has not produced expected results • Rearrest rates have remained almost unchanged for thirty years • EBP improves outcomes • Reduces victimization • Is cost effective • Range of savings from 4:1 to 10:1 Aos, Phipps, Barnoski, and Lieb, 1999

  11. Cost Benefit Research • Purpose of this research was to help policy makers identify EBP’s that deliver better outcomes per dollar of taxpayer spending • Table shows benefit to taxpayer and the public in the form of reduced juvenile crime, labor market and health care benefits due to increased probability of high school graduation (i.e., benefit to people who were not victimized by the avoided crimes) Aos, S., Lee, S., Drake, E., Pennucci, A.,Klima, T., Miller, M., Anderson, L., Mayfield, J., & Burley, M. (2011). Return on investment: Evidence-based options to improve statewide outcomes (Document No. 11-07-1201). Olympia: Washington State Institute for Public Policy.

  12. Recognition of Complexity “Sentencing is a complex topic that needs to be approached with humility, an open mind and common sense.” Michael A. Wolff, Judge, Supreme Court of Missouri From The Dwight D. Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration, The Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law; The 14th Annual Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Lecture on State Courts and Social Justice article “Evidence-Based Judicial Discretion: Promoting Public Safety through State Sentencing Reform.”

  13. The Five Justice Approaches • Retribution (just deserts) • Incapacitation • Deterrence (general/specific) • Rehabilitation • Restoration

  14. All Five Approaches • Have research behind them that support them or diminish the usefulness of them as achievable goals of the justice system • Given the cost and poor outcomes for most of the sanctioning goals more attention is being given to those efforts that achieve risk reduction

  15. The Elements of Risk Management • Risk Control – reduce crime by limiting CAPACITY to carry out new criminal or delinquent acts • Example: Three Strikes Law

  16. Crime Prevented Per Million Invested (Rand Corporation) Diverting Children from a Life of Crime: Measuring Costs and Benefits, by Peter W. Greenwood, Karyn E. Model, C. Peter Rydell, and James Chiesa, MR-699-UCB/RC/IF, 1996, 88 pp., ISBN: 0-8330-2383-7.

  17. Risk Reductionseeks to diminish the likelihood that an offender will ELECTto commit another crime The Elements of Risk Management

  18. Probation Recidivism Rates: Multnomah County Source: Multnomah Department of Community Justice

  19. State of MarylandProactive Community Supervision Results Before EBP After EBP Source: Taxman, F. et. al., 2006, Proactive Community Supervision in Maryland: Changing Offender Outcomes

  20. Why have Traditional Justice System Approaches Been Ineffective? • We are giving too much attention to the low risk and too little to the high risk • We have not applied research knowledge to practices or applied them with fidelity • The system is not in alignment • Workloads are too high; overwhelmed with conditions • Concerns around lawsuits and public pressure (CYA) • We are focusing on the wrong issues

  21. Andrews, D.A., Bonta, J., & Wormith, S. (2006). The Recent Past and Near Future of Risk and/or Need Assessment. Crime & Delinquency; 52(1); 7-27.

  22. Andrews, D.A., Bonta, J., & Wormith, S. (2006). The Recent Past and Near Future of Risk and/or Need Assessment. Crime & Delinquency; 52(1); 7-27.

  23. Andrews, D.A., Bonta, J., & Wormith, S. (2006). The Recent Past and Near Future of Risk and/or Need Assessment. Crime & Delinquency; 52(1); 7-27.

  24. Andrews, D.A., Bonta, J., & Wormith, S. (2006). The Recent Past and Near Future of Risk and/or Need Assessment. Crime & Delinquency; 52(1); 7-27.

  25. Surprises • What is on the list that surprises you? • What is not on the list that surprises you?

  26. Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Justice System Enhancement Strategy Statement of Purpose We dedicate ourselves to working in partnership to enhance the capacity of Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system to achieve its balanced and restorative justice mission by: • Employing evidence-based practices, with fidelity, at every stage of the juvenile justice process; • Collecting and analyzing the data necessary to measure the results of these efforts; and, with this knowledge, • Striving to continuously improve the quality of our decisions, services and programs.

  27. BARJ Remains PA Mission • JJSES aligns with BARJ in these ways • EBP stresses the need to use research to guide practice, no matter what that practice is • Where research evidence does not exist, data and analysis should be collected/conducted • EBP for risk reduction addresses the competency development part of BARJ BARJ Objectives Community protection Accountability to victims and community Competency development

  28. JJSES Framework

  29. Four Key Principles Supported by Research • Risk Principle (Who to Target) • Need Principle (What to Target) • Responsivity Principle (How to Match) • Treatment Principle (Which Programs to Use)

  30. “Who” • 1st Principle is the RISK principle or the Who to target • Do not over-supervise or treat low risk offenders • Provide programming for medium and high risk offenders • Don’t mix low and high risk offenders

  31. “What” • 2nd Principle is the NEED principle or the What to target • Are eight criminogenic needs that become the target for programming • Want to avoid over-applying conditions as they reduce effectiveness of criminogenic need programming

  32. “How” • 3rd Principle is the RESPONSIVITY principle or the How we target supervision and programming • No two people are exactly alike; we need to customize our approach; avoid a one size fits all • What are the unique traits of the juvenile that need to be taken into account in order to reduce risk of reoffense? • These traits can be barriers if not taken into account

  33. “Which” • 4th Principle is the TREATMENT principle or Which programs should be used for the individual’s risk, need, and responsivity • Some programs work most of the time; some don’t; some work some of the time depending on the individual; some work better than others • The most effective programs are cognitive and behavioral • To be effective the program must also adhere to fidelity

  34. Principle One: The Risk Principle • Answers the questions of • What do we mean by risk? • What is meant by the risk principle? • How is the risk principle being applied (i.e., structured decision making)? • What have other jurisdictions done to apply the risk principle? 1

  35. Definition of Risk • Most research studies compare risk of reoffense over time • May or may not measure type of offense (e.g. violence and non-violence), felony vs. misdemeanor, frequency of reoffense, and length of time between offenses • All include control/comparison groups • We are looking at research that helps reduce risk of any future offense, no matter level/type

  36. What Makes One Low Risk? • Low risk when they do not have a history of antisocial behavior; has supportive family; has prosocial friends; engaged in positive activities • When we pull them away from these positive influences and mix them with others who may influence them negatively we increase their risk to reoffend • They are self correcting

  37. What Happens When We Apply Intensive Treatmentto High and Low Risk Populations? Recidivism Risk Change in recidivism

  38. Using Assessments to Inform Decisions • Actuarial Risk Assessments provide a professional, objective, and more accurate way of determining risk to reoffend • Professional: a modern, progressive, most current method of assessing that has met proper standards • Objective: uses an approach that removes too much subjectivity that can reduce fairness and accuracy • Accurate: more effective at predicting reoffense than professional judgment alone Source: Grove, William and Meehl, Paul. Comparative Efficiency of Informal (Subjective Impressionistic) and Formal (Mechanical, Algorithmic) Prediction Procedures: The Clinical-Statistical Controversy; Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 1996, Vol. 2, No. 2, 293-323

  39. Professional Judgment vs. Assessment Tool • U.S. Probation • 1,087 officers observed a case vignette and identified risk • Then trained on the risk assessment tool and assessed the case Source: Training to See Risk: Measuring the Accuracy of Clinical and Actuarial Risk Assessments Among Federal Probation Officers, by J. C. Oleson, Scott Van Benschoten, Charles Robinson, and Christopher Lowenkamp,, Federal Probation, Volume 75, Number 2, pages 52-56, September 2011

  40. Officer Rating of Offender

  41. Actual Risk: PCRA Risk Assessment

  42. Assessment Determination After Trained on the PCRA Assessment

  43. Understanding the criminal mind and when and why conventional wisdom fails Published with Ken Robinson, Ed.D. January, 2003 Some of it is Intuitive

  44. Offender Types • NORPS: Normal, Ordinary, Responsible Person • SLICKS: Psychopath/Sociopath • SLUGS: “Chronic Loser”

  45. YLS/CMI: Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory • Widely used actuarial assessment • Selected with the assistance of the National Youth Screening and Assessment Project and MacArthur Foundation • Contains 42 risk/need factors • Youth identified as Low, Moderate, High, or Very High risk

  46. The Bottom Line • Using risk/need assessments to inform decision making increases the odds of a positive outcome; it won’t guarantee it • You will have a low risk person who commits a serious future crime • That does not mean the risk principle is invalid; it just means that you are increasing the odds that you will predict correctly

  47. A Balanced, Reasoned Approach • Risk Management (low risk) • Least restrictive, most appropriate • Risk Reduction (moderate-high risk) • Address criminogenic needs • Risk Control (extreme high risk) • Control risk of reoffending while under juvenile justice system authority

  48. Application Implications:What Other Jurisdictions Have Done • Reduce length of reports for low risk juveniles • Divert low risk juveniles or discharge early • Increase frequency of supervision contacts with high risk juveniles • Avoid mixing low and high risk juveniles in programs and reporting days • Consider different reporting days/locations • Match staff style to juvenile risk

  49. Discussion • In what ways has the juvenile justice system been applying the risk principle? • In what ways can the juvenile justice system improve the way it handles youth based on the risk principle?

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