Category: Policy & Practice Reforms

1, All Work Products, Corrections, Crime Data Analysis, Data Analysis, Douglas Evans, Evaluation, Gina Moreno, Jeffrey Butts, JohnJayREC Products, Justice Policy Reform, Kevin Wolff, Monographs, Policy & Practice Reforms

Easily Overstated

Policymakers, advocates, and even some researchers claim that youth confinement rates across the United States dropped in recent years due to changes in policy and practice. Such claims remain unproven, but voters and elected officials are inclined to accept them as factual because they are offered by reputable agencies and repeated in news media sources. Without reliable evidence, however, the notion that state-level youth confinement rates fall primarily in response to progressive policy reforms is merely appealing rhetoric. Continue reading Easily Overstated

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Articles, Eric Piza, Evaluation, Jay Szkola, Policy & Practice Reforms

Risk Terrain Modeling: Seasonality and Predictive Validity

This study focuses on crimes involving firearms in Baltimore, Maryland to answer three research questions concerning the effect of seasonality: (1) Do changes in the seasons affect which spatial factors are significantly related to crime?; (2) Does risk terrain modeling have predictive validity on a short-term basis?; and (3) Are the same areas high-risk throughout the year? To accomplish this, the authors ran twelve monthly risk terrain models and one yearly risk terrain model. The study found that risk factors vary by month and that monthly and yearly spatial risk factors do not necessarily overlap. The study also found that risk terrain models retain their predictive validity on a short-term basis. The results are further discussed in relation to whether the same areas are high-risk throughout the course of the year. Continue reading Risk Terrain Modeling: Seasonality and Predictive Validity

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1, 2 after slider, Articles, Corrections, Jeffrey Butts, Policy & Practice Reforms

It’s About Quality: Private Confinement Facilities in Juvenile Justice

Quality youth justice systems (a) limit the use of confinement to cases where it is objectively necessary, (b) ensure the health and safety of all confined youth, (c) provide effective treatments and developmentally appropriate programming, and (d) continually monitor and evaluate their effectiveness. These goals apply to all forms of secure confinement regardless of financing or organizational configuration. Continue reading It’s About Quality: Private Confinement Facilities in Juvenile Justice

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2 after slider, Articles, Corrections, Douglas Evans, Jay Szkola, Policy & Practice Reforms, Victor St.John

Going Back to College? Criminal Stigma in Higher Education Admissions in Northeastern U.S.

Access to education is a constant theme in discussions germane to correctional reform, particularly to reduce rule breaking while incarcerated and re-offending after release from prison. Focusing on the latter, we examine the extent to which education is accessible for individuals who have felonious non-violent records in the United States (US). We generated a stratified random sample of 85 institutions of higher education (IHE) in the northeastern US and analyzed emails from admission departments in response to inquiries about how a felony record would affect admissions decisions. Results from multivariate models indicate that the institution type (public vs. private) significantly predicts how an IHE would use an individual’s criminal history in admissions decisions. Public IHEs are less likely to consider criminal history when reviewing an individual’s application and IHEs with higher proportions of minority students are associated with reduced consideration of an applicant’s criminal history in admissions decisions. Continue reading Going Back to College? Criminal Stigma in Higher Education Admissions in Northeastern U.S.

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Arlana Henry, Courts, JohnJayREC Products, Monographs, Policy & Practice Reforms

Institute for Innovation in Prosecution (IIP) Practitioner Learning Follow-up Assessment

Seventeen prosecutors participated in a Practitioner Learning conference at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in November 2017. Of these, 16 participated in a follow-up interview. The 16 responding prosecutors came from 14 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Continue reading Institute for Innovation in Prosecution (IIP) Practitioner Learning Follow-up Assessment

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Articles, Douglas Evans, KL Blount-Hill, Michelle Cubellis, Policy & Practice Reforms

Examining Housing Discrimination Across Race, Gender and Felony History

This study uses the audit method to examine the effects of race, gender, and criminal history on housing outcomes. Testers, exhibiting characteristics suggestive of race and gender and disclosing one of three offenses, placed phone calls to rental property owners across the Midwest to inquire about renting a property. We found powerful negative effects for those with a criminal record seeking apartments, regardless of whether the offense was sexual or drug-related. Continue reading Examining Housing Discrimination Across Race, Gender and Felony History

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