OpportunityTitle: Outcome and Performance Measures for Community Corrections
CategoryExplanation: This competitive solicitation will fund the development of a document for the community corrections field containing clearly defined and easily calculable measures that can be used to gauge progress in 1) achieving mission and strategic goals, 2) improving fidelity to program design, service delivery and outcomes, and 3) enhancing the ability to illustrate community corrections&#8217; value in an evidence &#8211;based criminal justice system
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: NIC invites applications from nonprofit organizations (including faith-based, community, and tribal organizations), for-profit organizations (including tribal for-profit organizations), and institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education). Recipients, including for-profit organizations, must agree to waive any profit or fee for services.NIC welcomes applications that involve two or more entities; however, one eligible entity must be the applicant and the others must be proposed as sub-recipients. The applicant must be the entity with primary responsibility for administering the funding and managing the entire program
Description: The deliverables from this cooperative agreement will contribute to the mission of NIC by promoting the ongoing development and advancement of correctional practices by developing a standardized approach to performance and outcome measurement for the community corrections (local and state probation) field. Accurate and detailed documentation of case information, along with a formal and valid mechanism for measuring outcomes, is the foundation of evidence-based practice. Evidence-based practice implies that 1) one outcome is desired over others; 2) it is measurable; and 3) it is defined according to practical realities (i.e. public safety) rather than immeasurable moral or value-oriented standards. As suggested in The Pew Center Public Safety Performance Project- &#8220;Policy Framework to Strengthen Community Corrections&#8221;, community corrections agencies should implement a systemic performance measurement model, which includes measures of outcomes in key performance areas to provide regular objective and quantitative feedback on how well agencies are achieving their goals. We need to measure strategies and activities that reduce offender risk factors that diminish the likelihood of re-offending, support and develop protective risk factors and those activities that hold offenders accountable. A question we should be asking regularly, &#8220;What does the data say?&#8221; and making business decisions based on data elements and facts. Early performance measurement efforts include community corrections agencies adopting the Compstat Model developed by the New York City Police Department. Compstat is a continuous evaluation of agency performance involving regular data audits where managers across the organization share performance data for their division, receive feedback on performance, and deploy new strategies or tactics to deal effectively with problems. Although Compstat is a management approach it is worth mentioning here as the intent was to come to agreement on what to measure. A limited number of community corrections agencies adopted this model and reported modest success.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Application or Form Questions
GrantorContactText: Cameron Coblentz &lt;br/&gt;Phone 202-514-0053