NCJ Number
207138
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 68 Issue: 1 Dated: June 2004 Pages: 51-58
Date Published
June 2004
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article describes how the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA) assessed the capacity of the Nation’s correctional agencies to participate in a national performance measurement system.
Abstract
The prison system in the United States varies widely between States in terms of practices, resources, and management. In order to support improvement within the Nation’s prison system, a national outcome-based performance measurement system was initiated by the ASCA. After identifying measures that captured the crucial aspects of correctional management, the ASCA set out to assess the capacity of correctional agencies to participate in a national reporting system. Three key questions were examined in regard to prison agencies’ capacity to participate in a National performance measurement system: (1) does the department retain information on key indicators as specified by the definitions and counting rules; (2) if not, how difficult would it be to begin collecting this information; and (3) is the data automated and what would be involved with automating the data? Telephone interviews were conducted with senior personnel from 25 correctional departments regarding their prison systems’ data collection practices and information technology systems. Results indicate that nearly all prisons have the capacity to measure and report on their aggregate prisoner population, as well as on individual characteristics of prisoners. However, while most prison agencies collect information about escapes, homicides, and suicides, there is a wide disparity between departments in their capacity to measure and report on other indicators. Correctional agencies are encouraged to adopt performance-based management and reporting capacity in an effort to advance correctional practice and policy. Table, references