DEVELOPMENT OF A LOCAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE EVALUATION CAPABILITY

• NCJ Number: 53941
• Author(s): T LONG
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: PRESENTED AT THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE EVALUATION, WASHINGTON, DC, FEBRUARY 1977

Annotation

THE ISSUES INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EFFECTIVE EVALUATION PROCESS ARE DISCUSSED, THE STRUCTURE OF AN EVALUATION UNIT AND ITS FOCUS ARE DESCRIBED, AND THE PROCESS THAT SHOULD BE FOLLOWED IS TRACED.

Abstract

THIS DISCUSSION OF A MODEL METROPOLITAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE EVALUATION PROCESS IS BASED ON THE EXPERIENCES OF THE OFFICE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE PLANNING'S EVALUATION UNIT, JACKSONVILLE, FLA. THIS UNIT WAS A MODEL EVALUATION PROGRAM PARTICIPANT DURING THE 1975-1976 FISCAL YEAR. A PERMANENT EVALUATION UNIT IS RECOMMENDED, AS OPPOSED TO OUTSIDE CONTRACTORS, SINCE THE UNIT CAN COORDINATE WITH ALL AGENCIES AND CAN ACCUMULATE A FILE OF BASELINE DATA TO BE USED FOR MORE THAN ONE EVALUATION. IDENTIFYING EVALUATION NEEDS, FOCUSING ON IMPACT VERSUS PROCESS EVALUATIONS, AND CHOOSING THE EVALUATION METHODS BEST SUITED TO TIME AND BUDGET CONSTRAINTS ARE DISCUSSED. THE EVALUATION PROCESS IS DESCRIBED, BEGINNING WITH PREEVALUATION PLANNING, CONTINUING THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RESEARCH DESIGN, DATA COLLECTION, DATA ANALYSIS, AND ENDING WITH POSTSTUDY IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY AND EVALUATION FOLLOWUP. THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF EVALUATION FOLLOWUP ARE BRIEFLY REVIEWED.