NCJ Number
241276
Date Published
February 2013
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This assessment of strategic planning by State Criminal Justice Administering Agencies (SAAs) addresses strategic planning; stakeholder identification, outreach, and commonly used engagement strategies; data integration; and strategic planning consensus-building strategies.
Abstract
Since 2009, the National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA), with support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), has provided training and technical assistance (TTA) in strategic planning to SAAs in 20 States 2 Territories, and the District of Columbia. TTA services have been tailored to the needs, planning scopes, and timelines established by SAAs. This assessment of the work of SSAs determined that SAAs have improved their outreach to non-traditional partners, including public defense, State health and human service agencies, State and local nonprofit service providers, victim-service agencies, and State departments of education. SAAs have implemented at least four stakeholder engagement strategies, including interviews, surveys, committees, and focus groups. SAAs reported that these strategies have provided a more nuanced understanding of State, local, and geographic needs, trends, and challenges. NCJA's assessment of how SAAs engage in strategic planning focused on 10 SAAs. All of these SAAs had received training or technical assistance from NCJA. The assessment methodology included interviews with key stakeholders, a short survey, and the review of planning documents. The ten SSAs assessed are Georgia, Mississippi, Illinois, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Nevada, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia. Assessment findings are presented for each of these SSAs. Tables show the percentages of SSAs engaged in various types of outreach, types of stakeholder organizations, types of strategies for soliciting stakeholder input, and the types of criminal justice sectors engaged in data integration.