Tools and Resources

 

A Framework for Evidence-Based Decision Making in State and Local Criminal Justice Systems (the Framework) is the principle product of the EBDM initiative. The following are other products that have been developed to support the EBDM sites as well as those who wish to learn more about-or replicate-their work.

EBDM Primer

The EBDM primer introduces criminal justice and allied professionals to evidence-based decision making. It provides foundational information on the EBDM initiative and guides readers to other resources supportive of EBDM principles and processes.

EBDM Stakeholder BRIEF’s

A set of stakeholder briefs provide an overview of the EBDM initiative and describe the specific benefits and challenges of EBDM for each stakeholder group. Click on the title below to access each brief:

EBDM User’s Guides

A set of user guides is available to prepare and assist different criminal justice stakeholders to become part of an EBDM policy team. The guides include: background information on the EBDM initiative and its goals; a description of how each stakeholder can become part of the EBDM process and the reasons why their participation is important; definitions of key terms; the implications of key research findings for each stakeholder group; an explanation of how the principles of EBDM apply to the stakeholders\’ work; examples of research-based practices for the stakeholder group; and an exploration of challenges and strategies to address them. Click on the title below to access each user\’s guide:

EBDM Case Studies

A set of case studies highlight key accomplishments of the seven local jurisdictions that served as the original EBDM pilot sites: Charlottesville/Albemarle County, Virginia; Eau Claire County, Wisconsin; Grant County, Indiana; Mesa County, Colorado; Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; Ramsey County, Minnesota; and Yamhill County, Oregon. The case studies offer a retrospective account of select change targets and key efforts undertaken by each pilot site to achieve their goals during Phases II and III of the EBDM initiative, and reports on some of the outcomes achieved.

EBDM Starter Kit

The EBDM Starter Kit provides guidance to jurisdictions that seek to implement justice practices that are based on evidence-based decisions. The Starter Kit is intended to assist local, collaborative criminal justice teams in building their capacity to engage in EBDM by providing a roadmap to, and the critical planning steps necessary for, successful implementation of EBDM.

The Starter Kit’s \”Roadmap,\” informed by the experiences of the jurisdictions participating in Phase II of the initiative, includes the following steps:

  1. Build a genuine, collaborative policy team.
  2. Build individual agencies that are collaborative and in a state of readiness for change.
  3. Understand current practice within each agency and across the system.
  4. Understand and have the capacity to implement evidence-based practices.
  5. Develop logic models.
  6. Establish performance measures, determine outcomes, and develop a system scorecard.
  7. Engage and gain the support of the community.
  8. Develop a strategic action plan for implementation.

EBDM Phase II Technical Assistance Evaluation

NIC awarded a cooperative agreement to the Urban Institute, which worked in coordination with the EBDM initiative team to evaluate the effectiveness of the technical assistance delivered to the seven Phase II sites from October 2010 to February 2012. The resulting research report describes the EBDM Phase II technical assistance approach and presents findings and themes from the process evaluation and outcome assessment of the technical assistance delivered. An evaluation brief is also available.