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August 2017
The late esteemed evaluation scholar, Carol Hirschon Weiss, talked about the importance of the “four I’s” in whether research gets used or not: ideology, interests, institution, and information.
- Ideology - A person's or an organization's basic values.
- Interests - Self-interests of the person or organization involved in the decision.
- Institution - Traditions and processes of communication and how decisions get made.
- Information - The data, research, and evidence that is used to bear on the decision.
The Justice & Prevention Research Center (JPRC) team is sensitive to the role of ideology, interests and institutions in justice and prevention policy decisions, and is also focused on how we can use information to inform the decision making process. How can we generate information that is reliable and helpful regardless of decision-makers self-interests, affiliations, and institutional norms? We focus on doing the most rigorous study we can within the constraints of available resources and timeline; collaborate with the stakeholders who are invested in the work; and communicate the research in a variety of ways and to a number of audiences within and outside the study setting.
To that end, in this update, we highlight some different ways we are disseminating our work, through publications and presentations. We also introduce the newest member of the JPRC team, and a new project with the Annie E. Casey Foundation. We conclude by highlighting some recent news media coverage of a WestEd justice project.
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation
 The JPRC was a key partner in an evaluation of the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative (SSYI), led by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), funded by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) in 2012. SSYI is a complex, public health intervention targeting firearms and other violence by young men, ages 14-24, in 11 cities in Massachusetts. In the work for EOHHS, the project team conducted several studies, including an evaluation of SSYI on the violent victimization of young persons, ages 14-24, using a short, interrupted time series design. A summary of this study was published by the Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation in its latest issue. You can access the pdf for the article here. The full report is available here.
SSYI was also the subject of a more recent evaluation study, funded by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), also led by AIR and including the JPRC as a major partner. You can access our final report from that project here.
Encyclopedia of Corrections
 JPRC teammates Anthony Petrosino and Pamela MacDougall published an article on “Scared Straight” programs for the Encyclopedia of Corrections. "Scared Straight," in this context, captures programs that bring at-risk youth to correctional facilities to interact with the correctional population and deter future crime by the youth. Prior research, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses published by the JPRC, indicate that the program increases crime relative to youths that did not receive the intervention. You can access the Encyclopedia of Corrections article here. You can also download a written summary of a systematic review of research on the effects of Scared Straight programs published by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community-Oriented Policing Services Research Review series.
NEW PUBLICATIONS
The JPRC welcomes a new staff member!
 We are delighted to introduce the newest member of our team, Alexis Stern. Alexis is a Research Associate who will be working out of the WestEd Washington, DC office. She previously consulted with the JPRC for a number of years, and has co-authored several Center publications and reports. Her current responsibilities include contributing to project management, writing, survey development, analysis, and interview support for school climate, school safety, and juvenile justice projects. She is currently part of a research team developing case studies of juvenile detention reform in four U.S. states. She is also helping to support a study of a framework for school-based law enforcement in Texas. Before joining WestEd staff in 2017, Alexis worked for a community grantmaker in Rhode Island, where her work focused on community facilitation and state-level advocacy in the fields of adult basic education and workforce development. Ms. Stern has a master’s degree in Urban Education Policy from Brown University. You can see a complete list of the core JPRC staff here.
New project with the Annie E. Casey Foundation
 WestEd was asked by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to conduct a review of research relevant to cross-sector collaboration. This review for the Annie E. Casey Foundation will summarize what is known about emerging, promising, and recommended practices in cross-systems/cross-sector collaboration within child welfare, juvenile justice, homelessness prevention, education, and employment systems and services for youth and young adults (ages 14 to 26), particularly those who are economically disadvantaged and/or are of color. Collaboration around systems reform will be examined through three lenses: (1) shaping policy/decision making, (2) changing practice, and (3) refining/developing program/service. The Foundation will use this review to inform its own work in areas such as child welfare and juvenile justice. The project will be led by Cecelia Dodge and Roxy Terteryan of WestEd’s Center for Prevention and Early Intervention (CPEI), with assistance from the JPRC.
JPRC researchers to present on violence prevention, juvenile justice and restorative justice at the American Criminology Society’s Annual Meeting
 Researchers from the JPRC will present a series of papers across three panels at the American Society of Criminology annual conference in Philadelphia.
The first panel presents the results of three recently funded studies for the JPRC. These studies include a project examining community-based violence prevention initiatives, a review of research on juvenile sex offender registration, and a case study of four different states implementing the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI).
The JPRC will also participate in several presentations in a second panel organized by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) on the juvenile drug treatment court guidelines project highlighted in our December 2016 newsletter. Specifically, the panel includes presentations that focus on how evidence was synthesized and used to formulate the draft guidelines for juvenile drug treatment courts.
On the final panel, WestEd researchers will present a paper on the empirical base for restorative justice in schools, summarizing results from a project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The ASC annual meeting will be held in Philadelphia from November 15-18, 2017. You can view the full schedule here.
Presentation to the New York State Council of School Superintendents Cabinet officials
 The JPRC and Learning Innovations (LI) staff presented on restorative justice in schools to a gathering of district cabinet officials (e.g., Deputy Superintendents) at the New York State Council of School Superintendents conference. JPRC director, Anthony Petrosino, presented an overview of the research. Susan Villani of WestEd (as part of her work for the Center for Educational Equity at the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium) presented on the processes used to develop a toolkit to assist schools and districts in adopting restorative practices. The presentation was held in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Project Spotlight: WestEd’s study of the “Alameda County Justice Restoration Project” in the news
 The “Alameda County Justice Restoration Project” provides intensive case management and services to certain felony offenders that enter the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. The cornerstone of the project is the assignment of young adults who are on probation to receive intensive services including individualized coaching and intensive case management. WestEd’s Health and Human Development Program will lead a randomized controlled trial to determine if the program met its objectives. The JPRC assisted in helping to secure this project for WestEd. This is a “Pay for Success” project, resulting from a fiscal partnership between Alameda County and private funders. This project was recently covered by KTVU in the Bay Area (California) in this article. You may learn more about the project through its funding announcement here.
ABOUT US
WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center is a new agency initiative that collaborates with partners in funding, implementing, and evaluating programs that promote positive youth development, physical health and well-being, and prevention of risk behaviors, including violence. Keep current on the latest Justice & Prevention Research Center reports, research studies, projects, events, and news through this monthly update, the JPRC website or by sending an email to the JPRC or its' Director, Anthony Petrosino, at apetros@wested.org.
WestEd is a nationally recognized not-for-profit research and services firm. The agency’s mission is to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve social and learning outcomes for children, youth, and adults. WestEd has a long history of effective collaboration with local community, justice, and education agencies in implementing, and evaluating successful programs that promote positive youth development, physical health and well-being, and prevention of risk behaviors including violence.
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