Effects of an Organizational Process Improvement Intervention on Offender Assessment Practices in Corrections

• In Event: Health Care Programs in Prisons

Abstract

CJDATS-2 (Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Systems), a national research collaborative funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), targeted improved implementation of evidence-based approaches for assessing and treating drug abuse in criminal justice settings. The Organizational Process Improvement Intervention (OPII), one of three major projects, attempted to improve evidence-based practices for assessment of offenders in correctional settings. A survey was administered to personnel (n=1509) at twenty-one sites randomly assigned to an Early- (experimental) or Delayed- (control) Start condition. We hypothesized that the experimental sites would show greater improvement in staff perceptions of assessment practices than control sites, and that experimental effects would be sustained during a 3-month follow-up period. Hierarchical Linear Models with repeated measures were used to examine impacts on four assessment outcomes: Measurement and Instrumentation (MI), Integration with the Case Plan (ICP), Conveyance and Utility (CU), and Service Activation and Delivery (SAD). Covariates controlled for differences across the 21 research sites. Significant intervention and sustainability effects were found for all four outcomes except Conveyance and Utility. While implementation strategies improved evidence-based assessment practices for offenders exiting correctional systems and re-entering the community, collaboration requires greater trust and reciprocity between agencies, which takes time to develop.

Author

• Wayne N. Welsh, Temple University