SPEP™ Implementation and Local Validation Findings from OJJDP's Juvenile Justice Reinvestment and Reform Initiative

• In Event: Connecting Research to Practice Using the Standardized Program Evaluation Protocol (SPEP™): Improving Juvenile Justice Outcomes

Abstract

OJJDP's Juvenile Justice Reform and Reinvestment Initiative (JJRRI) includes implementation of the SPEP™ as a central element. Three sites were funded to participate in the demonstration programs in 2013. One site also provides a promising opportunity to locally validate the relationship between SPEP™ ratings and recidivism reduction that underlies the SPEP™. Can Lipsey's findings from a large meta-analysis of hundreds of program evaluations be replicated at a local site with a more limited set of programs? What requirements are necessary for such a validation? After presenting key findings regarding SPEP™ implementation at JJRRI sites, this presentation will present findings from the local validation study.

Authors

• Akiva Liberman, Urban Institute

• Jeanette Hussemann, Urban Institute