Common Challenges and Solution Strategies for Juvenile Justice Reform: Implementing Standardized Program Evaluation Protocol (SPEP™) in Ten States

• In Event: Connecting Research to Practice Using the Standardized Program Evaluation Protocol (SPEP™): The Road to Reform

Abstract

States are increasingly interested in establishing evidence-based practice models for juvenile justice functions and as a result several models have been implemented to various degrees throughout the U.S. In practice, every stage of implementation is fraught with challenges that have the potential to derail even the most well-conceived logic models. The more reformers are able to anticipate and minimize the impact of organizational challenges when embarking on a reform effort, the more they will be able to strengthen appropriate implementation drivers, develop salient outcomes, define expectations for stake holders, project budget estimates, timelines, etc. While implementation challenges have been discussed and noted in existing research, less attention has been paid to common organizational barriers to reform across multiple sites and jurisdictions. Even less attention has been paid to strategies for overcoming and/or working with these barriers across many organizational and political structures. Experience implementing the SPEP™ in ten states has provided a unique opportunity to identify common challenges and opportunities in juvenile justice reform. This presentation will highlight the common barriers/opportunities and review strategies used to overcome these challenges across distinctive jurisdictional organizational structures.

Author

• Gabrielle Chapman, Vanderbilt University