Moving from Theory to Practice: Using Lessons Learned to Improve the RNR Simulation Tool

• In Event: A Tool for All Settings? Applying RNR in Prison, Jail/Reentry, and Community Supervision

Abstract

After a five-year development and validation phase, the RNR Simulation Tool went live in 2013. During the period 2013-16, George Mason University (GMU) worked with community supervision agencies, jails, prisons, and treatment providers in over 50 jurisdictions nationwide to implement the RNR Simulation Tool. GMU has used the lessons learned from working with these sites to inform revisions to both the tool itself and to the implementation process. One example of using experiences with sites to inform tool revisions comes from GMU’s collaboration with community-based organizations that received grants from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to develop and deliver reentry programming to individuals returning from jail or prison. In working with these programs, GMU found that the program assessment portal and the individual assessment portal did not capture all the nuances of returning citizens and the programs that serve them. To remedy this issue, GMU conducted an extensive review of “what works” in reentry programming, consulted with experts in reentry, and developed additional items for the two portals. GMU also pilot-tested the revised tools with four of the reentry programs, and refined the tools based on their feedback.

Authors

• Amy Murphy, George Mason University

• Faye S. Taxman, George Mason University