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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 1:09 am
Time: 1:09 am
Results for juvenile justice systems (louisiana)
1 results foundAuthor: National Center for Juvenile Justice Title: Becoming a Data-Driven Juvenile Justice Organization: The Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Experience Summary: This paper focuses on the Calcasieu Parish Office of Juvenile Justice Services' (OJJS) efforts to become a more "data-driven" juvenile justice organization. While there are many examples of data-driven approaches in the private and public sectors, perhaps the approach most applicable to the juvenile justice field is the "Data-Driven Decision-Making" (DDDM) model that arose in the education realm in the mid-to-late 1990s. The DDDM began as a system of teaching and classroom/school management practices that, in essence, allows schools to get better information about students into the hands of classroom teachers. This basic concept, of getting key information into the hands of those who can directly effect change, seems quite applicable to emerging data-driven efforts in juvenile justice, and will be one important focus of this paper. As you will see, Calcasieu Parish has found some innovative and cost-effective ways to create a culture in which quick access to accurate and reliable data drives a range of important decisions. As with school DDDM reforms, the effort to become more data-driven in juvenile justice is, in part, a reflection of the increased accountability that many juvenile justice agencies have been experiencing over the past 15 to 20 years (e.g., due to budget cuts, political pressures, shifts in juvenile justice philosophies and public attitudes, and other circumstances). To a greater or lesser extent, the vast majority of juvenile justice organizations recognize the importance of having good data and the need to be able to "use" that data to shed light on the impact of the juvenile justice system. The ways in which such organizations capture, analyze, and "use" that information, however, vary widely. Some organizations have become quite sophisticated with internal research capabilities, information technology resources, and the like. Other organizations, including many small juvenile justice agencies or juvenile courts do not have the luxury of such resources and must share the data load as best they can. The primary intent of this paper is to show how one jurisdiction in Louisiana is continuing to build its internal capacities and capabilities for producing useful data that help it improve system impact. What is perhaps most notable about the Calcasieu Parish experience is that most if not all of the efforts to become more data-driven have been accomplished without additional funding. In some instances cited here, the efforts to become more data-driven have resulted in substantial cost savings. Calcasieu Parish/OJJS has been vigorously pursuing and sustaining system reform efforts for a number of years. As a demonstration site for the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), and as a site for the Models for Change juvenile justice reform initiative supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Calcasieu Parish has demonstrated it is serious about ongoing system improvement. There is a legacy of system reform in Calcasieu Parish and the movement to become more data-driven reflects more than just a passing interest in automation or data. Instead, it reflects a long-standing commitment to "getting better" and recognizing that good data are absolutely essential to sustaining system improvements. OJJS's interest in ongoing system improvement (including data improvements) does not necessarily set it apart from other juvenile justice organizations in Louisiana. What does set Calcasieu Parish apart are the no-cost, innovative ways in which OJJS first fostered and then enhanced its ability to produce and proactively use good, reliable data. This paper will also describe how Calcasieu Parish OJJS progressed from an organization that had some internal automated data resources (the Juvenile Case Manager System or JCMS) to a model for others to emulate. This will be done without going into a lot of technical details about the JCMS computer system. Details: Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice, 2014. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 4, 2015 at: http://www.ncjj.org/pdf/MFC/DataDrivenCalcasieuParishExperience_Final_1142014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncjj.org/pdf/MFC/DataDrivenCalcasieuParishExperience_Final_1142014.pdf Shelf Number: 135508 Keywords: Juvenile Justice StatisticsJuvenile Justice Systems (Louisiana) |