Principal Investigator: Lois Davis, Ph.D., The Rand Corporation
Responding to Fiscal Challenges in State Correctional Systems: A National Study of Prison Closings and Alternative Sanctions
June 14, 2010 by
Responding to Fiscal Challenges in State Correctional Systems: A National Study of Prison Closings and Alternative SanctionsDeveloping the California Validated Risk Assessment Tool
June 14, 2010 by
Principal Investigator: Susan Turner, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
This project has developed the California Static Risk Assessment (CSRA) – a risk prediction tool which estimates individual parolee risk to re-offend using existing data collected by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), and automated offender “rap sheets” provided to CDCR by the California Department of Justice. The tool will be used by CDCR in a parole violation matrix to guide supervision and treatment decisions, or in other structured decision-making tools for parolees.
CDCR provided UCI with a database of approximately 103,000 parolees who were released onto parole in FY 2002/2003. This data contains arrest and disposition information for parolee arrests (prior to and subsequent to release in FY 2002-2003), demographic information, and other risk factors collected by CDCR for each parolee, and examines recidivism over a three year follow-up period.
UCI, in developing the study, replicated a risk assessment tool developed by Washington State using static factors related to recidivism.
Phase 2 – Outcome Evaluation of the CPSRM
June 14, 2010 by
Principal Investigator: Susan Turner, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
Phase 2 – Outcome Evaluation of the CPSRMEvaluation of the Parole Violations Decision-Making Instrument (PVDMI) Pilot
June 14, 2010 by
Principal Investigator: Susan Turner, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Division of Adult Parole Operations (DAPO), in conjunction with the Center for Effective Public Policy (CEPP) has developed the Parole Violation Decision Making Instrument (PVDMI). This tool allows parole agents and administrators to consider parolee risk, severity of parole violation and significant stabilizing and destabilizing factors in a parolee’s life in determining the most appropriate sanction response to parole violations. DAPO conducted a 90-day pilot of the PVDMI at four parole units late in November, 2008.
The Center for Evidence-Based Corrections conducted an evaluation of the PVDMI pilot. The evaluation included a qualitative component involving interviews with parole agents and administrators as well as quantitative analysis of data recorded in the PVDMI and from other CDCR data sources
A Renewed Interest in Rehabilitation? Examining Inmate Treatment Characteristics, Program Participation and Institutional Behavior
June 14, 2010 by
Principal Investigator: Susan Turner, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
Author: Alyssa Whitby Chamberlain
There has been a resurgence of interest in the rehabilitation of offenders, and research has consistently shown that treatment programs can successfully reduce recidivism. While much of the corrections literature has focused on program effectiveness, less attention has been placed on the expansion and delivery of services to incarcerated offenders, and whether the renewed focus on rehabilitation has changed the nature of treatment delivery to inmates. Using data from three time points collected as part of the BJS survey of state inmates, this paper examines the criminogenic needs of offenders and how those needs have changed over time, the role inmate needs play in driving participation in institutional programs, and whether inmates with unmet treatment needs commit a disproportionate number of institutional infractions. A structural equation modeling approach was employed to estimate the relationship between service needs and participation, and the results suggest that inmate needs have changed substantially over the past decade, with the most extensive needs concentrated in a small proportion of inmates. Consequently, correctional institutions are not always been able to match offenders to the appropriate services, which may have a direct impact on institutional safety.