Vera’s evaluation of New York State’s Willard Drug Treatment program for nonviolent felony offenders showed that judges were reluctant to send people to the program because they, as well as prosecutors, believed the program was too short. The state later added a six-to-nine-month residential treatment component to the program, and Vera has recently completed an evaluation of this extended program. For more information, see Diverting Drug Abusers from Prison.

Vera also evaluates whether justice innovations actually achieve what they set out to do. Such impact studies usually deliver complex results. A program may be working for some people and under some circumstances but not for others or in other circumstances. Like the results of process evaluations, these findings give staff information they can use to further refine the program. If widely disseminated, impact studies also influence criminal justice practitioners and other researchers by showing the value of new approaches.

Last year, for example, Vera evaluated the impact of La Bodega de la Familia, a Vera demonstration project that worked with substance abusers and their family members in hopes of reducing the users' reliance on drugs. Relative to a comparison group, drug users who participated in La Bodega were significantly less likely to be abusing substances six months later. The change can be attributed to the program’s work with the families and not to any increase in drug treatment for the users. The report, Families as a Resource in Recovery from Drug Abuse: An Evaluation of La Bodega de la Familia, is now available. In 2002, La Bodega became part of the nonprofit organization Family Justice.

Understanding Social Problems
Too often, policymakers lack objective information to appropriately address a social problem. Vera researchers explore social problems to understand their causes and consequences and identify promising interventions.

Many existing studies show that foster children do not perform well in school. But to address the problem, policymakers need to understand why. Vera's work with the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) and Department of Education provides some answers. Vera researchers found that decisions ACS makes about placement can improve foster children’s school performance. For more information, see the report, How Children's Foster Care Experiences Affect Their Education.

More recently, with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Vera took a more personal look at the issue. Researchers interviewed foster children, their foster parents, and other adults in their lives to identify the major obstacles that prevent them from succeeding in school. From the kids' point of view, worries about their biological families and mandatory appointments and court appearances made school difficult. Adults, meanwhile, often lacked a full picture of kids' situations and needs. The report What Keeps Children in Foster Care from Succeeding in School? details Vera's findings.

Vera also has explored possible explanations for increases in state prison populations. Researchers found that states with presumptive sentencing guidelines (those that limit judges' discretion) had significantly lower incarceration and prison admission rates than states without these guidelines. We also found that three-strikes laws have increased the number of drug offenders entering prison. For more information, go to Effects of State Sentencing Guidelines.

Helping Agencies Improve Their Own Practices
Often government and nonprofit agencies ask Vera to help them document and improve their practices. In these cases, Vera tailors its research services to their needs. Vera follows the agency’s agenda, analyzes its data, and interviews its staff to answer specific questions. Agencies use the results to assess their performance and make informed changes. The research may have broader implications as well.

For example, Vera has helped New York City's child welfare agency understand changes in the foster care population. While the overall number of children in foster care has been decreasing, adolescents make up an increasing share of the total. To help the agency plan for the future, Vera analyzed data to determine how many adolescents the agency serves, why they enter care, what kinds of homes they stay in, how long they remain in care, and where they go when they leave care. Vera's report, The Experiences of Early Adolescents in Foster Care in New York City, is now available.

Vera also recently conducted research for the Center for Employment Opportunities, a private organization and Vera spin-off that places newly released prisoners in jobs. The research helped CEO track how long participants hold jobs and the types of jobs they are most likely to retain. It also shows that people placed in jobs are significantly less likely than a comparison group to be convicted of a new offense during the year after release.

Finally, Vera provides research services to state officials nationwide. Vera’s Sentencing and Corrections Program has developed a criminal justice data archive—integrating data from a variety of public sources—that holds 30 years of statistics on reported crime, arrests, prison admissions, and total prison populations for all 50 states. Vera uses the archive to prepare briefing materials for states that request help from the Sentencing and Corrections Program and to inform the research community about criminal justice trends.

[ last modified 2/4/2004 1:47:16 PM ]