The Justice Policy Center's Courts, Judicial Statistics and the Law researchers study problem-solving courts and other court-based innovations, compile and disseminate statistics on a range of topics, and investigate the impact of legislation and legal services. Current projects are listed below.
Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation
The Multi-Site Adult Court Evaluation entails two phases: 1) a web-based survey of nearly 400 adult drug courts to develop a national portrait, and 2) a process, impact, and cost benefit evaluation of 23 drug courts and 6 comparison sites in 8 states (Florida, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Washington). The process evaluation entails a review of program operations, structured interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders, and court observations. The impact evaluation uses three waves of surveys, urinalysis testing, and administrative records to test a series of theoretically-grounded hypotheses on 1,200 drug court and 600 comparison group participants. Multi-level analyses will examine: 1) individual-level outcomes as a function of exposure to treatment, legal leverage, and supervision, controlling for personal and community characteristics; and 2) court-level outcomes as a function of court practices and community characteristics, controlling for differences in the offender population and communities.
Evaluation of Mental Health Interventions
Since the de-institutionalization reforms of the 1960s, persons with mental illness have been inappropriately over-represented in the criminal justice system. The Brooklyn (NY) Mental Health Court and the Bronx (NY)Mental Health Court represent two efforts to develop models of service provision to mentally-ill defendants who have been booked into local jails and are awaiting disposition of their charges. With funding from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), researchers in the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute are evaluating the impact of these court-based interventions on participant outcomes, including recidivism and treatment access and engagement. Specifically, the study is addressing two key questions: (1) does the model reduce participants’ criminal justice involvement as compared to business-as-usual, and (2) is the model cost-effective compared to business-as-usual?
Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center
The Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center (FJSRC) compiles comprehensive information describing suspects and defendants processed in the Federal criminal justice system for the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The goal of this project is to provide uniform case processing statistics across all stages of the Federal criminal justice system. Using data obtained from Federal agencies, FJSRC compiles comprehensive information that describes person-cases processed through the system. FJSRC applies uniform definitions to commonly used statistics describing data from each stage of case processing; these definitions are consistent with definitions used by other BJS programs that report on case processing in state courts so that comparisons may be made between case processing statistics between the Federal and state systems. FJSRC compiles these data into the Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP) database and reports them annually in the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics. Researchers also maintain an online database (http://fjsrc.urban.org) and a data dictionary.
Integrating Data on Gang-Related Convictions within the U.S. Department of Justice
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) has funded the Urban Institute to analyze data on gang-related convictions across these DOJ component agencies. The Urban Institute will collect data from these agencies, identify discrepancies, determine the reasons for these discrepancies, and reconcile gang conviction statistics across these agencies. Working together with BJS and Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the Urban Institute will build and implement a gang statistics reporting system module that employs a uniform definition of gang-related defendants to which the DOJ agencies will enter data on a regular basis. This system will provide a single set of uniform gang-conviction statistics for the Department of Justice.
Katrina Legal Initiative Evaluation
The Katrina Legal Initiative Evaluation examined the disaster relief efforts of Equal Justice Works to provide legal assistance to those affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Equal Justice Works placed attorneys and law students in existing non-profit and legal organizations in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama. Urban Institute researchers documented the activities and impacts of this initiative through speaking with program stakeholders, participating attorneys and law students, host site staff, and clients who received services. Program record and client services data were also analyzed to better understand the services provided through the Katrina Legal Initiative. Lessons learned from the Katrina Legal Initiative can inform future disaster relief efforts on the part of the legal community. This project was funded by Equal Justice Works.
Latest Research
