Programs readying prisoners for their return to society hold great promise for increasing public safety, but they often suffer from inadequate data to guide the effective allocation of services to those in need. This same lack of data makes the rigorous evaluation of such programs challenging, Justice Policy Center director Nancy La Vigne told the House Crime Subcommittee. La Vigne put forth a three-part plan to ensure that federal assistance provided via the Second Chance Act reaps the greatest return and that those impacts can be measured empirically.