Department of Justice Grant: Reviewing Evidence-Based Decision Making in Local Criminal Justice

The overarching goal of the Evidence Based Decision Making (EBDM) initiative is to establish and test articulated linkages (information tools and protocols) between the decisions of local criminal justice stakeholders and the application of human and organizational change principles (evidence-based practices) in achieving measurable reductions in pretrial misconduct and post-conviction risk of reoffending. The unique focus of the EBDM initiative is the review of locally developed criminal justice strategies that guide practice within existing statues and rules. The initiative intends to (1) improve the quality of information that jurisdictions use to make individual case decisions in local systems and (2) engage these systems as policymaking bodies to collectively improve the effectiveness and capacity of their decision making related to pretrial release/sentencing options. Local officials involved in the initiative included: judges, prosecutors, public defenders, police, human service providers, county executives, and administrators of jail, probation, and pretrial services agencies.

NIC welcomes applications that involve two or more entities; however, one eligible entity must be the applicant and the others must be proposed as sub-recipients. The applicant must be the entity with primary responsibility for administering the funding and managing the entire program.

NIC may elect to make awards for applications submitted under this solicitation in future fiscal years, dependent on the merit of the applications and on the availability of appropriations.

The overarching goal of the Evidence Based Decision Making (EBDM) initiative is to establish and test articulated linkages (information tools and protocols) between the decisions of local criminal justice stakeholders and the application of human and organizational change principles (evidence-based practices) in achieving measurable reductions in pretrial misconduct and post-conviction risk of reoffending. The unique focus of the EBDM initiative is the review of locally developed criminal justice strategies that guide practice within existing statues and rules. The initiative intends to (1) improve the quality of information that jurisdictions use to make individual case decisions in local systems and (2) engage these systems as policymaking bodies to collectively improve the effectiveness and capacity of their decision making related to pretrial release/sentencing options. Local officials involved in the initiative included: judges, prosecutors, public defenders, police, human service providers, county executives, and administrators of jail, probation, and pretrial services agencies.