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Resources to design and evaluate criminal justice programs

The ACT Government is committed to investing in evidence-based programs. There is an increasing expectation that organisations will be able to provide evaluation or performance data to show the positive impact of their services. Collecting data is understood to be part of service delivery, not a separately funded add-on activity.

To help, JACS has funded POLIS@ANU: The Centre for Social Policy Research (POLIS) to create practical guidelines and resources on evaluation. These explain:

  • What evaluation is and why it matters.
  • What data to collect and how to collect it.
  • When to collect data to support evaluation and performance monitoring.

These guidelines will help services understand and use data to measure their impact. The guidelines were developed through research and consultations as part of the Reducing Recidivism by 25% by 2025 Plan (RR25by25). The Plan aims to reduce the number of people returning to prison.

The guidelines include an introduction to evaluation and seven steps to build your knowledge and capacity. They are flexible and you can use what is relevant to your service.

Each guideline page includes:

  • a brief introduction to the guideline
  • where the guideline should be used in the workflow map
  • a link to read and download the full guideline
  • a link to read and download templates to use with the guideline.

Background

This work is part of the ACT Reducing Recidivism Research Collaboration, a partnership between JACS and POLIS to examine the impact of key initiatives under the ACT Government’s Reducing Recidivism in the ACT by 25% by 2025 Plan (the Plan).[1]

Thie ambitious goal – of reducing recidivism by 25% by 2025 – is to be measured by reference to the proportion of people re-sentenced and returned to prison within two years.[1] The Plan is underpinned by the following principles: restorative practices, cultural integrity, human rights, trauma-informed, evidence-informed and gender-informed. In September 2024, the ACT Government released RR25by25 and Beyond: A Justice Reinvestment Strategy for the ACT. [2] RR25by25 and Beyond builds on the successes of Phase 1 by continuing efforts to reduce recidivism, while also broadening the way success is measured. Rather than focusing solely on recidivism rates, it introduces a wider set of indicators to better capture the overall health and effectiveness of the justice system.

The Data Capacity Project, which includes the development of these guidelines and resources, is specifically referenced in the Phase 2 Plan as a key activity supporting justice reinvestment efforts.[2]

Footnotes

[1] ACT Government (2020). RR25by25: Reducing Recidivism in the ACT by 25% by 2025, 2020-2023. ACT Government.

[2] ACT Government (2024). RR25by25 and beyond: A Justice Reinvestment Strategy for the ACT – Reducing Recidivism in the ACT by 25% by 2025: Phase 2. ACT Government.