Model Data Project 3D Data Capacity Assessment: Data Use and Dissemination

• NCJ Number: 252013
• Author(s): Teri Deal; Wendy Schiller; Moriah Taylor; Julie Boc
• Date Published: August 2018
• Length: 8 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2015-JF-FX-K003
• Agencies: OJJDP-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance); Report (Grant Sponsored); Instructional Material

Annotation

This report describes one of the features of the Juvenile Justice Model Data Project's 3D Data Capacity Assessment, which is a tool for juvenile justice practitioners to use in examining the data capacity of their juvenile justice system and reflect on their use of data to inform decisions and guide improvements.

Abstract

The tool has three sections: Infrastructure, Data Use and Dissemination, and Indicators of Juvenile Justice System Involvement. This report addresses only the section on Data Use and Dissemination. This section focuses on the "distribution of data to end users and the application of information development from disseminated data." This involves helping juvenile justice practitioners to understand the extent to which their particular agency and the juvenile justice system as a whole are committed to policies and practices that promote the sharing of information with staff, partnering agencies and the public, as well as the application of information to decisions that impact their agencies and the system as a whole. Data use and dissemination as the basis for continuous quality improvement involve cyclical processes that have the following four elements: 1) assessment, 2) planning, 3) monitoring, and 4) improvement. "Assessment" focuses on the analysis of current practice and performance. "Planning" develops ways to improve by establishing performance measures. "Monitoring" involves reassessing practice and performance based on benchmarks previously set. "Improvement" addresses the implementation of envisioned improvement and beginning the process of the next assessment. The Data Use and Dissemination section of the tool poses 11 questions that enable juvenile justice practitioners to assess the degree to which data collected by the system conform to the previously described model.