NCJ Number
92413
Date Published
Unknown
Length
55 pages
Annotation
These standards and guidelines for California community-service-sentence programs cover program statistics, cost-effectiveness analysis, criminal justice system liaison, annual program evaluation, offender time allowance, offender monitoring and reporting procedures, program caseload size, and offender insurance coverage.
Abstract
The program-statistics standard focuses on data collection scheduling, manner of collection, report format, and the kinds of statistics collected. The cost-effectiveness-analysis standard was developed to ensure that each program determines its cost-effectiveness in a uniform and credible manner in accordance with the program-statistics standard. The liaison standard is provided because a previous assessment revealed that communication problems exist between program staff and criminal justice personnel, which inhibits effective service delivery. The evaluation standard focuses on the effectiveness of programs in meeting their stated objectives, with the standardization of self-evaluation practices making the programs comparable. The offender-completion rate is highlighted as the primary measure of success. The guideline for offender time allowance is included to provide guidance for determining the amount of time offenders are allowed to complete their assignments. Since a previous assessment indicated that the 62 participating programs used at least 57 different methods to monitor and report on clients, a standard was developed to make these procedures uniform across programs. The guideline for program caseload size includes a formula for use in estimating appropriate caseload size, and the standard for offender insurance coverage specifies coverage, written acknowledgement of coverage, offender fee, procedures, and documentation. Samples of forms to be used in complying with the various standards and guidelines are provided.