NCJ Number
135813
Date Published
1988
Length
62 pages
Annotation
This report presents results and implications from a survey of State Planning Agencies to determine their evaluation capabilities for formula grant programs under the Federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.
Abstract
The survey was designed to identify the extent of evaluation in the States, the types of evaluations conducted, the requirements of local project grantees regarding evaluation, attitudes and opinions towards evaluation, perceived barriers to the conduct of evaluations, perceptions of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's evaluation plans, and the level of satisfaction with current evaluation processes. The survey found that the 42 States surveyed combined to fund 1,416 client-based projects and 1,807 total projects. Despite a propensity to fund client-based programs, however, only 68.8 of the 1,416 programs provided data on each youth, and an identical percentage developed descriptive summaries for the State Planning Agencies. Only 10 projects involved random selection into treatment and control groups. The State Advisory Groups have generally chosen to focus on short-term program performance evaluations to reserve resources for service delivery. Recommendations focus on the provision of technical assistance and training resources to upgrade evaluation capabilities. 17 tables, 3 references, survey instrument, respondent demographics, and comments from respondents on support for evaluation