NCJ Number
200301
Journal
The Compiler Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: Winter 2003 Pages: 1-5
Date Published
2003
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article describes the creation and implementation of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority’s InfoNet, a Web-based technological system designed to track information on programs, clients, and trends in victimization.
Abstract
Although millions of dollars are spent on victim services every year in Illinois, before the creation of InfoNet there was no way of tracking the effectiveness of victim services. Agencies that specialize in victim services partnered with the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority to design a computer information system that would track client demographics, program outcomes, and victim trends in order to analyze the success of victim services provided in Illinois. InfoNet has won national recognition from the U.S. Department of Justice as a model data collection program. One of the benefits of InfoNet is that it lends itself to easy data manipulation, so that trends in victimization are more clearly visible and analyzable. This, in turn, helps Illinois agencies win grant monies because they are able to clearly present victim needs and program effectiveness with statistical data and trend analysis. InfoNet is also praised as being a user-friendly standardized data collection system that can be used statewide with minimal training. The Authority continues to work with service providers throughout Illinois to bring their data into the tracking system and to effectively utilize the data already available in the system.