Title

Effects of a strategy to improve offender assessment practices: Staff perceptions of implementation outcomes

Authors

Wayne N. Welsh
Hsiu-Ju Lin
Roger H. Peters
Gerald J. Stahler
Wayne E.K. Lehman
L.A.R. Stein, University of Rhode IslandFollow
Laura Monico
Michele Eggers
Sami Abdel-Salam
Joshua C. Pierce
Elizabeth Hunt
Colleen Gallagher
Linda K. Frisman

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

2015

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Background: This implementation study examined the impact of an organizational process improvement intervention (OPII) on a continuum of evidence based practices related to assessment and community reentry of drug-involved offenders: Measurement/Instrumentation, Case Plan Integration, Conveyance/Utility, and Service Activation/Delivery.

Methods: To assess implementation outcomes (staff perceptions of evidence-based assessment practices), a survey was administered to correctional and treatment staff (n = 1509) at 21 sites randomly assigned to an Early- or Delayed-Start condition. Hierarchical linear models with repeated measures were used to examine changes in evidence-based assessment practices over time, and organizational characteristics were examined as covariates to control for differences across the 21 research sites.

Results: Results demonstrated significant intervention and sustainability effects for three of the four assessment domains examined, although stronger effects were obtained for intra- than inter-agency outcomes. No significant effects were found for Conveyance/Utility.

Conclusions: Implementation interventions such as the OPII represent an important tool to enhance the use of evidence-based assessment practices in large and diverse correctional systems. Intra-agency assessment activities that were more directly under the control of correctional agencies were implemented most effectively. Activities in domains that required cross-systems collaboration were not as successfully implemented, although longer follow-up periods might afford detection of stronger effects.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Welsh, W. N., Lin, H.-J., Peters, R. H., Stahler, G. J., Lehman, W. E.K., Stein, L.A.R., Monico, L.,...Frisman, L. K. (2015). Effects of a strategy to improve offender assessment practices: Staff perceptions of implementation outcomes. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 152, 230-238. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.03.033

Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.03.033

Creative Commons License

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