Criminal justice school receives grant to study state-funded programs
In order to improve the efficiency of state-funded criminal justice programs, the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute recently gave $405,450 to a research center at a local university. Using these funds, professionals from the school will analyze 10 state-funding efforts, as well as national initiatives, in order to see which programs brought the most improvement.
When the two-year project begins, researchers will start by studying the state-funded programs that have proven to be the most effective. This will include initiatives related to police activity, juvenile justice and substance abuse treatment.
Then, they will analyze criminal justice-related data in order to see where there are gaps. The professionals will then use this information to decide where the state does not have the ability to make reasonable criminal justice decisions.
"We are turning to [the school] to synthesize the most current information available from a variety of resources nationwide, as well as our own records here in Indiana," said Mark Massa, executive director of the institute. "Going forward, this will help ensure that the state is making data-driven decisions when it distributes funds and establishes policies."
