Analysis Area 1: Detail the impact and cost/benefit of Iowa Department of Corrections’ (IDOC) revocation-reduction efforts on public safety by determining how violations, revocations, and offending patterns by people on community supervision changed during the pandemic and estimating the impact of that change on public safety. The cost/benefit of the revocation-reduction efforts will be assessed by working with IDOC to estimate a cost of the revocation-reduction efforts in terms of staffing, caseloads, and other related costs, then balancing those costs against the impact on public safety.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued conversations with a research consultant and IDOC research staff to verify our understanding of the preliminary data that were shared and map out the next series of descriptive analyses. CSG Justice Center staff continued to clean and sort the data, as well as produce visualizations to illustrate variation in violation and revocation rates prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. CSG Justice Center staff continued to build out an analytic file that will be used to develop and run statistical models to test the impact of revocation reductions on public safety.
Analysis Area 2: Evaluate the implementation of recent IDOC efforts to reduce revocations; estimate their impact on community-based corrections officers’ ability to supervise effectively, case management activities, officer and supervisee needs, and utilization of community-based services and programs; and identify which efforts to keep (and which to adjust or modify).
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued the Community Supervision Assessment by documenting recurring themes across the district director, supervisor, and front-line officer focus groups. CSG Justice Center staff also began working with the district directors to coordinate and schedule a focus group with people on community supervision to understand their experiences and the challenges they have encountered being on supervision during the pandemic.
Analysis Area 3: Connect with criminal justice stakeholders (law enforcement, courts, community-based corrections, etc.) and review available data to better understand larger criminal justice responses and changes implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff began drafting focus group questions for IDOC reentry stakeholders and the victims advisory group based on the themes observed during the community supervision assessment focus groups. Additionally, CSG Justice Center staff began planning for the official public launch of the project by creating a communications plan, drafting the presentation, and updating supporting materials for distribution.
Research Monthly Status:
In January, CSG Justice Center staff have continued conversations with a research consultant and IDOC research staff to verify our understanding of the preliminary data that were shared and map out the next series of descriptive analyses. CSG Justice Center staff continued to clean and sort the data, as well as produce visualizations to illustrate variation in violation and revocation rates prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Research Monthly Log:
1/26: Call with CSG Justice Center methods consultant to discuss next steps for data analysis, alternative methodologies for our first research question (looking at the impact of revocations on public safety before and during COVID-19), and data sharing with consultant.
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