Corrections_Today_November_December_2020_Vol.82_No.6

nEWS&vIEWS

NIJ Update

The data-informed jail By Joe Russo

Author’s Note: Findings and conclu- sions reported in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. ails are the entry point to the correctional system in the United States. As a critical component of the criminal jus - tice system, jails interface regularly with law enforcement, the courts, and the probation, parole, and prison systems. There are 3,500 local jails and detention centers in the United States, 1 and in 2018, jails held roughly 740,000 individuals on any given day. 2 Recent data suggests that approxi - mately 4.9 million unique individuals are admitted to a jail each year. 3 Because of the size of the jail population and the scope of ser - vices jails provide, a vast amount of critical data are generated by jail systems. Although some jails signifi - cantly leverage these data to inform policies and improve both operations and inmate outcomes, many more do not, for a variety of reasons. It follows that there is much untapped potential for jails to operate in a more data-informed manner. J

and representatives of national as - sociations. This work, sponsored by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), identified a total of 43 needs related to jails’ use of data, with 13 high-priority needs associated with the four following themes: (See Figure 1: Top-Tier Needs.) –– Leadership and Organizational Issues –– Information Sharing –– Data Collection and Analysis –– Applying the Data A fifth theme, Procuring and Implementing a Jail Management System (JMS), related to four of the lower-priority needs, but none of the 13 top-tier needs, the research team determined. The workgroup’s methods and findings, discussed below, sug - gest that organizational leadership is essential to a data-informed jail. Leaders must understand and com - mit to a data-driven decision-making approach, develop and nurture an organizational culture that values data, make the requisite investments in staff and technology, and foster information sharing with relevant justice, public health, and social services organizations.

Why should a jail operate in a data-informed manner? Jails are under constant scrutiny, and taxpayers demand jail services that are both effective and efficient. Jails are complex organizations, and the desired outcomes are much more attainable when data are collected, analyzed, and used to drive decision- making. A data-informed approach can yield benefits in key functional areas such as: –– Development of key perfor - mance indicators and systems for measuring progress. –– Objective evaluation of the impact of policy changes, programs, and innovations. –– Identification of trends, projection development, and planning for future needs. –– Facilitation of information sharing with justice agen - cies as well as public health organizations. To examine this issue, the RAND Corporation in partnership with the University of Denver (DU) analyzed insights from a workgroup of jail administrators, correctional experts,

14 — November/December 2020 Corrections Today