Corrections_Today_November_December_2020_Vol.82_No.6

NIJ Update

Figure 2: Breakdown of Needs by Area

performance. This process yielded a total of 43 needs (see Figure 2). Needs and themes To provide structure to the large set of identified needs, participants ranked each need in terms of expected benefit (relative importance of meet - ing that need) and probability of fully meeting that need. These ratings were multiplied by each other to produce an expected value score, and that score was used to group the needs into top-, medium-, and low-tier priority needs. In the

strategies to demonstrate the relevance of data to staff in specific contexts (e.g., com - municating how analysis of data about assaults on staff can lead to better interventions and improved safety). Better staff understanding of how data efforts relate to the jail’s mis - sion and the staff’s day-to-day work experience may improve the quality of data collection. During workshop discus - sion the participants noted that many jails lack an overarching strategic plan with respect to their data objectives (i.e., what data should be collected and

the way jails perform. Emphasiz - ing the value of data to leadership, one participant quoted his sheriff saying that “vision without data is a hallucination.” To bridge this gap, the participants recommended the development of education and training programs, case studies, and toolkits geared toward administra - tors that demonstrate the benefits and return on investment from effective use of data. Further, the participants recommended the creation of online, self-paced curricula designed to provide jail leaders with a basic level of data literacy. According to the participants, better education is needed to help leaders create and nurture a culture that values data and supports data- informed practices. Staff at all levels should receive training on the im - portance of collecting and utilizing quality-assured information. These values should be reinforced consis - tently through in-service training and regular interactions between staff and supervisors. Further, the participants called for best practices and effective

final analysis, 13 of the 43 identified needs were ranked in the top tier and are listed in Figure 1. The 43 needs fell under five themes: leadership and organizational issues, information sharing, applying the data, data col - lection and analysis, and procuring and implementing a jail management system. The 13 top-tier needs fell under four of those themes — all but procuring and implementing a jail management system. Overall, more than 30% of the needs (and nearly half of the top- tier needs) fell under the theme of leadership and organizational issues. Although many jail administra - tors fully understand and value the power of data-driven approaches to improving outcomes, participants acknowledged that this is not univer - sal. One participant noted that many jail leaders suffer from a “failure of imagination” with respect to how data can support and even transform Organizational and leadership issues

why). Some have not established key performance indicators, so measuring progress toward objectives is virtually impossible. Resources are needed to highlight best practices to help jails create a strategic plan around their data needs. Furthermore, jails need training and technical assistance to help them create an initial plan and evaluate and modify that plan based on emerging needs. Finally, some jail administrators fail to prioritize the need for informa - tion technology and analytic staff, which can significantly limit efforts to become more data-informed. That said, participants readily ac - knowledged that dedicating adequate resources to supporting this function can be challenging, particularly in jails that suffer from chronic under - staffing in security positions. Further, many jails operate under the authority of the county sheriff, and there is gen - erally greater public support for the more visible law enforcement compo - nent of county sheriffs’ offices rather than for their jail operations. 9 It can

Corrections Today November/December 2020 — 17