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practice to be ranked as evidence- if the problem identified is serious Conclusion
based by the National Institute of mental illness. This has been a brief introduc-
Justice (NIJ) at CrimeSolutions.gov Sometimes the EBPs are already tion to the fundamentals of IORs
(https://crimesolutions.gov/about_ selected by the grant-giving orga- and their relationship to select-
starttofinish.aspx): nization. If this is the case, you ing and implementing EBPs. We
• “The program must be evaluated want to assure that the organization believe these ideas are important
with at least one randomized can deliver the EBP with fidelity. for correctional leaders because
field experiment or quasi-exper- Remember, changing even a part of today’s correctional organiza-
imental research design (with a an EBP makes it no longer classified tions are required to take on more
comparison condition). as evidence-based. If members of nontraditional roles. As we will
• The outcomes assessed must your planning team start to suggest explore in a future article, we may
see some of these activities divested
relate to crime, delinquency, or changes to the EBP, perhaps you from corrections. Such divestment
victimization prevention, inter- should consider a new partner. We needs quality planning to ensure
vention, or response. often find people in criminal justice any selected EBPs will work as
• The evaluation must be pub- and associated agencies saying they intended. We will explore some
are using an EBP. However, they
lished in a peer-reviewed pub- have made changes because a chief, ways of determining which organi-
lication or documented in a sheriff, judge, or prosecutor did not zations in your community might
comprehensive evaluation report. like the way the original EBP oper- make the best partner(s) with which
• The date of publication must be ated—this is not an EBP any longer! to develop IORs to move your
1980 or later.” Several funding organizations are programming forward. Making the
While there are differences across now using third-party technical wrong choice of partners can have
disciplines, almost all definitions of advisors to observe the fidelity of lasting impacts.
EBPs require replication of the inter- implementation of EBPs to avoid
vention across multiple settings. NIJ these problems. References
requires a minimum of three “rigor- EBPs are basically disruptive DiMaggio, P.J. & Powell, W.W. (1991).
ous” studies be reviewed before innovations in most of the crimi- The iron cage revisited: Institutional
a ranking of “evidence-based” is nal justice world—corrections is isomorphism and collective ratio-
provided. In the end, programs no exception. “Innovation” is a nality in organizational fields. In W.
are rated as “no effects” (includ- term that has become trendy in the Powell & P. DiMaggio (Eds.). The
New Institutionalism in Organizational
ing harmful effects), “promising,” last decade from the corporate to Analysis (Pp. 63-82). Chicago: The
and “effective.” You want to choose university and government sec- University of Chicago Press.
something in the “effective” group; tors. Does your agency have a Leach, D. (2004). Mission creep and
“promising” at the very least. Avoid “chief innovations officer” yet? the role of the jail in public health
practices and programs in the “no Innovations are basically new ways policy. Large Jail Network Exchange,
effects” category, especially those of performing. They often conflict 37–44.
that have shown harmful effects. with how we previously operated— Oliver, C. (1990). Determinants of
This is a very brief overview of the which leads to the trendy term interorganizational relationship:
process used by NIJ to rate crime- “disruptive.” We discussed why Integration and future directions.
impacting practices and programs. criminal justice organizations are Academy of Management Review,
The reader is encouraged to visit inherently conservative in our text 15(2), 241–265.
the website for more information (Potter & Humiston, 2017). There Potter, R.H. & Humiston, G.S. (2017).
(https://crimesolutions.ojp.gov/). are Constitutional and statutory Criminal justice organizations:
EBPs are not off-the-shelf inter- reasons why some innovations can- Structure, relationships, control,
ventions. Part of the planning not be applied in the criminal justice and planning. St. Paul, MN: West
process is to assure the chosen EBP domain. There are also organiza- Academic Publishing.
matches the problem. EBPs can pro- tional cultural reasons.
vide an idea of what has worked in Unfortunately, resistance is not
the past as intended (with fidelity to futile. Effective administrators need Gail Sears Humiston, PhD, (gail.
a model) and under a range of con- to learn how to overcome resistance whumiston@ucf.edu) is an Associate
Lecturer and Roberto Hugh Potter,
ditions. Be sure the selected EBP can to the implementation of new ideas PhD, (rhpotter@ucf.edu) is a Professor
produce the outputs and outcomes and technologies to advance their in the Department of Criminal Justice
you intend to achieve. After all, an organizations. Sometimes that moti- at the University of Central Florida in
EBP focused on the development of vation for change can come from Orlando, Florida. Both regularly teach
employment skills does little good external partners. the Criminal Justice Organizations
course in the graduate program.

52 | JULY | AUGUST 2021 AMERICANJails