The Strategy: How Justice Reinvestment Works
Step 4: Measure the impact and enhance accountability.
For each policy adopted, an appropriate state agency is charged with setting performance measures and projected outcomes, such as the amount of corrections costs saved or avoided, recidivism rates, and indicators of community capacity. Policymakers can use these measures to determine whether agencies are implementing the new policies effectively, assess how closely the actual impact of these new policies corresponds to projections, and make any necessary adjustments. The appropriate state agency is also charged with establishing systems that can span multiple agencies to collect and analyze data and provide periodic reports to policymakers. These integrated reports provide a comprehensive portrait of the effectiveness of state expenditures to increase public safety and build stronger neighborhoods.