Projects » Prison and Juvenile Justice Evaluations

The Bedford State Correctional Facility, a New York State prison for women, provided an HIV prevention education program for inmates for three years. PRA developed and maintained an evaluation system to monitor changes in knowledge and risk reduction among inmates who completed the program.

Change Is Possible! PRA is currently working with four correctional facilities in Tennessee to evaluate a 20-week a comprehensive, cost-effective and evidence-based life skills education and therapeutically structured re-entry program for female prisoners.

The Graduate Education Program - Susan and William Philliber, who are the Senior Partners of Philliber Research Associates, established the first full-time graduate education program in 1984 at Eastern New York Correctional Facility. The State University of New York, College at New Paltz, Department of Sociology, where William Philliber was chair, was asked by the Department of Corrections to establish and operate a program leading to a Masters of Arts in Sociology. William Philliber directed the program while Susan Philliber took responsibility for supervising students working on theses. The Department of Corrections permitted students to conduct random surveys of inmates and data from those surveys were analyzed for theses. The Phillibers worked with inmates to design surveys, carry out data collection, and conduct analysis of data using computers purchased by a grant from the Presbyterian Church. Several of the reports were published in professional journals. The program operated until 1994 when funding for prison education ended. A description of that program was published in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education.

The Juvenile Crime Prevention Demonstration Project (JCPDP) was a five-year effort to reduce juvenile crime and delinquency. Funded by the California Office of Substance Abuse Prevention, the 12-site initiative implemented five strategies derived from Kurz, G.A. and Moore, L.E. (1994). Philliber Research Associates designed and successfully emplemented a process and outcome evaluation, as well as a statewide database that captured individual and program information. In the five years of the implementation, PRA maintained the database, designed and administered self-report forms for program participants and their families, designed a comprehensive of family environment and interactions based on the California Children's Bureau, conducted regular site visits that included staff and participant interviews, as well as focus groups with relevant stakeholders. PRA also trained and supervised unaffiliated community residents as they conducted a door-to-door survey assessing community opinions and attitudes toward juvenile crime and related factors. The survey was an integral part of community mobilization. We produced and delivered quarterly and annual reports that tracked program and individual progress over the five-year grant period.

The New Mexico Young Fathers Program serves adolescent fathers and half of their clients are incarcerated. The program seeks employment for these fathers as well as an assumption of the fatherhood role. PRA has been collecting and analyzing data on this for almost 10 years.

Peer Courts are premised on the belief that peer influence when properly focused can be a powerful weapon against juvenile crime. Students may assume the role of attorneys, court staff, judges, and jurors in a trial to determine what should happen to a peer who has violated the law. Peer court programs may also provide services to schools through a prevention curriculum on the juvenile justice system. PRA has been conducting an evaluation of a DUI prevention curriculum and companion website at teen peer courts in California. Pre, post and follow-up surveys will be administered with youth and parents who receive the curriculum in order to assess program effectiveness. Interviews will be conducted with program administrators and trainers to assess the useability of the curriculum and observations will be made at courts demonstrating best practices. Website useability and usefulness will also be assessed.

REACHH (Re-energizing Attachment, Communication, Health & Happiness) - Through a Healthy Marriage and Promoting Responsible Fatherhood grant from the Office of Family Assistance, Shelby County Department of Corrections offers male inmates an integrated fatherhood/marriage and family strengthening program designed to provide male prisoners who are fathers or expectant fathers with the skills, supports and encouragement they need to be responsible to all of their children and to embrace fatherhood within the context of healthy family life.