Correctional Program Checklist Project

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

The Hennepin County Department of Community Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCCR) Correctional Program Checklist (CPC) project uses a nationally accepted evaluation tool to provide evidence-based interventions for correctional clients. Since 2008, the Department has been using the CPC, an evaluation tool developed by the University of Cincinnati, to look at the vendors providing services to Department clients, both adult and juvenile. A cadre of trained “volunteers” from inside the Department administers the tool. These auditors are largely line staff and managers who take time from their usual duties to apply the checklist. These staff members bring a practitioner’s eye to the business of evaluation. Their suggestions for improvement aren’t just based on research, but on a firsthand knowledge of working with clients. The results of the CPC are used to work with the vendors to improve their services, and to help the Department inform contracting decisions. The CPC tool is the centerpiece of a larger effort. Its use is written into vendor contracts, and providers are reassessed on a two to three year schedule. Institutionalizing the use of the CPC in this way has led to a stronger and more effective network of evidence-based programs that serve county clients.