Youth justice practitioners need to understand the basics of evaluation research, including the statistical methods used to generate evidence of program effectiveness. A study that reports statistically significant results is not necessarily evidence of effectiveness, and being evidence-based does not mean a program is guaranteed to work. In today’s youth justice system, understanding these basic principles of evaluation research is part of every practitioner’s job. Continue reading What’s the Evidence for Evidence-Based Practice?

The number of drug-related arrests reported by U.S. law enforcement agencies increased sharply between 1980 and 1995, and for some groups the volume of arrests did not decline significantly between 1995 and 2010. The largest relative growth in drug arrests occurred among adult women, especially those charged with drug possession offenses rather than sales or manufacture. Drug arrests involving male offenders still outnumbered those involving females in 2010, but arrests of women increased more since 1980. Continue reading Increasing Drug Arrests after 1980 had Disproportionate Effect on Women