Implementation Evaluation of Hate Crime Task Forces

The Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center (Urban) proposes to conduct a comprehensive, multisite study of the development and implementation of hate crime task forces (HCTFs), incorporating the voices of hate crime survivors–as participants and research collaborators–to assess diverse perspectives on promising practices for improving hate crime reporting and prevention and for achieving survivor-defined justice. This study would mark the first national evaluation of recently funded HCTFs—including HCTFs in which the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) recently invested over $5M (FY22 and FY21)— and would culminate in dissemination of an HCTF Implementation Toolkit of protocols for communities to consider when developing multidisciplinary teams in response to hate crime. Findings would also inform future-phase, outcome evaluations of HCTF by clarifying logic models of intended outcomes and indicators, assessing potential research designs and comparison data, and measuring task force readiness to undergo rigorous evaluation. Accordingly, this study addresses Category 1: Research and Evaluation on Preventing and Addressing Hate Crimes, C-NIJ-2023-00011-PROD, and covers Topics 2 and 3, with a focus on improving hate crime reporting and addressing the safety and justice needs of survivors. The overarching goals of this research are to build the evidence base on the scope and promise of HCTFs, increasing understanding of: (a) community- and agency-level contextual factors, barriers, and facilitators to HCTF development and implementation; (b) survivor-informed promising practices to improve hate crime reporting and outcomes; (c) theory of change mechanisms for HCTFs and potential outcome evaluability; and (d) recommendations to support current and future task force success and sustainability. CA/NCF