Learning From Error In American Criminal Justice

This supplement will build on the work completed in the original fellowship award, the goal of which was to assess whether the criminal justice system, like medicine, can achieve greater reliability by: 1) adopting a systems approach to breakdowns, 2) moving beyond a culture of blame to open the flow of information about vulnerabilities, and 3) building durable partnerships around the shared goals of increased professionalism and reliability by promoting a persistent core learning-from-error process. Results from focus groups and case reviews suggest that a review model, similar to what is used in aviation and medicine, may be viable in the criminal justice system. This is the first of what is expected to be two supplements made to this award (pending availability of funds and other factors) to explore the viability of an OJP-wide research initiative to implement and test a Sentinel Event Review process.

During this four month supplement, the Fellow will work with NIJ staff on several key activities in the development of this research initiative. First, he will support OJP leadership and its staff as it explores a serious commitment to developing and testing a system-oriented approach to criminal justice that mobilizes non-adversarial, all-stakeholders teams to analyze and prevent error and enhance reliability. Second, he will aid in the design, organization, and execution of a roundtable composed of leaders in relevant stakeholder communities who have robust networks within their communities. Finally, he will support OJP staff in consolidating the lessons of the roundtable and preparing for the next phase of building collaborations, disseminating products, and identifying and recruiting new partners. nca/ncf

This supplement will build on the work completed in the original fellowship award, the goal of which was to assess whether the criminal justice system, like medicine, can achieve greater reliability by: 1) adopting a systems approach to breakdowns, 2) moving beyond a culture of blame to open the flow of information about vulnerabilities, and 3) building durable partnerships around the shared goals of increased professionalism and reliability by promoting a persistent core learning-from-error process. Results from focus groups and case reviews suggest that a review model, similar to what is used in aviation and medicine may be viable in the criminal justice system. This is the second of two supplements made to this award to explore the viability of an OJP-wide research initiative to implement and test a Sentinel Event Review process. Work under this first supplement focused on preparations for a roundtable of leaders of the key stakeholder groups that was held in May 2013, and on building collaborations within OJP. Work under this second supplement includes, among other things, continuing collaborations with OJP (and possibly other DOJ) partners, further development of the Sentinel Eventi Initiative (SEI), development of products to be disseminated through a variety of media, including several publications and a webinar, and dissemination of information on the SEI project as appropriate. nca/ncf