Examining the Effectiveness of Indigent Defense Team Services: A Multisite Evaluation of Holistic Defense in Practice

This grant is funded under NIJ's FY2012 Social Science Research on Indigent Defense solicitation. The goals of this project are to: describe the implementation of holistic defense principles in up to four programs; measure program impact on pretrial release, recidivism, and other outcomes; and assess the cost-efficiency of these programs in comparison to traditional defense and other services delivered. Researchers will collect information on both holistic and traditional defense delivery via interviews, focus groups, observation during site visits, and administrative data. The proposed impact evaluation is a quasi-experimental design using propensity score matching, regression models, and survival analyses to examine the relative impact of holistic defense on pretrial release, time to rearrest, and other outcomes controlling for defendant characteristics. Cost analysis plans include estimating the monetary value of holistic programs versus traditional defense and other service costs delivered, as well as the of the respective benefits associated with differences in recidivism and other outcomes. In addition to the data and written deliverables required by NIJ, anticipated work products include professional conference presentations, manuscripts for submission to professional journals, and research briefs to be disseminated with assistance from the American Bar Association. This project has the potential to provide important feedback on the implementation, impact and cost-efficiency of holistic defense programs.ca/ncf