Defending and Managing the Pipeline: Lessons for Running a Randomized Experiment in a Correctional Institution

To discuss the challenges faced in an experimental prisoner reentry evaluation with regard to managing the pipeline of eligible cases. This paper uses a case study approach, coupled with a review of the relevant literature on issues of case flow in experimental studies in criminal justice settings. Included are recommendations for researchers on the management of case flow, reflections on the major research design issues encountered, and a listing of dilemmas that are likely to plague experimental evaluations of prisoner reentry programs. Particularly in a jail setting, anticipating the timing of release of a prisoner to the community is probably impossible given the large number of issues that impact release, many of which will be unanticipated. A detailed pipeline study is critical to the success of an experimental study targeting returning prisoners. Pipeline studies should be conducted under what will be the true conditions and context for enrollment, given all eligibility criteria. With continued and systematic documentation of enrollment challenges in future experimental evaluations of reentry programs, as well as other experimental evaluations that involve individuals, academics can build a deep literature that would help facilitate future successful randomized experiments in the criminal justice field. Abstract published by arrangement with Springer.