Juvenile Corrections Executive Leadership Training: Formative Evaluation and Evaluability Assessment

• NCJ Number: 309032
• Author(s): Stephen Gies; Elizabeth Spinney; Amanda Bobni
• Date Published: December 2023
• Length: 66 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2020-MU-MU-K003
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: A Formative Evaluation and Evaluability Assessment of a Juvenile Corrections Executive Leadership Training

Annotation

This report evaluates the Juvenile Corrections Executive Leadership (JCEL) training course.

Abstract

This assessment of Juvenile Corrections Executive Leadership (JCEL) training found that, overall, the formative evaluation indicated that the development and implementation of the JCEL training event compares favorably when benchmarked against instructional design best practice. The JCEL training course is designed for juvenile facility leadership and agency deputy directors overseeing facility operations, offering them a national training opportunity to enhance their skills in facility management—to ensure functionality, comfort, safety, and efficiency of the built environment by integrating people, place, process, and technology. The objectives of the course, as identified by the logic model developed from the process evaluation work led by the project team, are to provide multifaceted technical assistance (in-person training, webinars, coaching, and peer learning) to juvenile residential facility leaders to increase understanding of the Juvenile Justice Reform Act requirements, as they relate to juvenile facilities; implement evidence-based practices in areas of most need, such as gender-specific services, needs-based reentry services, and conditions of confinement; identify, monitor, and reduce racial and ethnic disparities within facility decision-making; and improve facility management, especially in emergency planning, staff wellness, data-driven decision-making, and adherence to the Prison Rape Elimination Act and the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA). The JCEL training course is composed of four core components: 1) instructor-led, in-person training¹; 2) webinars; and 3) coaching.