This menu of system-level performance measures helps you identify those that are most important to your initiative. You may want to collect and review these data monthly to support internal monitoring but report on them quarterly to the broader stakeholder group to track outputs and short-term and intermediate outcomes.
Goal |
Outcome |
Data Source |
Performance Measures |
System-level change |
Improve the frequency of risk, need screening, or assessment |
Agency data |
- Number or percentage of clients receiving screening in jail and community
- Number or percentage of clients receiving comprehensive risk needs assessments in jail and community |
|
Increase transition planning for medium- and high-risk offenders |
Agency data |
- Number or percentage of medium- and high-risk clients receiving a transition plan
- Number or percentage of transition plans updated after release |
|
Increase multiagency partnerships |
Quarterly assessments, surveys, agency data |
- Number or percentage of partnership agreements formed between the jail and the community
- Number of partner assets and needs
- Degree of continuity of practice between partner agencies
- Degree of integration of electronic and Information Management System
- Amount of reimbursement income from state and county entities
- Number of referrals to partnering agencies
- Degree of partner access to data systems, where relevant and appropriate
- Degree of efforts to establish a system data repository or database to which all partners contribute and have equal access
- Degree of trust, quality of communication, and partner-to-partner activities that are formalized through a criminal justice council or similar body
- Understanding of each partner’s role and their agency’s importance to the success of the system partnership
- Number and type of protocols and processes for referring clients
- Cost-benefit analysis of the TJC activities |
Service engagement and use |
Increase in participation in programs and services |
Agency data, self-report |
- Number or percentage of risk and needs-based jail programs
- Number or percentage of new risk and needs-based jail programs since TJC initiative began
- Number or percentage of target population referred to services (monthly), by service type
- Number or percentage using detox and treatment programs
- Number or percentage provided access to mental health counseling and services
- Number or percentage attending services or programs
- Number or percentage of days or sessions attended during specified period
- Number or percentage of completing programs or services by program type
- Number or percentage not completing by reason for exit
- Number or percentage of days participated by completer or noncompleters
Number or percentage of high-risk offenders targeted for services |
Goal |
Outcome |
Data Source |
Performance Measures |
Public safety |
Reduce recidivism |
Booking records, agency data |
- Number or percentage of clients that remain crime-free for specified time (3,6, 9, or 12 months after release) as measured by new arrests, new convictions, and/or new incarcerations |
|
Reduce
reoffending |
Booking records, agency data |
- Number or percentage of arrests and violations
- Number or percentage of arrests and violations for specified time (3,6,9,12 months)
- severity of new offenses/crimes |
|
Reduce jail stays |
Booking records, agency data |
- Average length of stay by risk or need
- Number or percentage of repeat jail stays
- Number or percentage of two or more jail stays by age, sex, race, offense type & severity
- Time between repeat jail stays |
|
Change in classification scores |
Agency data |
- Change in risk and need levels
- Integration of risk or needs information with systems of classification, examination, or sanction |
Restorative justice measures |
Increase in restitution collected |
Agency data |
- Hours of community service completed
- Number or percentage of clients in compliance with child support obligations |
Goal |
Outcome |
Data Source |
Performance Measures |
Community reintegration
|
Reduce drug and alcohol use |
Urinalysis, self-report,
agency data |
- Number or percentage testing positive for drugs or reporting use at screening or assessment
- Severity or frequency of substance use from screening and assessment results
- Number or percentage who have not used any substance for specified period (3, 6, or 12 months)
- Number or percentage of relapse episodes per client and number of days, weeks, or months between events
- Number or percentage enrolled in, or completing detoxification, residential, or out-patient substance abuse programs
- Number or percentage of positive drug tests or individuals who test positive
- Number or percentage applying for treatment upon release
- Number or percentage of treatment sessions completed
- Level of treatment enrollment (e.g., inpatient, outpatient).
- Number or percentage enrolled in aftercare and peer support groups to sustain sobriety and recovery |
|
Improve behavioral health care |
Agency data |
- Number or percentage of mental health assessments received
- Number or percentage of clients with improved mental health functioning based on some standardized scale
- Number or percentage of psychiatric hospitalizations
- Number or percentage applying for treatment upon release
- Number or percentage of treatment sessions completed
- Level of treatment enrollment
- Number or percentage of former inmates who continued in program at 30-day intervals |
|
Reduce homeless-ness |
Homeless database, agency data, self-report |
- Number or percentage of homeless clients
- Number or percentage of shelter stays/nights on the street in specified period (3, 6, or 12 months) after intervention
- Number or percentage of clients with a fixed address (own apartment/home)
- Number or percentage and descriptions of post-housing and shelter institutional disciplinary issues
- Changes in patterns of jail and shelter usage in the first 90, 180, and 365 days |
|
Increase access to safe housing placement and retention |
Homeless database, agency data, self-report |
- Number or percentage of attempts at housing out-placement
- Number or percentage of housing placements
- Number or percentage of placed retaining housing |
|
Increase access to benefits |
Agency data, self-report |
- Number or percentage of benefit-usage of clients
- Number or percentage of identification documents already possessed by clients at intake
- Number or percentage of clients enrolled in public benefits (e.g., SSI, Medicaid & food stamps)
- Number or percentage of clients maintaining enrollment in all eligible and appropriate benefits |
|
Increase educational obtainment |
Agency data, self report |
- Number or percentage of clients who participated in and completed vocational training
- Number or percentage attaining education (e.g., adult basic education, completed GED, pursue higher education) |
|
Increase Employ-ment |
Agency data, self-report |
- Number or percentage clients placed in jobs
- Number or percentage of clients employed
- Number or percentage of days employed
- Wages and benefits earned and taxes paid
- Number or percentage of days clients retain their jobs during specified period of time
- Degree of full-time employment (for those that need it)
- Degree of job stability over time (decrease in number of job changes) |
|
Improve physical health care |
Agency data, self-report |
- Number or percentage enrolled in a health plan using a publicly funded health insurance program
- Number or percentage receiving a full physical followed by preventive health services and appropriate treatment for chronic conditions
- Number or percentage with hospital stays due to medical issues, drug use
- Number or percentage who use necessary health care services after release
- Number or percentage who attend appointments
- Number or percentage who complete treatment
- Number or percentage of contacts with primary care physicians
- Number or percentage of emergency room visits
- Number or percentage of medication adherence
- Number or percentage of testing for chronic and infectious diseases |
|
Improve family and
community engage-ment |
Agency data, self-report |
- Number or percentage who acquire new skills – Job skills, trade/vocational skills, life skills (decisionmaking, social communication), English language
- Number or percentage who have strong positive social support networks
- Number or percentage with improved self-concept, self awareness, and system awareness
- Number or percentage engaged prosocially (e.g., voting, community involvement, volunteer work)
- Number or percentage managing their finances (e.g., open bank account, paying bills on time, building credit)
- Number or percentage rebuilding prosocial family relationships and engagement
- Number or percentage initiating contact with prosocial family members
- Number or percentage paying child-support
-Number or percentage increasing child-support payments
- Number or percentage in compliance with child-support obligations.
- Number or percentage maintaining basic responsibilities (e.g., keeping appointments) |
While the TJC initiative does not require a fully developed or collaborative management information system (MIS) in place for self-evaluation or interagency information-sharing, your agency should have the basic protocols and capacity to collect and access information relevant to operations and outcomes. An MIS is needed to measure performance and program success along desired outcomes through an external evaluation and a self-evaluation. This system will allow for each community to determine the who, what, where, and when of targeted service delivery. Refer back to Module 4: Data-Driven Understanding of Local Reentry for Step 2: Data Collection.
