Starting off a three-day event, the Honorable Michael L. Bender, Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, welcomed participants to the Evidence Based Decision Making in Local Criminal Justice Systems Phase III Kickoff Meeting.  He discussed the importance of using evidence-based practices, particularly evidence-based sentencing, to “solve problems” in the criminal justice system.  For Colorado, Justice Bender cited examples of EBPs included in statutes on sentencing and pre-sentence investigations, as well as training for Colorado judges.

Over 80 participants from seven sites were in attendance for the first day hosted by NIC in Aurora, CO at the National Corrections Academy.  Each site brought a cross-discipline team of corrections officials, country commissioners, defense attorneys, judges, pretrial representatives, prosecutors, and sheriffs to the EBDM Kickoff event.  This event will provide the groundwork for each site to begin the implementation phase (Phase III) of the Evidence Based Decision Making in Local Criminal Justice System Initiative.

First day activities included team presentations on evidence-based practices from Eau Claire County, Wisconsin and Mesa County, Colorado on using the Hawai’i proxy tool at the arrest decision point. Another example came from the team from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin discussing their experiences on applying universal pretrial screening and using a praxis to guide pretrial release and supervision decisions. 

Also, presenting via Skype was Joe McCannon, Senior Advisor to the Administrator and Group Director for Learning and Diffusion at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. His presentation highlighted lessons learned from large-scale initiatives about preventing implementation failure; sustaining energy and momentum through long periods of change; measuring outcomes and using performance data to support and expand efforts; growing initiatives beyond that which was originally conceptualized; celebrating success; and using effective communication strategies to engage stakeholders.

For additional information see NIC’s EBDM Project.