Reliable Research. Real Results.

Knowing what to do starts with knowing what works, and what hasn’t. CrimeSolutions helps practitioners and policymakers understand what programs & practices work in criminal and juvenile justice, victims assistance, school safety, and youth mentoring.

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About CrimeSolutions

CrimeSolutions’ ratings are assigned from standardized reviews of rigorous evaluations and meta-analyses. While we encourage you to learn more about this process, you don’t need to in order to benefit from it. Our clear ratings and profiles can help you determine if a program or category of program is worth pursuing.

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Effective

An Effective program is likely to result in the intended outcomes. An Effective outcome indicates, on average, there is strong evidence that implementing the program, or a program encompassed by the practice, will achieve the intended outcome.

Promising

A Promising program may result in the intended outcomes. A Promising outcome indicates, on average, there is some evidence that implementing the program, or a program encompassed by the practice, will achieve the intended outcome.

Ineffective

An Ineffective program is unlikely to result in the intended outcomes. An Ineffective outcome indicates, on average, there is strong evidence that implementing the program, or a program encompassed by the practice, will not achieve the intended outcome.

Negative effects

A Negative Effects program is may result in negative outcomes. A Negative Effects outcome indicates, on average, there is strong evidence that implementing the program, or a program encompassed by the practice, may result in a negative outcome.

Programs
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A Program is a specific set of activities carried out according to guidelines to achieve a defined purpose. Program profiles on CrimeSolutions tell us whether a specific program was found to achieve its goals when it was carefully evaluated. 

Practices
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A Practice is a general category of programs, strategies, or procedures that share similar characteristics with regard to the issues they address and how they address them. Practice profiles tell us about the average results from multiple evaluations.

Recently Rated

Program RBO Summary: This is a post-custody, community-based intervention to reduce the rates of recidivism for individuals with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders. The program is rated Effective for reducing the number of days in a psychiatric hospital, and Ineffective for reducing the number of reconvictions, felony reconvictions, arrests, and time to rearrest.

Program RBO Summary: This 16-session cognitive-behavioral group intervention is designed to reduce anger and aggression by targeting emotion regulation, impulse control, and social problem-solving for juvenile justice system-involved girls in residential facilities. The program is rated Effective for reducing anger and aggression, and for improving temperance (impulse control). The program is rated Ineffective for improving perspective, responsibility, and the use of emotion regulation strategies. 

Program RBO Summary: This intervention provides integrated individual and family services to juveniles who have co-occurring mental health and chemical dependency disorders during their transition from incarceration back into the community. The program is rated Promising for reducing felony recidivism. 

Program RBO Summary: The program aims to reduce precursors of teen pregnancy, including sexual risk behaviors, involvement in violence, and disconnection from school. The program is rated Effective for reducing relational aggression victimization. The program is rated Promising for improving family connectedness. The program is rated Ineffective for physical violence victimization, relational aggression perpetration, physical violence perpetration, fight avoidance skills, and suspension or expulsion.

Program RBO Summary: This is a voluntary afterschool program for middle school aged youths to inform them about substance use and prevent them from starting or continuing alcohol use. The program is rated Effective for reducing alcohol use frequency, and Ineffective for reducing heavy alcohol use and improving alcohol resistance self-efficacy (the self-confidence to resist alcohol).

Program RBO Summary: This is a school-based, small-group program designed to prevent social aggression and increase empathy, prosocial behavior, and social problem-solving skills among fifth-grade females. The program is rated Effective for reducing antisocial problem-solving strategies and improving prosocial problem-solving strategies, and Ineffective for increasing empathetic behaviors and prosocial behaviors with peers and for reducing aggressive/hostile social behavior with peers.

Program RBO Summary: This is a rape prevention program for female college students, designed to teach about the prevalence of sexual assault, distinguish between rape myths and facts, identify risky situations, and teach techniques to use in a risky situation. The program is rated Promising for increasing assertive sexual communication, self-protective dating behaviors, and self-efficacy.

Program RBO Summary: This program provides phone calls to individuals who have been arrested and released while they wait to appear for arraignment, to remind them to appear on their scheduled court dates. The program is rated Promising for reducing failure-to-appear rates.

Program RBO Summary: This is a preventive intervention intended to reunite children returning home to their parents after their first stay in foster care. The program sought to prevent reunification failures when children were returned home to their biological parents by supporting parents and by making the transition a smooth process for both immediate and continued parenting success. The program is rated Promising for improving encouragement strategies. 

Program RBO Summary: This is a pre-booking, community-based diversion program in Seattle, Washington designed to divert those suspected of low-level drug and prostitution criminal activity away from jail and prosecution to case management and other supportive services. The program is rated Promising for reducing the likelihood of being arrested and being charged with a felony offense.