FAQ Listing

CrimeSolutions is intended to be a central, reliable resource to help practitioners and policymakers understand what works in justice-related programs and practices. Its purpose is to assist in practical decision making and program implementation by gathering information on specific justice-related programs and practices and reviewing the existing evaluation and meta-analysis research against standard criteria.

It is important to note the CrimeSolutions website does not constitute an endorsement of particular programs or practices.  Furthermore, it is not intended to replace or supersede informed judgment and/or innovation. CrimeSolutions recognizes that rigorous evaluation evidence is one of several factors to consider in justice programming, policy, and funding decisions. NIJ also recognizes the importance of encouraging and supporting innovative approaches that may not yet have extensive evidence of effectiveness.

Read more about Tips for Using CrimeSolutions.

CrimeSolutions is operated by the National Institute of Justice with additional funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. 

No! CrimeSolutions is a resource to assist justice practitioners and policy makers in using evaluation evidence for practical decision making and program implementation. CrimeSolutions not intended to be an exhaustive list of worthy and unworthy investments. OJP and its components also recognize the importance of supporting innovative approaches and practices that may not yet have extensive evidence of effectiveness. 

You are free to use the rating system and scoring instruments described and posted on CrimeSolutions. Information on CrimeSolutions, generated by the Department of Justice, is in the public domain and may be reproduced, published or otherwise used without our permission. When reproducing material from CrimeSolutions, including the scoring instruments, please acknowledge the National Institute of Justice and CrimeSolutions. When publishing or presenting work stemming from the use these materials, including programs ratings that you calculate, you must make it clear that such analyses, interpretations, and derivative work are yours and do not represent an actual or official rating from CrimeSolutions.

OJJDP’s Model Programs Guide (MPG), which predates the June 2011 launch of CrimeSolutions, focuses specifically on programs related to the juvenile justice system and covers the entire continuum of youth services from prevention through sanctions to reentry. CrimeSolutions serves a broader scope focusing on what works in criminal justice, juvenile justice, and crime victim services.

After the launch of CrimeSolutions, OJJDP began a re-review of MPG programs using the evidence standards and criteria developed for CrimeSolutions (see Program Review and Rating from Start to Finish and Scoring Instruments to learn more about this review process). Beginning in October 2013, the juvenile program information contained on CrimeSolutions and the MPG site will be completely aligned and will share program profiles. The existence of the two separate sites remains, though, because MPG also captures additional resources and tools that are specifically tailored to meet the needs of the juvenile justice field, including literature reviews and implementation guides.

OJJDP and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the sponsor of CrimeSolutions, are both components of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice.

The table below lists several government and private organizations that maintain databases similar to CrimeSolutions and that identify what works in other disciplines.

The programs contained in these databases may or may not overlap with those found on CrimeSolutions. When a program on CrimeSolutions does appear in another database, we note that on the program's summary page.

CrimeSolutions and these other clearinghouses are complementary resources. CrimeSolutions has a more general focus that includes all of criminal justice, juvenile justice, and crime victim services. The clearinghouses each have differing but related or narrower focuses. As examples:

• The U.S. Department of Education's What Works Clearinghouse addresses the evidence base related to programs, products, practices and policies in education.
• The Model Programs Guide focuses on programs related to the juvenile justice system and covers all aspects of youth services, from prevention through sanctions to reentry.

In most cases, the clearinghouses use different systems and processes to rate their programs. The exceptions to this are the OJJDP-funded Model Programs Guide and National Mentoring Resource Center, which use the same rating methodology and instruments as CrimeSolutions.

Following are some available resources:

Plan for Program Evaluation from the Start
In this National Institute of Justice NIJ Journal article emphasizes the importance of planning and designing the evaluation of a program before beginning the program's implementation. It goes on to discuss the benefits and features of planning, designing, and timing a program's evaluation.

Being Smart on Crime With Evidence-Based Policing
In this National Institute of Justice NIJ Journal article, Chief Jim Bueermann (Ret.) reflects on how law enforcement agencies can do a better job of using science to reduce crime by adopting evidence-based policing as a standard practice and by partnering with universities or colleges. Evidence-based policing leverages the country's investment in police and criminal justice research to help develop, implement and evaluate proactive crime-fighting strategies that may prove more effective and less expensive than the traditional response-driven models.

Is This a Good-Quality Outcome Evaluation Report? A Guide for Practitioners
This guide was produced by the Justice Research and Statistics Association and the Bureau of Justice Assistance to provide practitioners with a basis for distinguishing the differences between good- and poor-quality evaluation reports.

Understanding Evidence
This free online resource developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers practitioners, and others working to prevent violence, some important knowledge and resources for using evidence in their decision-making processes. This site is designed primarily for violence prevention practitioners, but anyone working to prevent violence in their communities will find the information useful.

Yes. Programs and practices from other countries are included in CrimeSolutions. These must have English language citations and are otherwise subject to the same criteria used for programs and practices located within the United States.

We appreciate your interest in becoming involved with CrimeSolutions; but at this time, we are not looking for additional reviewers.

For practices, Study Reviewers analyze all of the eligible and applicable meta-analysis studies to determine whether there is evidence that the practice achieves its goal(s). The Study Reviewers use a standard Scoring Instrument to determine the quality of each meta-analysis and to determine the internal validity of each outcome within the meta-analyses. The quality rating for each meta-analysis is combined with the internal validity rating of each outcome and the statistical significance of the effect size to determine a final evidence rating. If there are multiple meta-analyses that assess a single outcome, the individual outcome ratings from each meta-analysis are then aggregated to determine the final rating for that outcome.

For practices, individual evidence ratings are assessed for each outcome.  Therefore, a single practice may have multiple evidence ratings if it addresses multiple outcomes. That is, one practice may be rated “Effective” for achieving one outcome, and “Promising” for achieving another outcome.