A key publication produced in connection with DCJS’ criminal justice planning effort has earned an award for the Department’s Criminal Justice Research Center. 

 

The Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) presented the 2008 Philip Hoke Award for Excellence in Analysis to the Research Center for the report, Setting A Course for the Future of the Criminal Justice System in Virginia: Environmental Scan. The report describes the crime and public safety issues that will be addressed in the Department’s forthcoming statewide criminal justice plan. The award was presented at the Bureau of Justice Statistics/Justice Research & Statistics Association 2008 national conference in Portland, Oregon, in October.

 

The Hoke Award, given annually, is intended to recognize the state Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) that has done the best job of producing research publications that help translate criminal justice information and data into policy. All 50 states have SACs; and the DCJS Criminal Justice Research Center is Virginia’s. The Award is named in honor of Philip Hoke, who was the director of the first SAC in the nation, established in Louisiana in 1972. Hoke Awards have been given since 1986. 

 

The awards are given in two categories: Statistical/Management and Research/Policy Analysis, the category in which the Environmental Scan was recognized. Publications are submitted by SACs from various states and are judged by a panel of national experts in the field of criminal justice research and reporting. Factors judged in the competition include report organization, data presentation and description, analysis and conclusions and impact on policy development.

 

The Environmental Scan reflects the work of 8 regional focus groups and one state level group; each group was asked to identify and discuss key problems and issues. The focus group participants included representatives of all parts of the criminal justice system as well as education, mental health and social service agencies. The issues articulated by the focus groups were compiled and validated by staff of the Research Center and other sections of the Department; they form the basis of the Environmental Scan.

 

This is the fourth Hoke Award for the DCJS Research Center, the previous awards were given in 1994, 2000 and 2001. 

 

Three of the reports that earned awards, including the Environmental Scan, are available on the DCJS Research Center website:

 

Setting A Course for the Future of the Criminal Justice System in Virginia: Environmental Scan http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/ppr/documents/08EnvironmentalScan.pdf. 

 

 

Evaluation of the Richmond City Continuum of Juvenile Justice Services Pilot Program: Final Report: http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/research/documents/jjsp/index.cfm