DOJ Launches Crime Solutions Site

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs has launched a new website designed to provide credible resources to practitioners and policymakers about what works in criminal justice, juvenile justice, and crime victim services.  

The website, CrimeSolutions.gov includes information on more than 150 justice-related programs and assigns “evidence ratings” – effective, promising, or no effects – to indicate whether there is evidence from research that a program achieves its goals.

“We all have tight budgets today. CrimeSolutions.gov helps us take a ‘smart on crime’ approach that relies on data-driven, evidence-based analysis to identify and replicate justice-related programs that have shown real results in preventing and reducing crime and serving crime victims,” said Assistant Attorney General Laurie O. Robinson.

CrimeSolutions.gov is a searchable online database of evidence-based programs covering a range of justice-related topics, including corrections, courts, crime prevention, substance abuse, juveniles, law enforcement, technology and forensics, and victims. The site is a tool to understand, access and integrate scientific evidence about programs into programmatic and policy decisions, according to OJP.

The new website is part of the Evidence Integration Initiative (E2I) launched by Assistant Attorney General Robinson in 2009.  The Initiative aims to improve the quantity and quality of evidence that OJP generates; integrate evidence into program, practice and policy decisions within OJP and the field; and improve the translation of evidence into practice.

OJP, which Robinson oversees, provides federal leadership in developing the country’s capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist victims, according to the agency. OJP is composed of six units: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking.