Completed Projects
ACE!’s major projects fall into two main categories: 1) research across the spectrum of issues affecting justice-involved populations and 2) technical assistance. When we develop research projects, we look beyond the “usual suspects” and reach across departments, disciplines, and institutions to find the best and most innovative partners. We work to actively engage practitioners and policy makers in our research. Our projects include not just asking what works, but examining how a program works and what an agency needs to do to implement that program. Many of our studies focus on implementation, program, and organizational change outcomes.
Major Projects
Completed Projects
Dr. Faye Taxman served as Principal Investigator on CJ-DATS (Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies) project sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This was a six-year project from October 1, 2002-August 30, 2008. As the national coordinating center for the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s research network on treatment for the criminal justice-involved individuals with substance use disorders. The cooperative involved eight other centers: the University of Miami (Howard Liddle, Ph.D.), University of California, Los Angeles (Michael Prendergast, Ph.D.), Brown University (Peter Friedmann, M.D.), University of Delaware (James Inciardi, Ph.D.), Texas Christian University (Dwayne Simpson and Kevin Knight, Ph.D.), National Research Institute and Development (Harry Wexler, Ph.D., Stan Sacks, Ph.D., and Nancy Jainchill, Ph.D.), and the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services/University of Connecticut (Linda Frisman, Ph.D.). This network was involved in implementing studies to develop new instruments for better management and treatment of the justice-involved individuals population, to implement clinical trials to test new strategies and interventions for improving outcomes from justice-involved individuals, and to implement process studies to examine how criminal justice policy makers and practitioners affect justice-involved individuals and system outcomes. The network was also responsible for mentoring new students and faculty in criminal justice-drug treatment issues. Related studies were:
- CJ-DATS National Survey of Criminal Justice Treatment Practices. This was a multi-level survey of senior executives, administrators, program directors, and staff in correctional and drug treatment organizations. The survey involved a census of all 50 states and a nationally representative sample of counties/cities. The survey was designed to provide a systematic assessment of the availability and types of treatment provided to substance-abusing justice-involved individuals throughout the criminal justice system. Surveys were collected from over 1,000 organizations on treatment and organizational issues.
- CJ-DATS Step’N Out. This randomized trial was implemented in a Probation and Parole Office in Richmond, VA along with three other CJ-DATS sites. The study involved the use of positive reinforcements and contingency management protocol to engage the justice-involved individuals in treatment services and improve outcomes. The protocol was a collaborative behavioral management approach to parole and substance abuse treatment where the parole officer, treatment counselor and client meet to work out a contract of graduated incentives and sanctions.
- HIV Prevention for Reentry Justice-involved individuals. This randomized trial was implemented in two prisons in Virginia. The study examined the efficacy of a DVD focused on gender and culturally sensitive behavioral techniques to learn to manage risky behaviors. The protocol was implemented in four CJ-DATS sites.
This was a multi-pronged project funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. ACE! has an embedded criminologist (Sara Debus-Sherill) in a Probation Department to provide internal support for program development and evaluation efforts. The study was of a reentry program for high risk probationers using a day reporting mode. ACPD was testing a collaborative case management process between the service provider and ACPD staff.
The IPV/DV project, was funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) through a Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) to use findings from the Juvenile Justice Project to specifically develop an Interpersonal Violence/Domestic Violence risk assessment tool supplement to assist probation officers with assessing and providing supervision/services to adult clients with IPV/DV charges. The ACE! project team again partnered with a county-level court services unit within their adult probation division and developed an addendum to their current risk/needs assessment tool that better assesses (with validity) the risk levels of IPV/DV probationers.
This project is a collaboration between ACE! researchers and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) within the restricted housing units (solitary confinement) in seven prisons. Using in-depth qualitative approaches (observations and interviews) the research team collects and analyzes data examining perceptions of punishment, deprivation, mental/physical health, identity, and reform/change. The project will provide research-driven recommendations to PADOC for improving living/working in restricted housing units.
The goal of this research was to better understand the process that individuals in the criminal justice system with mental illnesses go through when returning to the DC area from federal prisons. The private, non-profit organization University Legal Services (located in DC) contracted ACE! to evaluate the SOAR (SSI/SSDI Outreach Access and Recovery) training process as it takes place in local federal facilities.
The DREAM program is a cognitive-behavioral program tailored to address key emerging adult development issues through group/individualized sessions, comprehensive case management, and reentry services. This program will be tested through a randomized controlled trial comparing DREAM to standard jail services. The goal is to develop and test tools that can help staff improve young individuals’ behavior and outcomes both inside the jail and after release.
This project is a collaboration with the Volgenau School of Engineering with funding from the National Science Foundation. The goal of this program it to explore the use of wearable technology to help individuals with substance use disorders.
The Pre-Release Centers of Maryland’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) transformed from prison-based to community-based facilities. GMU evaluated the organizational change processes as this agency transformed its pre-release facilities from prison-based to community-based.
The goal of this project was to create a synthesis of evidence in the area of justice health. We created a matrix model that illustrated effective practices and showed where gaps in the research lie.
The Healing Communities Initiative was a national program funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and managed by the Philadelphia Leadership Foundation. This research project was designed to help understand congregation members’ perceptions on forgiveness, the criminal justice system, and justice-involved individuals returning to the community.
The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Hidalgo County Emerging Adult Strategy (HCEAS), a Swift, Certain, Fair (SCF) program aimed at emerging adults under community supervision in Hidalgo County, Texas. HCEAS, operating since April 2017, is a specialized probation caseload designed to use swift, certain, and fair incentives and sanctions to promote positive behaviors by addressing key EA developmental issues during supervision. A randomized design is being used to evaluate this program, taking into account key outcomes such as revocations and stabilizing factors (e.g., employment, housing).
The goal of this study, led by Dr. Ashli Sheidow (Oregon Social Learning Center), is to examine the use of contingency management in juvenile probation offices. To achieve this goal, the project looks at the feasibility of JPOs to deliver an AOD abuse intervention, clinical efficacy for JPOs as service delivery providers, and identify any barriers that would need to be addressed for JPOs to deliver such services.
With this project, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, ACE! aimed to disseminate models that improve the use of seamless systems of care. The study provided easy to access correctional health care information, conducted a gap analysis of continuum of care models, and provided a prototype of correctional health financing and caring models for to elderly, chronically ill, mentally ill, or substance abusing offenders.
ACE! partners with Michigan State University’s School of Criminal Justice, and other organizations (funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)) to provide training and technical assistance to agencies who have received grants through BJA’s Innovations Suite. We help co-facilitate two Researcher-Practitioner Fellows Academies per year and collaborate with the group to create tools to facilitate active research projects.
This project aims to build engagement among nontraditional health partners (i.e., criminal justice (CJ), community health care providers), address social determinants of health (SDOH) (e.g., housing, substance use, food/nutrition) for a highly disadvantaged population, and build collaboration enhancing clients’ service access through a centralized online platform to connect CJ and community providers.
JSTEPS was a multi-site implementation study designed to test the feasibility and acceptability of contingency management, or a systematic use of incentives and sanctions, in federal probation, drug court, and reentry court settings. JJSTEPS was a modified version for youth with an emphasis on implementation.
This project is a collaboration with a county level court-services unit. The study includes a mixed-method (largely qualitative) design to examine understanding and use of evidence based practices within juvenile probation, detention, boys/girls half-way houses, juvenile and adult intake and adult probation. Funded twice by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) through a Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG), the Juvenile Justice project includes an intensive researcher-practitioner partnership to learn about agency processes and work to improve them around the use of EBPs.
Manualized Treatment in a Seamless System of Care, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, was a randomized block experiment to test the effectiveness of different models of the seamless criminal justice/treatment system and traditional criminal justice supervision on reducing recidivism and drug use, and improving social adjustment among offenders.
MAPIT compared two potential ways of motivating probationers to initiate and engage in substance abuse treatment—in person motivational interviewing (MI) and a motivational computer program (MAPIT) — to community supervision as usual (SAU). MAPIT used theory-based algorithms and a synthetic voice program to deliver custom reflections, feedback, and suggestions.
The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice in New York City used the RNR methodology to assess the capacity of the system to effectively treat and divert individuals from the criminal justice system. The system examined client needs compared to program capacity and recommended improvements to programming both in terms of number of slots and the quality of the programming.
NC-PASE is designed to use existing agency data to conduct predictive analytics. The program identifies profiles within the high to moderate risk population and builds Strategic Supervision Guidelines (SSG), or tailored supervision practices, for various risk-need profiles in different geographic areas.
Stop, Triage, Engage, Educate, and Rehabilitate is a diversion program where police officers work with community treatment to divert individuals toward treatment instead of the criminal justice system. ACE! is conducting an evaluation of this pre-arrest diversion by using a randomized controlled trial.
Project STRIDE was a collaboration among ACE!, the Yale School of Medicine, and Howard University Hospital. Funded by NIDA, it examined behaviors of individuals living with HIV and opioid use disorder.
The purpose of this study, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, was to assess the impact of three different training and staff development protocols on the utilization of assessment, treatment planning, and service case management procedures by line staff at Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services. This randomized controlled trial test two organizational strategies to implement change in practice.
The Prison Project is a multi-method study of six prisons (male/female, maximum, medium, and minimum security levels) within the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Using surveys and interviews with staff and inmates, the project examines core correctional concepts related to procedural justice including relationships, trust, and legitimacy.
Expanding the use of MAT in specialty courts is a priority of NADCP as well as a national priority of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (2018). Surveys of problem solving courts and treatment providers have documented that few problem-solving courts have dedicated treatment services, and even though treatment staff are part of the problem-solving teams, appropriate treatment is not often available (Taxman, et al., 2018). And, the use of MAT may be impacted by the knowledge and attitude of treatment and problem-solving court staff. This administrative supplement will assist in understanding two issues: 1) the current utilization of MAT among problem solving courts; and 2) the barriers and facilitators to the utilization of MAT in problem solving court settings.
This demonstration project studied the network of HIV service providers supported by Patient Navigators utilizing Motivational Interviewing (MI) to engage, retain and support ongoing engagement of HIV-positive women in HIV care.
This study, through a cooperative agreement with the International Community Corrections Association, focused on residential re-entry centers (RRCs) contracted by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In this study, the experiences of 9 RRC sites and nearly 40,000 individual case histories were examined with the goal of providing details concerning the services and performance of the RRCs. The results of this project are reported in seven different monographs as well as an executive overview.