Authors
Shelby Hickman, Ph.D., Charlotte Lopez-Jauffret, Ph,D., Stephanie Fahy, Ph.D., Vanessa Masick, Abt Global
Current estimates of human trafficking vary widely since, by its nature, human trafficking can be challenging to see and measure. Without consistent measures, data collection, and analysis, we do not have a clear understanding of the scope of the problem, the resources needed to address trafficking, and whether efforts are working.
To support the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Abt Global conducted a study to recommend methods for estimating the prevalence of human trafficking in the U.S. Through an environmental scan and an advisory panel, Abt synthesized the information collected to recommend three methods for a pilot study that can test the feasibility of national human trafficking estimates.
These proposed methods—capture-recapture, Vincent link-tracing sampling, and random sampling that is proportional to size sampling—are designed for estimating the size of populations that are critical to understand but hard to reach.
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Criminal & Juvenile Justice in North America
How to Make Federal Justice Data More User Friendly
Abt is making federal justice data more user friendly through better visualization and filtering capabilities.
2024 Academic Consortium on Criminal Justice Health (ACCJH)
Join Abt experts in Phoenix for ACCJH 2024, The Academic Consortium on Criminal Justice Health.
U.S. Prison Population Rate At Lowest Level in Three Decades, Report Finds
The U.S. prison population declined one percent in 2021, another drop after sinking 14 percent in 2020 largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data on Adjudication of Misdemeanor Offenses: Results from a Feasibility Study
This feasibility study will help BJS assess whether to try to gather reliable national data on misdemeanor charges filed in state, county, and city courts.
COVID-19’s Impact on State, Federal Prisons
A new report documents a sharp decline in prison populations in the U.S. during the pandemic and the number of COVID-19 related infections and deaths.
Prison Population Fell During COVID-19 Pandemic
A new report documents a sharp decline in prison populations in the U.S. during the pandemic and the number of COVID-19 related infections and deaths.
The Public Health Impact of Marijuana Legalization
This brief summarizes expert interviewee observations on marijuana legalzation’s public health effects and notes how they align with other study findings.
Bureau of Justice Statistics Releases Correctional Data Collected by Abt Global
Rockville, Md. – The Bureau of Justice Statistics–the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Justice–recently released three sets of administrative data collected by Abt Global that facilitate longitudinal assessments of prison stays. They also provide a scientific foundation for policies on a variety of topics, from prosecutions to sentencing. The collection begins with individuals’ first contact with the correctional system through post-incarceration community supervision. The innovative processing of these data under the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) includes a unique, Abt-generated ID for each individual. The Abt team has written 20 papers based on the data on issues ranging from analyses of recidivism to the aging of the prison population to neighborhood imprisonment rates. The program also enables other researchers to produce studies, and more than 400 publications have cited NCRP data.Abt has served as the data collection agent for the program since October 2010. The recently released data cover 1991-2019.Contact: Stan Crockstan_crock@abtassoc.com(301) 347-5402
Shifting from Crisis Response to Crisis Prevention
This paper outlines changes needed to shift a community’s orientation from crisis response to crisis prevention.
A Comprehensive Framework of Emergency Response Approaches to Vulnerable Populations in Crisis
A framework for understanding the range of programs that U.S. first responder agencies have implemented to improve response to behavioral health crises.
COVID-19’s Impact on Community Supervision
Most of the research attention on COVID-19’s impact on the justice system has focused on jails and prisons. But far more people are under community supervision: parole and probation. And little research has been done about the pandemic’s direct and indirect effects on that phase of the justice continuum—and how the system could be better prepared. In this white paper, Abt justice experts Holly Swan and Walter Campbell propose a number of research questions to address.
Unpacking a Complicated Problem: Safely Changing Jails and Prisons during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abt Awarded $1.5M Grant From the National Institute of Justice to Examine Probation and Parole Field Practices
Rockville, Md. – With momentum moving away from mass incarceration, community supervision will become an increasingly important part of the justice system. But there’s little evidence about what the best practices are for conducting parole and probation field work. We hope to contribute to this evidence gap through a $1.5 million grant awarded to Abt Global by the National Institute of Justice to conduct an experimental test of rehabilitative field work practices in probation and parole agencies.This work builds on Abt’s recently completed qualitative and quasi-experimental evaluation of probation and parole field work and will fill a crucial evidence gap in our understanding of community supervision. The previous work produced inconclusive results about the effectiveness of field work, but identified important variations in how different agencies conduct field work. The new work will involve a rigorous randomized controlled trial of rehabilitative approaches to field work that will more directly examine this issue. “With this study, Abt will be able to start answering some of these questions about what works in community supervision,” says Holly Swan, who will serve as principal investigator. “The findings will provide agencies with evidence for what works in the field for both promoting a person’s success on supervision and maintaining public safety in the community.”The American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) will assist Abt in disseminating the findings of the study to the field.Contact: Stan Crockstan_crock@abtassoc.com(301) 347-5402
Causes of Aging in the Federal Prison Population and a Comparison to States
Empirical research says little about the causes of the growth of older inmates in the federal prison population. This article addresses this gap by applying an established methodology to analyze the contributions of key factors causing this growth. We find that since 2004, age at admission has been an important cause of these changes, with longer time served and rate of admission of younger offenders also playing roles. These influences appear to be quite different from those shaping state prison populations.
Abt Wins $3M Contract from the Bureau of Justice Statistics to Conduct the Agency-Wide Statistical Support Program
Rockville, Md. – The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) awarded Abt Global a contract valued at up to $3 million to conduct the agency-wide Statistical Support Program. Through this project, Abt will support BJS in three main objectives: (1) develop and test new BJS data collections that address gaps in BJS statistical coverage; (2) develop methods to modernize and restore discontinued BJS data collections; and (3) assist BJS staff in completing special analyses that address emerging issues.The Statistical Support Program (SSP) adds to Abt’s substantial BJS portfolio, which includes the National Corrections Reporting Program, the Federal Justice Statistics Program, the Survey of Prison Inmates Statistical Support Center and the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails.“BJS generally focuses on existing annual collections of data,” says Tom Rich, the project director.“The SSP contract will enable us to help BJS be flexible enough to address emerging criminal justice issues.”Contact: Stan Crockstan_crock@abtassoc.com(301) 347-5402