What is the issue?
Corrections agencies allocate significant time on a daily basis for collecting data to track their populations. They also invest large sums of money in building and maintaining data management systems to warehouse that data.
At the same time, corrections leaders regularly make high-stakes population management decisions using the best information available to them in the moment. And they develop long-term plans and advocate to policymakers to support them with funding, staffing, and other resources.
However, many agencies lack staff time and resources to proactively use the data they collect to regularly inform their operations and provide decision-makers with meaningful data analysis that synthesizes collected data with system trends to inform these types of important decisions.
How can resident analysts help?
As part of the Advancing Data in Corrections initiative, The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center works with the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance on the Resident Analysts (RA) program, which embeds data analysts at state-level departments of corrections (DOCs) at no cost. Each resident analyst is provided continuous mentorship and guidance from CSG Justice Center experts to ensure placement agencies have access to a wide range of technical skills and that the analyst has support in translating data for a corrections environment.
The analysts help DOC leadership build out their data infrastructure and more fully integrate the use of data analysis practices, tools, and reporting into their daily operations and management. This helps DOC staff better understand their systems and use data-driven decision-making to improve outcomes for people under their charge, increase safety, and plan more efficiently.
Launched in May 2023, the RA program received an exceptional initial response: the CSG Justice Center received 27 applications to participate from agencies from across the country. Following a competitive process, 4 agencies were selected to pilot the program: the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the West Virginia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the Wyoming Department of Corrections. Learn more about these placements.
Please reach out to Sara Friedman at [email protected] if you have any questions about the program.
News
How Embedded Data Analysts Are Transforming State Corrections Systems
Embedded analysts in Louisiana, West Virginia, Wyoming, and California transformed how DOC leaders use data to make operational decisions.
Parole and probation leaders routinely make important public safety decisions using the best information available to them in the moment.
Four Corrections Agencies Selected to Participate in Resident Corrections Analyst Initiative
The purpose of RCA is to place data analysts in residence at state departments of corrections to help those agencies develop their data capacity.
Corrections agencies allocate significant time on a daily basis for collecting data to track their populations.
Key Staff
Sara Friedman
Program Director, State Initiatives
Sara Friedman oversees a portfolio of projects that help state leaders improve outcomes and reduce recidivism by building and implementing technology for data-driven decision-making. Prior to this role, she led teams of CSG Justice Center staff who helped states adopt and measure research-driven criminal justice policy and practice changes through the Justice Reinvestment Initiative.
Previously, Sara was the director of resource development at an alternative-to-incarceration nonprofit, focusing on grant writing, program development, and building organizational capacity through data collection and program evaluation. Sara earned her BA from University of Pennsylvania and her MPA from New York University.
Christopher Callaghan
Data Science Program Director, Research
Chris Callaghan is a data scientist with experience in data management, visualization, modeling, and communication in R and Python. Before joining the CSG Justice Center, Chris worked as a faculty researcher for the U.S. Navy at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, where he supported research efforts on homeland security and defense through the lens of data science. He has taught courses on data analysis and visualization methodologies for military, law enforcement, and international defense and security partners. Chris earned his BS in biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MPA from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.