Public Safety Assessment

 

Performance Measures

Although many individual public safety agencies and programs are tracking their own performance, there is currently no system-wide measurement system for public safety in place. A couple of groups in Travis County are working towards this goal however. In an attempt not to duplicate their efforts, no new measures were developed for this assessment. Instead, these groups' measures are presented.

In 1998, system experts developed performance measures for the Community Action Network's Public Safety Assessment. The measures developed for this assessment were broad and were intended to monitor the community performance as a whole. These measures include (Community Action Network, 1998):

  • Increase in the percentage of residents who report an improved perception of personal safety
  • Decrease in the juvenile referral rate
  • Decrease in the percentage of juveniles referred who are known or suspected gang members
  • Decrease in the incidence of adult crime
  • Decrease in the percentage of offenders re-arrested within three years of case disposition.
  • Increase in the percentage of victims served by victim services
  • Decrease in the confirmed child abuse/neglect rate
  • Decreased incidence of reported domestic violence

Table 19.
Measures Developed by the Outcome Monitoring Work Group

Types of Measures

Measures

Outcome
  • Percent of juveniles referred to Juvenile Probation within one year of program discharge
  • Percent of adults arrested in Travis County within one year of program discharge/release
  • Percent of offenders entering the program during the reporting period who have participated in the program previously
  • Percent of probationers revoked within one year of program discharge/release
  • Percent of offenders incarcerated within one year of discharge from the program/release

 

Output
  • Number of intakes into the program during the reporting period
  • Number of clients discharged from the program
  • Number of volunteers dedicating time to the program during the reporting period

 

Efficiency
  • Average cost per program participant
  • Average number of program hours dedicated per program participant
  • Number of hours of service provided by volunteers
  • Percentage of total program budget that comes from Travis County, the City, the State, the Federal government, Fees, and Other sources

 

 

Descriptive
  • Number of males and females entering the program during the reporting period.
  • Number of persons entering the program during the reporting period by age
  • Number of persons entering the program during the reporting period by ethnicity
  • Number of persons entering the program during the reporting period who receive various types of public assistance
  • Number of persons entering the program during the reporting period by family income
  • Number of persons entering program during reporting period from single parent homes
  • Number of persons entering the program during the reporting period by school achievement categories
  • Length of time program has been providing services at the end of the reporting period

Source: Travis County Justice and Public Safety

More recently, under the direction of the Community Justice Council, the Outcome Monitoring Work Group developed offender-specific performance measures that will be tracked by justice system entities. These measures are listed in Table 19.

Finally, The Travis County Community Justice Council and the University of Texas School of Social Work recently hosted an Evaluation Roundtable to develop criteria for measuring the performance and outcomes of community justice initiatives in Travis County. During this Roundtable, attendees compiled a list of desired outcomes that they believed offenders, victims, and community would want to achieve in relation to community justice initiatives. (See Table 20.) The Community Justice 2000 Work Group is in the process of changing these objectives into performance measures and connecting these measures with the Outcome Monitoring Project.

Table 20.
Desired Outcomes for Offenders, Victims, and the Community

Group

Objectives

Offenders
  • Be listened to and understood
  • A second chance
  • A sense of responsibility
  • Have barriers to success removed (training, support, etc)
  • Knowledge of what (s)he did wrong
  • Ability to move forward
  • Ability to make amends/redemption

 

Victims
  • Be heard/be able to tell story
  • Receive restitution
  • Be a part of the process
  • An apology and explanation from offender
  • Offender held accountable
  • A feeling of control/power
  • A chance to confront offender and show them victim not beaten
  • Regain/establish trust
  • Information
  • Options
  • Follow-up

Community
  • Individuals perceive community as peaceful and secure
  • Effective & swift system for restoring peace
  • Community shares responsibility for resolving problems
  • Community has knowledge of specifics of the crime
  • Community has a role in the system
  • Empowerment
  • Building trust
  • Community feels to a degree justice has been served
  • Continued follow-up

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