DOJ's CrimeSolutions.gov Rates Justice Programs

The Department of Justice has launched its CrimeSolutions.gov Website to provide information and ratings on more than 150 justice programs.

The Website, which is under the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) division, is designed as "a central, credible resource to inform practitioners and policymakers about what works in criminal justice, juvenile justice, and crime victim services," according to a DOJ press release.

The site provides information on the programs and assigns "evidence ratings" of effective, promising, or no effects to indicate whether there's evidence the program achieves its goals.

"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," according to Laurie O. Robinson, assistant attorney general.

CrimeSolutions.gov provides 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, forensics, and victims. The site is a tool to understand, access, and integrate scientific evidence about programs into programmatic and policy decisions.

The Website is part of the Evidence Integration Initiative (E2I) launched by Robinson in 2009. The initiative's set goals to "improve the quantity and quality of the evidence OJP generates; integrate evidence into program, practice and policy decisions within OJP and the field; and improve the translation of evidence into practice," according to the release.