Podcast: Play in new window | Download

DC Public Safety Radio won the 2015 awards for best podcast and best audio from the National Association of Government Communicators.

DC Public Safety Radio and Television won the Government Customer Service Community of Practice (Cgov) 2014 Overall Excellence and Best Use of technology Awards. See conta.cc/1qiBV74  .

DC Public Safety Television won three top awards for public affairs television in 2014 from CTV and DCTV.

Welcome to “DC Public Safety” – Radio and television shows, blog and transcripts on crime, criminal offenders, and the criminal justice system.

We received 230,000 visits in 2014.

Page views range from 653,000 to 1.4 million a year.

This is radio show 255.

The portal site for “DC Public Safety” is http://media.csosa.gov

Subscribe to “DC Public Safety” through iTunes.

See transcript at http://media.csosa.gov/podcast/transcripts/2016/06/social-impact-bonds/

Current Radio Program:

John Roman is a Senior Fellow at the Justice Policy Center of the Urban Institute. John addresses the lessons of social impact bonds and more importantly, their impact on criminal justice policy and the delivery of services to underserved populations.

From John’s article in the Huffington Post: “Results from the first generation of social impact bonds (also known as pay for success deals) are starting to come in. Today, the field has learned the results of the evaluation of the first social impact bond transaction in the United States.”

“The investment by Goldman Sachs and Bloomberg Philanthropies in a program to serve young men at the Rikers Island jail — the main processing and housing facility in New York City — did not show a sufficiently positive effect to warrant the continuation of this intervention. The program will terminate at the end of August.”

“While the results seem to be a defeat for this approach, we see them as a partial victory for this disruptive innovation. Here’s why: The goal of pay for success deals is to encourage private investors to fund proven social programs by providing upfront support to programs that seek to improve long-term outcomes for those in need. If the programs are successful, governments pay the investors back; if they are not, then the investors absorb the cost, and governments pay nothing.”

It’s possible that the most important part of the discussion is the process where the private sector and government join forces to provide services and the implications joint operations imply. John suggests that this model could a fundemental point of change for criminal justice and government operations and deserves discussion and consideration.

Background: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonhartley/2014/09/15/social-impact-bonds-are-going-mainstream/

The project: http://www.mdrc.org/news/announcement/mdrc-statement-vera-institute-s-study-adolescent-behavioral-learning-experience 

 John’s article in the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-roman-phd/putting-evidence-first-le_b_7738994.html 

Special Announcements:

A top priority for the Department of Justice is to invest in scientific research to ensure that the Department is both tough and smart on crime. The Office of Justice Programs’ CrimeSolutions.gov website shapes rigorous research into a central, reliable, and credible resource to inform practitioners and policy makers about what works in criminal justice.

A new website lists and evaluates prisoner re-entry programs nationwide. Launched by the Urban Institute, the Council of State Governments, and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Prisoner Reentry Institute, the “What Works Clearinghouse” can be seen at http://nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/what_works.

The National Reentry Resource Center is a project of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice. Please see the Center’s website at http://www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/. Please see “Federal Interagency Reentry Council Launches Website, Releases Myth-Buster Series” on the front page of the site (see announcements). CSOSA is a member of the Council. Several requesters have asked for national research on reentry.

The Office of Justice Program’s National Institute of Justice reentry research portfolio supports the evaluation of innovative reentry programs. To access these studies and NIJ’s entire reentry research portfolio visit www.nij.gov/nij/topics/corrections/reentry/welcome.htm .

The Office of Violence Against Women offers stalking response tips for corrections, prosecutors, judges, law enforcement, victims and victim advocates. They are posted on OVW’s website at www.ovw.usdoj.gov .

The National Institute of Corrections Information Center is one of the largest repositories for corrections research and information in the country. See  www.nicic.gov/Library.

Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency:

We welcome your comments or suggestions at leonard.sipes@csosa.gov.

The website for the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency is http://www.csosa.gov/.

The program is hosted by Leonard Sipes. The producer is Timothy Barns.

Comments offered on “DC Public Safety” television and radio programs are the opinions of participants and do not necessarily represent the policies of CSOSA or other government agencies.