CA CJ

A case study from the Pew-MacArthur Results First initiative describes how four California counties have used evidence-based policymaking to meet the challenges of the Public Safety Realignment Act, the state’s criminal justice reform effort. The Act transfers responsibility for more than 60,000 offenders to California’s counties and requires county governments to develop facilities, policies, and programs to serve this population. The four counties – Fresno, Kern, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz – are using the Results First approach to direct resources toward cost-effective programs shown to work in preventing recidivism and to ensure that programs are delivered with fidelity to practices most likely to produce results.