|
Systems
Evaluation Project (SEP)
|
Welcome to the
Systems Evaluation Project (SEP).
Across the country, indigent defense programs lack effective data collection
and program evaluation, which can result in poor quality services, inefficient
resource allocation, bottlenecks in the criminal justice system, and wasted
taxpayer dollars.
In 2005, IDS created SEP to develop performance measures that would evaluate
system outcomes and cost-effectiveness and enable IDS to assess, with empirical
data, how well the indigent defense system meets the needs of our clients, the
criminal justice system, and the community. With a data-based evaluation tool
IDS will be able to improve the quality of legal representation for the poor,
increase system efficiency, and quantify the social and economic benefits that
quality indigent defense services generate for our clients, the criminal justice
system, and the community.
SEP's task has proven to be an extremely challenging undertaking because, until
now, no indigent defense system in the country has measured system outcomes
objectively. Now SEP is poised to accomplish what no other state in the U.S.
has done--develop an evaluation tool that measures client outcomes and assesses
system performance. For the first time, the goals and objectives of a high quality
indigent defense system are being defined and the statistical indicators to
measure how well a given indigent defense system achieves these goals and objectives
are being proposed.
One of the most promising features of SEP is that the project can be replicated
in other jurisdictions, which means SEP has the potential to improve the quality
of indigent defense services around the country. Currently, SEP has a mailing
list of over 200 indigent defense organizations and criminal justice researchers
who have requested to be kept informed about the project's progress and to receive
project products.
Finally, SEP will help IDS fulfill its statutory obligation, under GS.7A-498.1(4)
and 7A-498.5(a), to evaluate the services we provide and use the evaluation
results to identify ways to improve the quality of indigent defense services,
increase efficiency, and reduce costs to taxpayers.