Quarterly Journal of Economics (Nov. 2024) published an RCT of Sit-D, a police training program teaching the value of developing multiple perspectives on a situation. Despite the study’s claimed effects on officer performance in the field, it doesn’t report findings for most of its preregistered primary outcomes, preventing any reliable conclusions about program effectiveness.
Third Sector posted (August 2024) RCT findings for a Massachusetts Pay for Success Project that provided Roca – a violence intervention and behavioral health program – to justice-involved young men to prevent reoffending. This high-quality RCT found no discernible effects on reincarceration or employment over 5 years. The study was able to rule out the sizable positive effects anticipated as the project’s start, but not more modest effects.
The Annenberg Institute (October 2024) posted an RCT of Choose to Change, a group therapy and mentoring program for at-risk teens. Despite the study abstract’s claimed effects on youth crime, the study found no discernible impact on its preregistered primary measure of crime – number of youth arrests – over 3 years.
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