This article presents a practical approach that JJ systems can take in achieving evidence-based programming that reduces recidivism. Most JJ system programs produce relatively small reductions in recidivism, on average, thus there is much room for improvement. A research-based approach to making program improvements system-wide—and with that, increase the cost effectiveness of the system itself—is presented in this article. The success of this effort, however, depends on delivery of the right service to the right youth at the right time. The OJJDP Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders provides the scaffolding and structured decision-making tools that can be used across entire juvenile justice systems for promoting effective matches between evidence-based services and offender treatment needs on an ongoing basis. Programs across the entire system continuum can also be assessed for effectiveness through a data-driven program rating tool that was built around the intervention characteristics found to be most strongly related to recidivism reductions in hundreds of studies. Where scores are low, this tool provides a blueprint for improvements and, with those, larger recidivism reductions. The process can also be automated to facilitate system-wide program improvements.
