Attorney Stern urges CJCC to adopt a ‘questions before measures’ approach to data planning

Attorney Stern, the CJCC coordinator, told the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council that the strategic plan requires the council to "use data to guide its work" by first identifying priority questions and then selecting consistent performance measures to answer them. He said the council should aim to pick at least five initial key performance indicators and establish regular reporting with particular attention to behavioral health and pretrial compliance.

"What we're essentially doing this morning is a questions before measures approach," Stern said, asking members to generate a manageable, prioritized list of key questions that subcommittees can use to inventory data, assess definitions and collection practices across agencies, and recommend reporting measures back to the full CJCC. He said the subcommittees would not be expected to deliver final answers at the next meeting but should return with status reports and data availability findings. "We're not here to get the answers today," Stern said. "We're here to brainstorm on some questions that you want then, ultimately, the subcommittees to address."