The Statistical Analysis Center
HISTORY:
Georgia's Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) was created as a function of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) in 1992 by an Executive Order of former Governor, Zell Miller and has been a component of the CJCC since 1995. The SAC is the recipient of funding from the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice and is a member of the Justice Research and Statistics Association. As part of CJCC, the SAC supports all the data collection and analysis for the Justice and Compliance Division and the Victim Assistance Division of the organization, in addition to conducting independent research and evaluation to help the state make data-driven policy decisions about criminal justice and victim services issues.
ORGANIZATION:
The Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) Director reports directly to the Deputy Director of CJCC. The Director sets the vision for the division, writes grants to ensure diverse funding for the division, maintains the administrative functions of the SAC, oversees the work of the State Justice Statistics PhD fellow, and any special projects work funded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, State Justice Statistics grant. The SAC Director is currently the Vice President of the Board of the national association of SAC’s – the Justice Research and Statistics Association.
The Research and Evaluation Program Director manages the day-to-day work of the SAC and its staff. The Program Director also manages long term research and evaluation initiatives, guiding new data collection development, and overseeing implementation of innovative, competitively funded projects.
Research Analysts in the SAC manage qualitative, front-end data collection aspects of the division’s work. These include: instrument and survey development, background literature review, development of institutional review board protocols, liaising with CJCC’s subrecipients for grant-related data collection, developing data dictionaries and guides for subrecipients, and data analysis and report writing.
Operations Analysts and Database Administrators within the SAC manage the technical aspects of data collection and reporting for the SAC. These include: managing end-to-end data processing from implementation of survey tools in the SAC’s data collection software through database querying. Operations Analysts and Database Administrators also manage the implementation and maintenance of the data repository the SAC maintains for internal and external stakeholders, as well as the business intelligence software and reports the division uses.
PURPOSE:
The SAC supports the CJCC's planning and development of strategies and initiatives to improve the criminal justice system in Georgia. The SAC also supports the administration of federal grants through monitoring the performance of sub-grantees and program evaluation. The SAC provides a forum for criminal justice researchers and analysts to communicate and disseminate statistical analysis reports and program evaluations. CJCC also uses statistical analysis and research to provide the public with a better understanding of the criminal justice system.
CORE FUNCTIONS:
- Conduct and disseminate statistical analysis on the criminal justice system and its component agencies (law enforcement, the courts, corrections, pardons and paroles)
- Coordinate and conduct research projects on criminal justice issues with local and other state government agencies
- Conduct needs assessments and related research to support the CJCC's planning process
- Conduct evaluations and managing data of federal grant-funded projects and programs; monitor performance of grant recipients
- Create reporting tools for CJCC subgrantees