S&T invests in the evaluation of terrorism prevention programs to assess effectiveness, determine best practices, and identify potential unintended consequences. Recurrent evaluations also assist in identifying problematic facets that need refinement.
Program Evaluations in Boston and Los Angeles
Program evaluations in cities with terrorism prevention programs aim to increase understanding of needs, awareness of community-based interventions for reducing violent extremism, and the understanding of metrics to determine the impact of the program. Findings on scalability and sustainability will be delivered to:
- Practitioners
- Social and community service agencies
- National policymakers
- Countering Violent Extremism -- The Application of Risk Assessment Tools in the Criminal Justice and Rehabilitation Process: Literature Review (2018)
Creating tools designed to identify early signs of radicalization and to assess individuals for successful completion of diversion and rehabilitation programs is an inherently complex and multifaceted process that has the potential for major positive impacts on security while also presenting a number of concerns. Because of these issues, the DHS S&T First Responders Group requested RTI International develop a summary on the state of the science of risk assessment tools, especially studies that highlight and examine risk assessments used in relation to violent extremism (VE), and to recommend the necessary steps to successfully integrate empirically valid risk assessment tools in a terrorism prevention context.
- Countering Violent Extremism -- The Use of Assessment Tools for Measuring Violence Risk: Literature Review (2017)
This literature review begins by providing a historical context on the common risk and protective factors used in assessments of violence; how they are determined ― delineating the differences between individual- and group-level factors, the organizations and agencies that conduct research in this area ― and examines the use of validated instruments from such fields as mental health, criminal justice, and psychology. Moving on from this historical background, the summary next focuses on the identity and purpose of existing instruments used specifically in the context of violent extremism, particularly from the international community. - International Expert Engagement and Analysis of Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Evaluations (2017)
The goal of the current effort, International Expert Engagement and Analysis of Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Evaluations, is to contribute to the development and implementation of the Framework by collecting information about the current state of international CVE program evaluations, including identifying transferrable best practices and documenting gaps.
- Evaluation of the Greater Boston Countering Violent Extremism Pilot Program Project Report (2016)
On October 1, 2015, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health started the project entitled “Evaluation of the Greater Boston Countering Violent Extremism Pilot Program,” sponsored by DHS Science & Technology Directorate, Office for Public Safety Research, under the funding opportunity 2015-ST-108-FRG005 entitled “Program Evaluation of the 'Three Cities' Counter Violent Extremism Initiatives.”