History
The Office of Social Service Research and Development was established in 1991 by Judge Polozola to improve prison conditions and rehabilitative services. Originally called the Office of Correctional Studies, the intent was to address the consent decree issues concerning mental health conditions in the prisons. The office conducted research to identify correctional interventions that were most effective in rehabilitating offenders and assisted in program development for these services. As the prison system worked closer to the goal of having the consent decree lifted, the funds were shifted to research, evaluation, and fund development activities for correctional, substance abuse, and judicial programs and services.
In 1997, the office was renamed to the Office of Social Service Research and Development (OSSRD) to reflect the new areas in which the office was providing assistance. Since then, the office has been involved in projects in areas including criminal justice, corrections, addictions, mental health and community partnerships. Currently, the focus of the research activities of the office revolves around the life continuum of those in society at-risk of entering the justice system.
Mission
"To improve people's lives by guiding and supporting human service organizations and social systems"
What We Believe
- Research and evaluation provide necessary information and guidance to human service organizations to facilitate their programming and policy decisions;
- Effective program development is the deliberate, dynamic synthesis of research and evaluation;
- Through our work with social service agencies, we can positively impact the lives of people to reach their highest potential in live;
- Education empowers people to make better decisions about their lives and communities;
- Public policy should be guided by empirical research and be responsive to the needs of people most affected by it;
Research Generated
Since Dr. Guin became the Director in 1995, OSSRD has obtained over $35 million dollars in external monies for various projects on local, state, and regional levels.
Services
OSSRD staff is regularly invited to provide workshops and presentations for local, state, and national conferences and seminars. Samples include: Pathways to Crime, Causes and Correlates of Delinquency Development, Restorative Justice and Cognitive Behavioral Interventions with Adolescents. OSSRD assists local, state and federal agencies, non-profit organizations, the public and the media with a variety of services:
- Grantsmanship and Fund Development
- Research
- Program Development and Evaluation
- Community Organization
- Mediation and Relationship Building
- Public Education, Information and Referrals
- Advocacy
- Forensic Social Work
- Training and Technical Assistance
