Build to sustain: collaborative partnerships between university researchers and criminal justice practitioners

Abstract

Sustainable, collaborative partnerships provide a dynamic and fluid environment for studying and implementing policy and practice in justice agencies. However, these relationships take work to develop, grow, maintain, and sustain. Bridging the gap between academics and criminal justice practitioners requires solid partnerships built on access, agreement, goal setting, feedback, and relationship maintenance. When these components merge, both groups benefit from a resilient partnership with the potential for dramatically improving outcomes. A researcher–practitioner partnership is a challenging and complex process requiring careful attention to detail and an endless supply of energy and determination. This paper highlights some of the many successful researcher–practitioner partnerships our research team at the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!) has with criminal justice agencies. We detail four specific partnerships with federal, state, and county criminal justice organizations spanning from probation and parole to problem-solving courts.