An empirical assessment of exemplary project publications: Do they provide the necessary information for implementation?

Based on a comprehensive list of the factors that affect program and policy implementation in the United States, an assessment was made of the degree to which the National Institute of Justice Exemplary Project documents include information relevant to replicating criminal justice programs. A description of the kinds of programs that have been chosen as exemplary and the assessment of information in the documents revealed several gaps that could limit the documents' usefulness. As a whole, the Exemplary Project documents emphasize summative evaluations to show program success rather than process evaluations that could reveal the dynamics of implementation. Furthermore, the documents neither draw on nor contribute to the growing body of theory and empirical research relevant to implementation in the criminal justice system.