Racial and Ethnic Disparities Program Assessment Tool Consent Form
The Justice Programs Office, within School of Public Affairs at American University
created a Racial and Ethnic Disparities (RED) Program Assessment Tool. This tool
aims to provide local treatment courts with an instrument to capture information about
their court’s systems and processes focusing on areas where racial and ethnic
disparities may exist. Based on the responses, the tool will provide recommendations
on ways to reduce RED.
Research Procedures
The RED Program Assessment Tool is a self-assessment tool for treatment courts that
includes a series of open- and closed-ended questions designed to identify areas in
treatment court’s system and processes where RED may exist. Questions should be
answered for one treatment court and completed by team members who are familiar
with the program’s operations, procedures, services, and participants.
Completion of the assessment immediately produces recommendations to the
participant for ways in which the program could reduce racial/ethnic inequities.
Additionally, stored data will be analyzed to develop publications and resources to
inform and advance the field. Court participation will remain confidential;
participating court information will not be shared with any entity. Publications will
report the results in aggregate (e.g., 10% of programs have a low representation of
females and African Americans among admissions).
Risks
There are no foreseeable risks for taking part in this study. Participation is entirely
voluntary. Participation is confidential. Individual-level data is not collected. Data
will be stored on a secure American University server; only RED research staff will
have access to the assessment files.
Benefits
Participation in this study will enable a court to determine successes and opportunities
for improvement regarding racial and ethnic disparities in their treatment court
program. Participation will also contribute to the improvement of the field through the
development of resources and publications raising awareness about RED and
recommendations for reducing RED in treatment court programs.
Confidentiality
A program’s participation in the study will remain confidential, and no identifying
information is collected from the members on the participating teams. Whether a
program participated in the RED Program Assessment Tool will not be disclosed.
Data will be stored on a secure American University server; only RED research staff
will have access to the assessment data. Publications for the field will only report the
results in aggregate (e.g., 10% of programs have a low representation of females and
African Americans among admissions) and, again, not name participating court
programs.
Participation
Your participation is voluntary. You need not answer any question that you would
prefer not to answer, and you may withdraw from the assessment at any time and for
any reason.
Contact
The Justice Programs Office (JPO) is conducting this assessment. JPO can be reached
at (202) 885-2875 or redtool@american.edu if you have a question or comment.
Please contact American University’s Office of Research Integrity (ORI) at (202)
885-3447 for any questions regarding rights as a participant.