2015 Criminal History Record Assessment and Research Program (CHRARP)

The 2015 Criminal History Record Assessment and Research Program (CHRARP) will build upon an existing data processing infrastructure developed over the last several years by BJS that collects, consolidates, and standardizes the criminal history records on cohorts of offenders into a format that supports criminal history and recidivism research. The primary goals of the CHRARP are 1) to assess the quality and completeness of the Nations criminal history record information and 2) to maintain and develop a software system that converts the state- and federal-specific contents of criminal history records into nationally standardized research databases. The software system will further BJS's mission by enhancing its capability to generate a wide range of statistical information on the criminal careers of various types of offenders more efficiently and, therefore, more frequently. This project will help to inform policy makers, practitioners, and researchers about variations in the content and attributes of the criminal history record information maintained by the state repositories, as well as develop methods to compensate for these differences when utilizing these administrative records for research purposes at a multi-state or national level. (CA/NCF)

The 2015 Criminal History Record Assessment and Research Program (CHRARP) will build upon an existing data processing infrastructure developed over the last several years by BJS that collects, consolidates, and standardizes the criminal history records on cohorts of offenders into a format that supports criminal history and recidivism research. The primary goals of the CHRARP are 1) to assess the quality and completeness of the Nations criminal history record information and 2) to maintain and develop a software system that converts the state- and federal-specific contents of criminal history records into nationally standardized research databases. The software system will further BJS's mission by enhancing its capability to generate a wide range of statistical information on the criminal careers of various types of offenders more efficiently and, therefore, more frequently. This project will help to inform policy makers, practitioners, and researchers about variations in the content and attributes of the criminal history record information maintained by the state repositories, as well as develop methods to compensate for these differences when utilizing these administrative records for research purposes at a multi-state or national level. (CA/NCF)