DEI support structures: Relationships between organizational diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and employee experience

In recent years, civil rights movements, such as the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement have called out organizations for treating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a marketing ploy to attract employees and customers. However, each year organizations spend billions of dollars on DEI efforts such as training, recruitment, strategy consultants, and more. Perhaps the misalignment of such large investments and tangible outcomes stems from the lack of evidence regarding which organizational systems (i.e., policies and practices) contribute to DEI goal attainment. The current study utilized data from 36 organizations across the Omaha metropolitan area. Data included both organizational variables, that is, the number of company policies across seven workplace functions (e.g., handbook policies), and employee experience data across two dimensions of employee experience; namely, belonging and justice. Multilevel analyses assessed the relationships of policies and practices to employees’ organizational experiences and whether employee identity (i.e., race/ethnicity, gender, and management status) moderated the relationships. Results indicated that organizations that had more DEI policies were more racially/ethnically, but not more gender, diverse. There was no evidence of a relationship between the number of DEI policies and employee experiences of belonging, although employees in organizations that had more vision, mission, values policies perceived greater justice. Further, none of the relationships between DEI policies and employee experiences were moderated by employee identity. These results suggest that having a greater number of DEI supportive policies are not sufficient to promote cultures of belonging and justice within organizations

Evidence-Based Inventory of Criminal Justice Programs in Nebraska

This report is the product of collaborative efforts from the Nebraska Center for Justice Research, the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the Criminology and Criminal Justice department at Portland State University. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the importance of using evidence-based practices and programs, examine the quantity and needs addressed by adult criminal justice programs, and provide a snapshot of operating evidence-based programs throughout Nebraska. This report provides findings related to the discovery of programs and a review of branded programs operating in Nebraska. Product 1 – Inventory of Nebraska Programs Hundreds of programs and services are offered throughout Nebraska to assist the adult justice-involved population. The research team gathered a list of these programs through an examination of publicly available online sources on criminal justice agency websites. Hundreds of programs were identified after a review of these sources. Given the substantial quantity of programs, the researchers utilized a methodology to examine the programs and practices most appropriate for review and evaluation. Programs developed in Nebraska, and not yet rigorously evaluated, were determined ineligible for a more extensive review and should be examined in more depth under different guidelines. Upon conclusion of our review determination, the researchers identified 714 eligible programs and services in total. Product 2 – Branded Programming Review After a list was compiled, programs were sorted into two categories: homegrown (621) and branded (93). Peer reviewed research was gathered on the branded programs (frequently used synonymously with ‘evidence-based programs’ or ‘off-the-shelf programs’ …these are programs that tend to be well-known brand names with research evidence to backing their use). Based on the results of the acquired studies, programs were ranked on their ability to move participants towards desired outcomes, including reducing recidivism, increasing meaningful employment, reducing substance abuse or addiction symptoms, and improving overall health and well-being. Using the ranking criteria located in Table 3, programs were classified as either evidence-based (11), research-based (18), promising-practice (6), consensus-based (13), or no evidence (45). Future Proposed Deliverables – Describe and Review of Program Practices Although this report lays the foundation to encourage more agencies and program providers to adopt evidence-based programs, additional work should examine whether program provider practices are in line with program protocols and otherwise best practices. Therefore, the research team proposes doing a component analysis outlined by Campbell et al. (2018), which includes gathering program manuals and interviewing/ survey program staff to examine if practices are consistent with recommendation