Building effective service delivery mechanisms for justice-involved individuals: an under-researched area

BACKGROUND: The Heath & Justice journal is devoted to addressing the unmet needs of those involved in or working in the justice system. With attention to both health and justice processes and outcomes, this journal is designed to provide a forum for scholarship and research that is usually dispersed across many different disciplines. FINDINGS: In this article, we focus on the need for more service related research to broaden our understanding of how to improve system, program, and client level outcomes. A review of pertinent research in each area is provided to illustrate contemporary findings. CONCLUSIONS: Current research also makes the case for a focused discussion about processes, policies, and procedures that need further exploration. To better understand how to improve health and justice outcomes, research is needed in program fidelity, services, geographical and activity spaces, and other arenas that affect individual, program, and system level outcomes. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2194-7899-2-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.