The Policy Brief Prompt Florida Governor Rick Scott has set up a special Task Force to examine some of the flawed policies of Floridas criminal justice systemand to ultimately revise these mistakes. The Task Forces goal is to reduce the number of incarcerated juveniles and avoid increasing the already wide racial disparities of the incarcerated population of juveniles. Because you are an expert in the field of juvenile and criminal justice, the Task Force has summoned you to sit on an Expert Panel to advise the Governor by providing him with one (1) policy brief that addresses the aforementioned goal (Note that a policy brief is a type of criminal justice policy paper). In advising Governor Scott on how to reduce number of incarcerated juveniles, you should address one and only one component of the juvenile justice system. There are many possible options for you to select from, but only choose one area of the juvenile system; for example, policing, juvenile crime prevention, juvenile waivers, sentencing laws, court strategies, rehabilitation, or reentry. You are not limited to these topics, but whatever you do choose to research and write about, you should stay within the confines of a single area of the juvenile justice system. That is to say, it would be a mistake to evaluate policing strategies, drug sentencing laws, and rehabilitation strategies in one policy brief. Choose one topic. The Writing Sequencing Assignments for the Policy Brief To aid you in writing your policy brief, you will complete a series of writing assignments, with appropriate feedback as you go. These assignments are based on the best evidence we have today for successful writing in college and beyond. The series of writing assignments are as follows: (1) Topic Selection and Describing the Audience; (2) Researching Your Topic; and an optional Reflection Writing Assignment. Writing Assignment #1: Topic Selection and Describing the Audience 1. Read the Policy Brief Prompt and then think about a topic that you are interested in researching for the policy brief project. Your topic should be one covered in the course; namely, types of policing, sentences, courts, correctional interventions, probation, re-entry, community crime control, or crime prevention. You should look ahead in the syllabus and the chapters to find your topic of interest. After selecting your topic, for assignment #1 write a brief paragraph (3-5 sentences) on how you think this may positively impact the main goal of the CCJ 4497 policy brief project. Write this paragraph in a formal way, as if you are writing to an administrator in the Governors Office about why your exploratory research study will help achieve their goals (see prompt). 2. Next, establish your purpose of the paper by writing a single Statement of Purpose sentence. o Example, In this paper/report, I want to review the research on X because it will Y for the State of Florida and its criminal justice system. o The purpose of doing this is for you to focus and clarify your interests and ideas, help you know where you are going, and help you develop additional angles for researching your topic. 3. Lastly, describe your audience and how you would address them. Also describe what your audience is likely looking for from you to establish in their minds that you are a credible source (approx. 3-4 sentences). o Ask yourself what they need from you and what elements are needed by you to establish credibility with this audience (note that the audience is not your professor). o The purpose(s) of this is to support you in determining the best writing style for a policy brief and also help you determine what to write. You always need to take your primary 2 audience into serious consideration and your brief should be tailored to meet their needs. It makes a fundamental difference for how you must frame your analysis and your recommendations. Describing your audience also encourages you to think about how much knowledge an audience might have about a subjectand this helps you be concise. For example, your audience tells you how much context is needed in the brief (if you are briefing the Deputy Director in the Department of Justice, you dont need to explain to him/her what recidivism is or whats the difference between prison or jail). Please note that the writing assignments are graded using the measures high pass, pass, and low pass. The effort you put into this is important for this assignment and ultimately your final policy brief (as it is based on the best evidence we have today for successful writing). General Notes about the Policy Brief Project o A policy brief is a type of argumentative research paper, which makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The goal of an argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided. That is to say, it is evidence-based. The policy brief that you will write is a type of argumentative paper and should include the following features: a concise summary of (1) a particular issue, (2) the policy options to deal with it, and (3) some recommendations on the best option. Its aim is formulating or influencing policy

This assignment is only Writing Assignment #1; I posted the prompt is it aids with the assignment, this is not the actual Policy Brief.


The Policy Brief Prompt

Florida Governor Rick Scott has set up a special Task Force to examine some of the flawed policies of
Floridas criminal justice systemand to ultimately revise these mistakes. The Task Forces goal is to
reduce the number of incarcerated juveniles and avoid increasing the already wide racial
disparities of the incarcerated population of juveniles. Because you are an expert in the field of
juvenile and criminal justice, the Task Force has summoned you to sit on an Expert Panel to advise the
Governor by providing him with one (1) policy brief that addresses the aforementioned goal (Note that a
policy brief is a type of criminal justice policy paper).
In advising Governor Scott on how to reduce number of incarcerated juveniles, you should address one
and only one component of the juvenile justice system. There are many possible options for you to select
from, but only choose one area of the juvenile system; for example, policing, juvenile crime prevention,
juvenile waivers, sentencing laws, court strategies, rehabilitation, or reentry. You are not limited to these
topics, but whatever you do choose to research and write about, you should stay within the confines of a
single area of the juvenile justice system. That is to say, it would be a mistake to evaluate policing
strategies, drug sentencing laws, and rehabilitation strategies in one policy brief. Choose one topic.

The Writing Sequencing Assignments for the Policy Brief

To aid you in writing your policy brief, you will complete a series of writing assignments, with
appropriate feedback as you go. These assignments are based on the best evidence we have today for
successful writing in college and beyond. The series of writing assignments are as follows: (1) Topic
Selection and Describing the Audience; (2) Researching Your Topic; and an optional Reflection
Writing Assignment.

Writing Assignment #1: Topic Selection and Describing the Audience
1. Read the Policy Brief Prompt and then think about a topic that you are interested in researching for
the policy brief project. Your topic should be one covered in the course; namely, types of policing,
sentences, courts, correctional interventions, probation, re-entry, community crime control, or
crime prevention. You should look ahead in the syllabus and the chapters to find your topic of
interest. After selecting your topic, for assignment #1 write a brief paragraph (3-5 sentences) on
how you think this may positively impact the main goal of the CCJ 4497 policy brief project. Write
this paragraph in a formal way, as if you are writing to an administrator in the Governors Office
about why your exploratory research study will help achieve their goals (see prompt).
2. Next, establish your purpose of the paper by writing a single Statement of Purpose sentence.
o Example, In this paper/report, I want to review the research on X because it will Y for the
State of Florida and its criminal justice system.
o The purpose of doing this is for you to focus and clarify your interests and ideas, help you
know where you are going, and help you develop additional angles for researching your
topic.
3. Lastly, describe your audience and how you would address them. Also describe what your
audience is likely looking for from you to establish in their minds that you are a credible source
(approx. 3-4 sentences).
o Ask yourself what they need from you and what elements are needed by you to establish
credibility with this audience (note that the audience is not your professor).
o The purpose(s) of this is to support you in determining the best writing style for a policy
brief and also help you determine what to write. You always need to take your primary
2
audience into serious consideration and your brief should be tailored to meet their needs. It
makes a fundamental difference for how you must frame your analysis and your
recommendations. Describing your audience also encourages you to think about how much
knowledge an audience might have about a subjectand this helps you be concise. For
example, your audience tells you how much context is needed in the brief (if you are
briefing the Deputy Director in the Department of Justice, you dont need to explain to
him/her what recidivism is or whats the difference between prison or jail).
Please note that the writing assignments are graded using the measures high pass, pass, and low
pass. The effort you put into this is important for this assignment and ultimately your final policy
brief (as it is based on the best evidence we have today for successful writing).
General Notes about the Policy Brief Project
o A policy brief is a type of argumentative research paper, which makes a claim about a topic
and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The goal of an argumentative paper is to
convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided. That is to say,
it is evidence-based. The policy brief that you will write is a type of argumentative paper
and should include the following features: a concise summary of (1) a particular issue, (2)
the policy options to deal with it, and (3) some recommendations on the best option. Its aim
is formulating or influencing policy