Due Date: 03/31/21
Funder: Arnold Ventures
About Arnold Ventures
Arnold Ventures (AV) is a philanthropy dedicated to tackling some of the most pressing problems in the United States. The organization invests in sustainable change, building it from the ground up based on research, deep thinking, and a strong foundation of evidence. They drive public conversation, craft policy, and inspire action through education and advocacy. With a team of more than 90 subject-matter experts, Arnold Ventures works in four key issue areas: Criminal Justice, Education, Health, and Public Finance. Their work is guided by evidence-based policy, research, and advocacy.
About the Opportunity
This Request for Proposals—a joint effort of AV’s Criminal Justice and Evidence-Based Policy initiatives—seeks grant applications to conduct randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of criminal justice programs and practices (“interventions”) in the United States that fall into one of three tiers: backed by promising prior evidence suggesting it could produce sizable impacts on important criminal justice outcomes; widely adopted in practice, but has not yet been rigorously evaluated; or growing in use and likely to become widely adopted, but has not yet been rigorously evaluated.
While this Request for Proposals focuses on RCTs, AV will also consider certain rigorous quasi-experimental designs when random assignment is not feasible. Submissions are welcome in all areas of criminal justice. The ultimate goal in this effort is to build credible evidence about “what works” to improve criminal justice outcomes and, in particular, to grow the number of criminal justice interventions rigorously shown to produce important improvements in people’s lives. Few such proven-effective interventions currently exist, and until they do, the nation will lack the critical knowledge needed to move the needle on crime, injustice, and other key criminal justice outcomes.
Eligibility
The applicant’s team must include at least one researcher in a key substantive role who has led or played a key role in a prior well-conducted RCT. Such individuals who do not meet the “experienced researcher” criterion themselves may still serve as a study’s lead researcher as long as they partner with a colleague who does meet the criterion and will play a key substantive role in the study.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
