Standardised program evaluation protocol

Youth Justice is the first jurisdiction outside of the United States to implement the Standardised Program Evaluation Protocol (SPEP).

SPEP was developed by world-renowned youth justice expert Dr Mark Lipsey from Vanderbilt University. Dr Lipsey and his team, Dr Gabrielle Chapman and Dr Jill Robinson, have worked with us to implement SPEP in Queensland.

SPEP is a continuous assessment and improvement process for both locally developed and brand name programs. It is based on research into 500+ youth justice programs.

SPEP will help us translate the research about what works best for young people into programs and interventions. This means that young people and their families will have access to the most effective interventions we can deliver.

We have officers in each region of the state who are trained to use SPEP.

SPEP is an important part of our youth justice reform and is part of our implementation of Youth Detention Review recommendations.