One of BJA’s major grant programs is the Byrne Program. VAWO programs seek to improve  criminal justice system responses to domestic violence, sexual assault,  and stalking by providing support for law enforcement, prosecution,  courts, and victim advocacy programs across the country. Number, Type, Status of Completion, and Award Amount of Byrne and VAWO Discretionary Grant Program Evaluations

During fiscal years 1995 through 2001, NIJ awarded about $6 million to  carry out five Byrne and five VAWO discretionary grant program  evaluations. According to NIJ, the five VAWO program  evaluations included both impact and process evaluations. As of December 2001, only one of  these evaluations, the impact evaluation of the Byrne CAR Program, had  been completed. In contrast, in the  Byrne Children at Risk impact evaluation, all five sites participated. Appendix I provides summaries of the four evaluations. The Assistant  Attorney General also stated that the report contrasts the Byrne evaluation  with the three VAWO evaluations and obscures important programmatic  differences that affect an evaluator’s ability to achieve “GAO’s conditions  for methodological rigor.” She pointed out that the Byrne CAR Program  was intended to test a research hypothesis and that the evaluation was  designed accordingly, i.e., the availability of baseline data were ensured;  randomization of effects were stipulated as a precondition of  participation; and outcome measures were determined in advance on the  basis of the theories to be tested. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) could not separate the cost of the impact evaluation  from the cost of the process evaluation. 10.
What GAO Found

Discretionary grants awarded under the Bureau of Justice Assistance's (BJA) Byrne Program help state and local governments make communities safe and improve criminal justice. Discretionary grants awarded under BJA's Violence Against Women Office (VAWO) programs are aimed at improving criminal justice system responses to domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) awarded $6 million for five Byrne Program and five VAWO discretionary grant program evaluations between 1995 and 2001. Of the 10 programs evaluated, all five VAWO evaluations were designed to be both process and impact evaluations of the VAWO programs. Only one of the five Byrne evaluations was designed as an impact evaluation and the other four evaluations were process evaluations. GAO's in-depth review of the four impact evaluations since fiscal year 1995 showed that only one of these--the evaluation of the Byrne Children at Risk Program--was methodologically sound. The other three evaluations, all of which examined VAWO programs, had methodological problems.