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Office of Research, Evaluation and Strategic Policy Development

PCCD’s Office of Research, Evaluation and Strategic Policy Development (ORESPD) provides overarching data analysis and research support to the entire agency.  It also contains several units responsible for administering a wide variety of public safety related programs, including Child Advocacy, Nonprofit Security Grants, School Safety and Security, and Violence Intervention & Prevention.

Research 
First and foremost, ORESPD serves as the Statistical Analysis Center for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and provides the agency with research and information needed to ensure that the programs supported by PCCD are effective and efficient. For more information about our research efforts, see our Criminal Justice Process and Data page and our Statistical Analysis Center page.  

Child Advocacy
ORESPD also supports the Children's Advocacy Center Advisory Committee  (CACAC) and PCCD's child advocacy efforts. The CACAC is responsible for administering state funding available through Act 28 of 2014 birth certificate funds and through the Endowment Act, which supports victims of child sexual abuse throughout the state and also expanding access to Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) and Multidisciplinary  Investigative Teams (MDITs). See our CAC page for more information about the work of the CACAC and these initiatives.

Nonprofit Security Grant Fund Program
ORESPD administers grants to nonprofit organizations who principally serve individuals, groups or institutions that are included within a bias motivation category for single bias hate crime incidents as identified by the FBI's Hate Crime Statistics. More information about this grant program can be found on PCCD’s Non-Profit Security Grant Fund webpage.

School Safety and Security
The School Safety Unit within ORESPD provides direct support to the School Safety & Security Committee within PCCD. For more information about PCCD’s school safety activities and initiatives, please see PCCD’s School Safety webpage.

Violence Intervention & Prevention
The Violence Intervention & Prevention (VIP) Unit within ORESPD supports the VIP grant program, which are projects pertaining to preventing, intervening and addressing the aftermath of violence in Pennsylvania. For more information about PCCD VIP and other gun violence related projects, please see PCCD’s Gun Violence webpage.