The A2J Triple Aim
Over 50 justice sector organizations have endorsed A2JBC’s Access to Justice Triple Aim.
The A2J Triple Aim is a single goal with three interrelated elements:
- Improved population access to justice
- Improved user experience of access to justice, and
- Improved costs.
The first two elements define the goal of access to justice as being about people:
- At a population or sub-population level: for example, does a policy, program or project reduce the particular barriers faced by Indigenous peoples in BC to access to justice?
- At the individual user level: for example, does a policy, program or project make the services offered by the justice system more affordable to users (people who have legal problems requiring those services)?
The third element “improved costs” is not just about spending money to better effect in the justice sector, but includes reducing costs in other sectors by improving access to justice. For example, reducing in-person court appearances means reducing the days people have to take off work to deal with their legal issues. This would improve costs for the people concerned, for the justice system and for the economy generally.
A2JBC borrowed the Triple Aim concept from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, (IHI) http://www.ihi.org. The IHI Triple Aim is being used in the health sector in BC.
A2J Triple Aim Measurement Framework
The Triple Aim is intended to encourage the justice sector shift to becoming evidence-based. All three elements of the Triple Aim are measurable. The Triple Aim lays the foundation for increased and coordinated access-to-justice measurement.
A2JBC’s A2J Triple Aim Measurement Framework was developed to do two things:
- Provide an overall measurement framework to monitor the experience of the population (and sub-populations) in accessing the justice system and provide evidence of the value (costs and benefits) of improved access to justice; and
- Provide justice system stakeholders with a shared frame of reference to align their efforts to monitor, evaluate and learn from the impact of their respective initiatives to improve access to justice.
The A2J Measurement Framework Checklist
The Measurement Framework sets out various components of access to justice. This allows different organizations to find the components that fit with their mandate. Use the A2J Measurement Framework Checklist when considering the impact of your projects, programs or policies and how you might measure those impacts.
The Measurement Framework is a work in progress and will change as it is used more in the justice system. We are always looking for ways to improve it. If you have comments or suggestions or a story to share about your experience with the A2J Triple Aim, please contact us, and tell us your experience.
A User Guide to the A2J Triple Aim and A2J Measurement Framework
Measuring access to justice is, for the most part, a new experience for the justice sector. We are working on testing tools to make that easier. To help organizations willing to try, A2JBC has developed a User Guide titled “Walking the Talk about Measuring Access to Justice - Applying the Access to Justice Triple Aim and Measurement Framework”.
Documenting the Social Return on Investments in A2J Programs
A2JBC has developed a resource to illustrate the usefulness of the Measurement Framework in conducting a cost-benefit analysis, in particular an analysis based on the Social Return on Investment (SROI) method. The Social Return on Investment (SROI) Guide builds directly on the Measurement Framework to support all stakeholders who wish to engage in a cost benefit analysis of access to justice programs. A cost benefit analysis can tell us whether the social benefits of an intervention exceed its social costs.
Canada’s Social Security Tribunal incorporates the A2J Triple Aim Measurement into its A2J Evaluation Framework
The A2J Triple Aim and the A2J Triple Aim Measurement Framework have gained acceptance beyond the borders or BC. Canada’s Social Security Tribunal has incorporated them into their A2J Evaluation Framework.