Juvenile Diversion Program Research Articles

The Impact of Arbitration Intervention Services on Arbitration Program Completion

We report the impact of case management services and youth psychopathy on Juvenile Diversion program completion for youths involved in a clinical trial, and evaluation of an innovative intervention service providing 16 weeks of intensive case management services to youths and their families. The present study examines baseline interview data for 164 youths who entered a Juvenile Diversion program between June 2002 and July 2003 and agreed to participate in the project. The results indicate that youths receiving extended case management services had higher rates of completing the Diversion program than youths receiving the usual Diversion program services. However, youths receiving case management services were no more likely to complete the diversion program on time, than youths receiving the usual services. The results also indicate that psychopathy measures do not have a significant effect on program completion, regardless of the type of diversion service.

The Impact of Arbitration Intervention Services on Youth Recidivism

We report the impact of case management services and youth psychopathic features on twelve-month recidivism rates for youths involved in a Center for Substance Abuse Treatment funded clinical trial conducted in a juvenile diversion program. The project is evaluating an innovative intervention service providing 16 weeks of intensive case management services to youths and their families. The present study examines baseline interview data and official arrest/charge records for a twelve-month period following program or intervention completion, whichever came later, for 164 youths who entered a diversion program (Juvenile Arbitration) between June 2002 and July 2003 and agreed to participate in the project. The results indicate that youths receiving case management services did not have lower rates of recidivism during the 12-month follow-up period, than youths receiving the usual Arbitration services. Regardless of service group assignment, psychopathy measures for these youths were significantly and positively associated with recidivism rates during the 12-month follow-up period. Implications for policy and intervention service needs are discussed.

Juvenile Diversion: An Outcome Study of the Hamilton County, Ohio Unofficial Juvenile Community Courts

ABSTRACTAn overall goal of juvenile diversion programs is to deinstitutionalize and decriminalize minor types of delinquent behavior by minimizing penetration into the justice system. Proponents of juvenile diversion programs have argued that diversion programs provide additional services to youths; and, since diversion programs are less stigmatizing, they may restrain the escalation of delinquency. Nonetheless, many diversion programs are never analyzed. This study describes and presents outcome data from a diversion program in Hamilton County, Ohio.

Construct Validity of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) With Justice-Involved Adolescents

Two measures of psychopathic features in youths, the self-report version of the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) and the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory (YPI) were administered to 165 youths in a juvenile diversion program. For both measures, internal consistency was poor for the scales that assess the affective domain of psychopathic features; otherwise, internal consistency was excellent for the YPI and generally superior to that of the APSD. However, the published three-factor models for both measures did not replicate when examined using confirmatory factor analysis. Both measures obtained the expected correlations with measures of a variety of criminal justice (e.g., age of delinquency onset, past year delinquent behavior) and psychological constructs (e.g., internalizing and externalizing behavior), providing evidence of construct validity for both measures. The YPI appears to be the better measure for exploring the construct of psychopathy in adolescents. Recommendations are made concerning revisions to the APSD.

Evaluation of the Impact of a Policy Change on Diversion Program Recidivism and Justice System Costs

Following a national trend of “getting tough” on juvenile crime, the Florida legislature eliminated one of the State's primary community service-oriented juvenile diversion programs, the Juvenile Alternative Services Program (JASP). JASP was subsequently replaced with four other diversion programs, two of which (the Walker Plan and an expanded Arbitration program) permitted greater penetration into the juvenile justice system. In previous papers, we examined the effects of this shift in program funding in regard to recidivism and direct cost to the justice system over a six-month post-program follow-up period. The results indicated that: (1) youths placed in the JASP program had significantly lower rates of new arrests and new arrest charges than youths placed in each of the other four diversion programs—suggesting a net-widening effect, and (2) an increase in the direct costs of a number of key justice services, with JASP having a lower direct cost rate, than any of the alternative to JASP programs. The present paper reports the results of analyses extending our study of youths' recidivism and the direct cost to the justice system to 12 months. The results confirm: (1) the lower rates of recidivism (measured in regard to new arrests and new arrest charges) of JASP, compared to the alternative to JASP programs, and (2) the lower direct cost to the justice system for JASP, than the alternative to JASP programs. These longer term findings provide even more convincing evidence that the decision of the Florida legislature to eliminate funds for JASP was misguided. The programs that were used to provide services to JASP eligible youths experienced an increase in youths' post-program contact with the justice system, and an associated, significant increase in direct justice system costs. Community-based diversion programs can achieve better outcomes by providing services to at-risk, non-serious offender youths, at lower cost, than assigning such youths to programs involving penetration into the justice system.

Economic Impact on the Justice System from Reductions in Diversion Program Funding

Following a national trend of “getting tough” on increased juvenile crime, the Florida legislature eliminated one of the primary community service-oriented juvenile diversion programs, the Juvenile Alternative Services Program (JASP). JASP was subsequently replaced with four other diversion programs, two of which (the Walker Plan and an expanded Arbitration program) permitted greater penetration into the juvenile justice system. In a previous paper, we examined the impact of net-widening effects of diversion programs on youth participant recidivism for a six-month post-program period resulting from this shift in program funding. The results indicated that youths placed in the JASP program had significantly lower rates of new arrests and new arrest charges than each of the other four diversion programs. One of the consequences of the net-widening effects reported in this previous study could be an increase, rather than decrease, in the direct costs of a number of key justice services. The present study examines this issue by presenting the results of an economic impact analysis focusing on the direct costs incurred by various justice system agencies resulting from the youths' recidivism during the six-month post-program period. Stepwise multiple regression analyses predicting the cumulative cost (adjusted for inflation and overhead expenses) of providing justice services to the youths found that JASP had a lower direct cost rate with respect to the justice system than any of the JASP alternative programs. These findings, combined with those of our previous study, run contrary to one of the major concerns of policy makers: attaining better outcomes among at-risk youth while making the best use of scarce public resources. Theoretical and policy implications based on these results are discussed.

Evaluation of the Impact of a Policy Change on Diversion Program Recidivism

Recent Florida legislation changes have resulted in policy modifications reflecting a “get tough” approach to juvenile crime. In 2000, budget cuts by the Florida legislature eliminated one of the state's primary community service-oriented juvenile diversion programs, the Juvenile Alternative Services Program (JASP). JASP was subsequently replaced with other diversion programs, two of which (the Walker Plan and an expanded Arbitration program) permitted greater penetration into the juvenile justice system. This event provided an opportunity for a natural experiment evaluating the impact of potential net-widening effects of these replacement programs compared to those with less justice system contact (JASP and two other diversion programs) on youth participant recidivism. In this study, youth participant recidivism was examined based on new arrests and new arrest charges during an in-program period (from date of program enrollment to exit) and a six-month post-program period. There was no significant difference in in-program recidivism across the five diversion programs. Stepwise multiple regression analyses predicting diversion program recidivism rates for the six-month period following end of program involvement found that youths placed in the JASP program had significantly lower rates of new arrests and new arrest charges than each of the other four diversion programs. Moreover, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) tests indicated that the mean rate of new arrests and new arrest charges were significantly lower for JASP than the other programs, which were comparable to each other in magnitude. The findings suggest a potential net-widening effect for the JASP replacement programs. In addition, JASP youths had a longer number of days until a new arrest than youths from the four alternative to JASP programs. Theoretical and policy implications based on these results are discussed.

Emotional Word Detection and Adolescent Repressive?Defensive Coping Style

This study used a computer-based emotional word-recognition task to assess the emotional processing styles of repressive–defensive youth. A hypothesis was tested proposing that adolescent repressive– defensive coping style is associated with rapid engagement and disengagement of emotional stimuli (negative and positive). Data were collected on a male adolescent sample enrolled in a juvenile diversion program allowing for the comparison of anxious, low-anxious, and repressive–defensive youth. Consistent with prediction, repressive–defensive participants exhibited facilitated responding to emotional relative to neutral word stimuli across valence category (i.e., positive and negative). In contrast, anxious participants exhibited a unique pattern of facilitated responding to positive word stimuli. The current findings represent a first attempt at investigating the processing impairments of repressive–defensive coping style in a nonadult sample. Results are interpreted in light of broader adult and child research findings on emotional processing and affective disturbance.

Control group study of juvenile diversion programs: an experiment in juvenile diversion—the comparison of three methods and a control group

Juvenile diversion methods have been tested in many states in an effort to reduce recidivism. This paper reports on an experimental juvenile diversion program and the evaluation to assess the effects on recidivism during the experimental period. In this control group design first-time juvenile status offenders were randomly assigned to three experimental groups: Juvenile Accountability Program, Youth Court, or Magistrate Court and compared with an Educational Control group. The data revealed that the Juvenile Accountability diversion program, which diverted offenders from the justice system and held them accountable of their offenses, showed positive signs for reducing recidivism.

Psychopathic features in a juvenile diversion population: reliability and predictive validity of two self‐report measures

The reliability and predictive validity of two experimental self-report versions of two measures of psychopathic features in youth, the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD: Frick & Hare, 2001) and a modified version of the Child Psychopathy Scale (CPS: Lynam, 1997) were examined in a sample of 69 arrested youth (M age = 14.4 years) referred to a juvenile diversion program. Parents or legal guardians completed parent-rating versions of the same measures. Reliability indicators for the APSD total measure were satisfactory although internal consistency indices (coefficient alpha) for the Callous/Unemotional and Impulsive/Conduct Problems scales were slightly lower than desirable. Reliability indicators for the CPS were excellent after deleting items that had poor corrected item-to-CPS total score correlations. Positive and statistically significant correlations for all measures were obtained with prospective measures of program failure (range 0.22-0.36) and rearrest at 1 year follow-up (range 0.33-0.56). Although further research is needed prior to the clinical use of these measures, these results signal the potential of such measures to inform clinical judgments regarding treatment compliance and risk with justice-involved youth.

Reducing Juvenile Recidivism: Evaluating the Wraparound Services Model

Objective: The purpose of this study was to (a) evaluate the relative effectiveness of wraparound services versus conventional services for juvenile delinquent youth and (b) create a predictive model that would assist the juvenile court system in correctly identifying youth at greatest risk of reoffending. Method: The study employed a pretest/posttest, control group design, with 6-, 12-, and 18-month follow-up assessments, of 141 youth court-ordered into community-based treatment programs for delinquent youth. Results: Analysis indicated that few of the variables studied differentiated between wraparound services recipients and conventional service recipients. However, a logistic regression model was developed that correctly predicted recidivism for 79% of the sample at the 6-month follow-up assessment (chi-square = 27.211, df =6, p = .0001) and 78% of the sample at the 18-month follow-up assessment (chi-square = 16.453, df =8, p = .036). Conclusions: Implications of the findings for improving community-based juvenile diversion programs for delinquent youth were explored and discussed.

The Organization and Operation of Teen Courts in the United States: A Comparative Analysis of Legislation

ABSTRACTTeen courts are juvenile justice diversion programs found in most states. Programs vary significantly between, and even within, states, making regulation cumbersome. Their grass roots nature requires legislative latitude so each program can meet the specific needs of the communities they serve. States have passed both specific and broad legislation acknowledging their existence and providing referral sources. This article examines teen court legislation from every state, analyzes each, and draws conclusions about teen courts from a legislative perspective.

Juvenile Diversion Interventions

The juvenile diversion program examined in this study consisted of 32 State of Colorado programs that provided intervention to juvenile offenders. This study was conducted to explore three aspects of juvenile system diversion programs: the types of interventions assigned to juveniles in diversion programs, the characteristics and legal background of the juveniles in each intervention, and the program outcomes. This data consisted of a sample of 5865 juvenile offenders who participated in system diversion programs during the fiscal year 1995-1996. Both uni-variate and multivariate procedures were applied. The results identified unique patterns of intervention assignment. The results also suggested that client characteristics, especially arrest history, were more relevant to program outcome than the presence or absence of an intervention.

Analysis of a Juvenile Court Diversion Program

ABSTRACT This article addresses a gap in knowledge about the characteristics of adolescents served by court diversion programs. Labeling and stress theories provide the theoretical framework for understanding the adolescents, their actions, and the societal response. This study of randomly selected cases of a juvenile court diversion program presents a characterization of adolescents, their families of origin, employment, offenses, and processing in the diversion system. Principal findings include the impact of alcohol, unemployment, and the variability in processing. The study suggests that the clients committed minor offenses and supports the thesis of net widening.

JUVENILE DIVERSION: THE IMPACT OF PROGRAM PHILOSOPHY ON NET WIDENING

ABSTRACT This paper examines the relationship between a juvenile diversion program's philosophy and the program's tendency to engage in net widening. The paper presents theoretical and empirical evidence that diversion programs based on a crime control philosophy (retribution or deterrence) are less likely than treatment based diversion programs to engage in net widening. The implications of these findings for juvenile diversion program design and administration are also discussed herein.

Teen Court: A Way to Combat Teenage Crime and Chemical Abuse

AbstractThough some controversy surrounds the effectiveness of juvenile diversion programs, at least one program, the Teen Court Program in Odessa, Texas, seems to be having an impact. After 1,987 trials, the recidivism rate is less than 15 percent for traffic offenses and zero for first time Class C and Class B misdemeanors. The success of that program has lead to its expansion, and now the program includes first time drug offenders who not only go through the restitution phase of Teen Court but are required to attend, with their parents, a drug education and prevention workshop. After two years of operation, there has not been one repeat case of drug usage by a first offender referred to Teen Court. The procedures followed in the workshop and the results are discussed.

Using an alternative evaluation measure for assessing juvenile diversion programs

This paper describes the effectiveness of six juvenile diversion programs in the metropolitan area of Denver, Colorado. Program success was measured by recidivism reduction. However, by using a one-for-one statistical client-baseline matching method and a variable definition of recidivism, we managed to overcome drawbacks that often occur when using recidivism as an outcome indicator. Together, program participants showed a 26% reduction in recidivism rate over that of a matched baseline sample. Although four of the six programs studied accounted for the overall success rate, we explain why two of the programs showed no significant reductions in recidivism rates.

A systematic analysis of diversion: Net widening and beyond

This analysis focuses on the operation of a juvenile diversion program in a large metropolitan area. In particular, the impact of the program on referrals made by the police to the juvenile court is examined. Consistent with most studies of diversion, a significant amount of net widening was found to occur following the introduction of the program. A time-series design using a four-year-preprogram and four-year-program period was employed to examine the trends in processing over time. Referrals for all categories of offenses rose significantly during the program years. The implications of these results are discussed in light of both police commitment to the goals of diversion and the legal safeguards in juvenile processing.

Constructing and Implementing a Model Juvenile Diversion Program

Constructing and Implementing a Model Juvenile Diversion Program

Juvenile Diversion: When Practice Matches Theory

Research has shown that most juvenile diversion programs are precluded from reaching their goals of reducing coercion, social control, and stigma because they serve populations that are not, in fact, diverted from the justice system. The present study addressed the issue of whether properly implemented diversion programs would meet these goals. The question was examined in terms of service providers' and clients' views about diversion and justice programs. The study included samples from nine diversion programs and associated justice agencies. Findings for both service providers and clients were quite consistent across sites in demonstrating that diversion programs do constitute a true alternative to services from justice agencies. The study also compared the views of clients to those of service providers. It was found that clients considered diversion programs more oriented to coercion and social control and less oriented to serving clients' needs. On the other hand, clients believed that service providers held more positive views about clients than was actually the case. The findings indicate that labeling processes differ among alternative societal responses to deviance, but also that youths may not be very sensitive to the negative opinions others hold about them. The import of the study for social policy is that diversion programs hold considerable promise for reducing coercion, social control, and perhaps stigma, if problems of implementation can be overcome.