Aftercare seeks to address challenges juveniles face when re-entering the community after residential placement. This study compares changes in recidivism in five Pennsylvania counties that piloted aftercare reforms in 2005 to 2010 as part of Models for Change to recidivism in counties that did not. The sample includes 3,107 referrals to court in…

The purpose of the study was to explore entrepreneurial training as a rehabilitation option to reduce recidivism for juvenile offenders. The problem is that juvenile offenders return to incarceration at alarming rates. The United States record of rehabilitating juvenile offenders has been challenging since its inception of Juvenile Court in 1899.…

This study examines associations between recidivism rates and groups/programs for legally mandated education, behavioral, and mental health services that court-ordered juvenile youth ("juveniles") with identified emotional disturbance or related conditions receive in secure-care juvenile facilities. Using statewide agency data in…

Recent studies have causally linked juvenile incarceration with higher high school dropout and adult incarceration rates, which have subsequently reduced labor market and social engagement outcomes for a population that is overwhelmingly represented by minorities. Despite extensive investment and planning by public and private stakeholders in…

For youth from distressed communities, the gateway into the juvenile justice system can be the beginning of a treacherous road to adulthood. Recent studies have causally linked juvenile incarceration with higher high school dropout and adult incarceration rates, which have subsequently reduced labor market and social engagement outcomes for a…

Collaboration between special educators and transition coordinators is important to lower recidivism rates among juvenile offenders with disabilities. This column provides best practice transition guidelines and urges special education teachers, special education coordinators, and transition coordinators in juvenile correctional facilities to…

Criminologists, lawmakers, policymakers, educators, and others discuss juvenile delinquency and recidivism and note the relationship to adult offending and cost factors. Poverty, peer relations, family life, and school are risk factors that have been linked to define the problem of juvenile crime. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to…

The modern juvenile justice system is failing our society. A literature review reveals resounding criticism of the system at all points--arrest, court processing, and incarceration. The current system does not effectively reduce recidivism, is wrought with racial disparities, operates with a minimal degree of cultural competence, violates human…

This is an account of a trip to the Mojave Desert sponsored by the California Youth Authority's Community Parole Center for wards who are selected on the basis of their potential for growth and their ability to make a connection between what they do in the wilderness and what they do on the streets. (PD)

VisionQuest is one of the largest and most controversial private sector corrections programs designed to handle serious juvenile offenders in the country. Most chronic delinquents referred to VisionQuest by the juvenile court had failed under prior placements and were candidates for commitment to the California Youth Authority. VisionQuest…

These proceedings were published to interpret and disseminate research findings to operational personnel working with juvenile repeat offenders; to share information among researchers and practitioners regarding prevention, intervention, and treatment program models and strategies for juvenile repeat offenders; to explore the impact of juvenile…

Presents the results of a longitudinal experiment focused on the relative efficacy of varying treatments for juvenile offenders (N=213). All treatment conditions involving a specific intervention model located outside the formal juvenile justice system produced lower recidivism rates than the attention-placebo, treatment-as-usual control, or…

Two program goals were: (1) providing a community-based alternative for arrested juveniles who otherwise would have been referred to the juvenile justice system; and (2) reducing juvenile delinquency. Results from various measures indicated the program had little success in decreasing referrals but produced positive delinquency reduction effects.…

The primary objective of Project About Face, a program of Youth Services, Inc., is to reduce the rate of recidivism among juvenile offenders assigned to the program by the Juvenile Court of Memphis/Shelby County, Tennessee. Another purpose is to establish a profile of the type of offender who would be most likely to benefit from the academic,…

This document describes three programs in the juvenile rehabilitation field: (1) VisionQuest, the Tucson-based program that works with youths in wilderness camps, on wagon trains, or in other high impact/adventure formats rather than in conventional residential settings; (2) Paint Creek Youth Center, a small, experimental, staff-secure program in…