Mohican Youth Center: RSAT Process Evaluation, Final Report

• NCJ Number: 188868
• Author(s): Betsy Fulton M.S.; Edward Latessa Ph.D.; Jennifer Pealer M.A.
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 108 pages
• Grant Number(s): 97-RT-VX-K011
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation

Annotation

This report presents the methodology and findings of a process evaluation of the Mohican Youth Center (MYC), which is a 160-bed secure facility operated by the Ohio Department of Youth Services as a substance abuse treatment facility for drug-involved youth who have been convicted of a felony; youth assessed as needing long-term residential treatment are sent to MYC for the last 6 months of their sentence.

Abstract

The process evaluation was conducted from January 1998 to August 30, 1999. A one-group post-test design was used to conduct the process evaluation. The issues addressed in the evaluation were the characteristics of the offenders served, the nature of the services delivered, the intermediate outcomes of the program, how the offenders were performing under post-release supervision, and the factors associated with post-release success. The sample consisted of 343 cases. Follow-up data were collected on a sample of terminated cases from their date of release until August 30, 1999. Findings showed that participants had many risk factors, including school problems, antisocial companions, poor use of leisure time, significant criminal histories, and serious substance abuse problems. The program has incorporated many of the principles of effective correctional intervention. Areas identified for improvement were consistency of services, treatment matching, consistency in the application of the behavioral management system, and quality assurance. The findings of the process evaluation were limited by the extent of missing data on some variables, the lack of a comparison group, and small number of cases for which termination and follow-up data were available. The conclusions drawn were primarily descriptive in nature and were not intended to speak to the effectiveness of the program. Appended study instruments, data, and 31 references