RESTTA (Restitution Education, Specialized Training, and Technical Assistance) National Directory of Restitution and Community Service Programs

• NCJ Number: 166365
• Author(s): Peter R. Schneider; Matthew C. Finkelstein
• Date Published: March 1998
• Length: 570 pages
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Directory

Annotation

This directory, updated in 1996 from an initial survey conducted in 1991, describes some 500 individual programs of restitution and community service for juveniles throughout the United States; programs for which no new data were received since the 1991 survey are not included in this edition.

Abstract

An introductory section of the directory reviews and interprets the findings of the 1991 survey. It notes that restitution programming is thriving in America despite declining support from the Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; however, the rate of growth has sharply declined. Programs are moving toward increased formalization and greater standardization of policies and procedures. A central theme of RESTTA training and technical assistance has been the importance of program planning and the creation of written guidelines. Successful completion rates remain high, even though programs are accepting increasingly more risky offenders. Moreover, these new data reinforce earlier findings that performance of restitution has a positive impact on recidivism rates. In the main body of this directory, programs are listed alphabetically within States, which also are listed alphabetically. Each entry contains the program name, its address and telephone number, the jurisdiction in which it is located, and the name of a contact person for the program. In addition, the entry lists the restitution services available (e.g., restitution, community service, and direct victim service); the type of clients accepted into the program; and the name of the court or agency in which it resides. Also included are a program description, recent statistics on the number of clients, amounts of restitution paid or number of community service hours worked, successful completion rates, and recidivism data. For many programs data are also presented on the seriousness of the offenses of their clients, rated on a scale of 1 to 5. An appendix contains information on a number of typical cases that reflect the types of offenses that result in referral to these programs and the dispositions or sentences given to the offenders. Another appendix lists all the victim-offender reconciliation and mediation programs that responded to the survey.