Byrne Evaluation Partnership Program, Final Report

• NCJ Number: 214571
• Author(s): R. Steven Harrison Ph.D.; Bruce V. Parsons Ph.D.; Edward C. Byrnes MSW
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 65 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA); Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice
• Corporate Author: University of Utah Social Research Institute
• Sale Source: Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This evaluation report pertains to three innovative projects funded in Utah with Byrne Formula Grant funds: the Third District Juvenile Drug Court Program, the Department of Corrections Outpatient Sex Offender Treatment Program, and the Salt Lake County Sheriffs Electronic Diversion and Work Program.

Abstract

The process evaluations of the programs show that each of programs has added data collection elements to their routine practice to assist in program evaluation. The Juvenile Drug Court served its intended population, i.e., youth who had drug or alcohol offenses and minimal criminal histories. Program graduates had significantly less alcohol and drug-related recidivism over 3 years than did dropouts or members of a comparison group. This pattern was not as significant for other criminal offenses. The Juvenile Drug Court was apparently successful in diverting youth from deeper penetration into the juvenile justice system. For the Outpatient Sex Offender Treatment Program, graduates participated in weekly group, individual, and psycho-educational treatment sessions at significantly higher rates than did program failures and those discharged for other reasons. Recidivism data showed an initial trend of increasing sex offense recidivism for program failures and a decreasing trend for graduates as follow-up periods increased. Over one-third of program participants showed improvement in their arousal patterns, and nearly half of the participants became more truthful about their offense and supervision compliance. The Salt Lake County Sheriffs Electronic Diversion and Work Program met its goal of maintaining public safety at reduced cost. Program participants had significant decreases in jail booking and the number of days spent in jail at 1-year followup. Program officers' average response time for calls about participants' electronic monitoring violations remained under 30 minutes throughout the evaluation. This report also describes the features of the programs and the designs for the process and outcome evaluations. Numerous tables and figures