NCJ Number
207945
Journal
Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice: An Interdisciplinary Journal Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2005 Pages: 41-58
Date Published
January 2005
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study examined the impact of juvenile risk and program characteristics on the provision of services provided to juveniles exiting diversion programs in Colorado.
Abstract
Colorado has a variety of juvenile diversion programs offering a broad range of services to at-risk youth. However, little is known of the programmatic practices of these programs, especially in terms of how services are provided. The current study thus investigated service provision at 32 Colorado juvenile diversion programs in terms of how service provision relates to juvenile and program-level characteristics. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was undertaken to examine the role of recidivism and program characteristics such as budget, program size, and service options, in predicting the number of diversion services offered to juveniles who exited diversion programs in the 1998-1999 fiscal year. Results indicated that program characteristics were stronger predictors of service provision than were individual-level risk factors of the juveniles. However, the effects of juvenile risk factors varied across programs and it was observed that high-risk juveniles in programs with larger budgets received more services. Thus, there is reason to believe that, although risk factors did not play a significant role in service provision statewide, with proper funding and well-structured programs, Colorado can adopt rehabilitation practices based uniformly on juvenile risk factors. More detailed data on Colorado’s diversion programs is needed to fully evaluate their practices. Tables, figure, notes, references