From Corrections to Community: The Juvenile Reentry Experience as Characterized by Multiple Systems Involvement

• NCJ Number: 225210
• Author(s): Gretchen Ruth Cusick, Ph.D.; Robert M. George, Ph.D.; Katie Claussen Bell, M.A.
• Date Published: February 2008
• Length: 86 pages
• Grant Number(s): 03-DB-BX-0037; 04-DB-BX-0043
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA); Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
• Corporate Author: Chapin Hall Ctr for Children
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the reentry experiences of a population of youth released from Illinois juvenile correctional facilities between 1996 and 2003.

Abstract

Nearly one-half of youth released from correctional settings statewide between 1996 and 2003 had little to no involvement with child-serving systems. The involvement in child-serving systems of another quarter of youth was limited to the receipt of public aid. Another quarter were marginally served across most systems; a small percentage received services across a wide range of systems, particularly mental health and substance abuse rehabilitation treatment. The study also found that youth receiving public assistance, but few health services, were disproportionately African-American. Although recidivism was high within 18 months after release, the youth who had no systems involvement had the lowest collective recidivism rates. Experiences with multiple systems and the relationship between these experiences and recidivism varied across regions of the State; however, the majority of youth returning to Chicago after release were characterized by not being enrolled in school and being unemployed during the reentry period. The study advises that in order to develop effective aftercare programs for youth during the reentry period, there should be documentation of the characteristics of youth after release from incarceration, including the extent of their involvement across the many systems that serve youth and their families. Improving reentry outcomes would also benefit from future research on aftercare policies and practices across the State, bringing a better understanding of variation in services provided among the counties. Using administrative data from a variety of human and public service systems that serve children and youth in Illinois, the study developed profiles of reentry experiences, as characterized by varying levels of involvement across multiple systems after release from correctional settings among eight cohorts of youth. 17 tables, 90 references, and appended supplementary data and methodological details