NCJ Number
180845
Journal
NCJJ in Focus Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: Summer 1999 Pages: 1-11
Date Published
1999
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This report describes and presents evaluation findings for Allegheny County's (Pittsburgh, Pa.) Accountability-Based Community Intervention Project (ABC) for juvenile offenders.
Abstract
The ABC Project -- based on a grant received under the Federal Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders (1993) -- provides a calibrated continuum of intervention programs and a system of escalating sanctions within that continuum. The continuum includes immediate interventions for most first-time offenders, many minor repeat offenders, and some serious but nonviolent offenders. Intermediate sanctions are applied to juveniles who continue to offend following immediate interventions. Secure facilities are provided for the small minority of serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders who can neither be effectively treated nor held fully accountable without a period of incarceration. Aftercare programs provide treatment, supervision, monitoring, and transitional support for offenders returning to their old neighborhoods after out-of-home placements. Evaluation findings show that the ABC Project did not succeed in creating a "model" juvenile court services system. This was due largely to the failure to establish a state-of-the-art management information system and the failure of many local jurisdictions to accept the project's policies and objectives. 5 references