NCJ Number
212984
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 41 Issue: 3 Dated: 2005 Pages: 1-27
Date Published
2005
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This evaluation compared juvenile offender completion rates across five juvenile diversion programs in Florida.
Abstract
The findings reveal that diversion programs that allow penetration into the juvenile justice system may be more effective at gaining participant compliance than programs that completely divert juvenile offenders into community-based services. The comparison of outcomes resulting from youth participation in one of five juvenile diversion programs in Florida indicated that participants of court-based diversion programs incorporating the use of juvenile probation officers had greater program compliance rates. Specifically, participants of the Walker Plan and expanded arbitration programs had better program completion rates than those in the other programs. The evaluation came about as a result of Florida legislature budget cuts that eliminated the community services Juvenile Alternative Service Program (JASP) in 2000 and replaced it with juvenile justice based diversion programs such as the Walker Plan and Intensive Delinquency Diversion Services (IDDS) that allow greater penetration into the juvenile justice system. This allowed for a comparison of participant completion rates based on program placement. Data were drawn from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and included arrest history, current charges, and information on program participation and compliance. Participants were selected from December 1999 through May 2000 as they entered 1 of the 5 diversion programs: JASP (n=180), expanded arbitration (n=46), IDDS (n=105), Prodigy (n=74), and the Walker Plan (n=180). Future analyses will focus on the impact of the diversion programs on the behavior of youth following program completion. Tables, references, notes