NCJ Number
145079
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1993) Pages: 146-167
Date Published
1993
Length
22 pages
Annotation
RAND evaluated the Nokomis Challenge Program, an innovative correctional program operated by the Michigan Department of Social Services which combines three months of residence and programming in a remote wilderness setting with nine months of intensive community-based aftercare.
Abstract
The program was opened in 1989 as an alternative placement to the traditional training school for low- and medium-risk youths. The residential component of the program is divided into three stages: orientation and assessment, challenge, and community survival. Plans for community supervision begin 30 days after a youth has entered the residential phase and the staff have completed their initial assessment. The family services component of the program works to improve communication, establish boundaries, stabilize family functioning, and enhance self-sufficiency. Data for the evaluation project were collected from official records, interviews with youths, observation and interviews with staff, and interviews with the families. Early indicators of program completion suggest that the Nokomis program is retraining most of the youths in the residential component, but losing up to half the participants in the community phase; about 25 percent are reassigned to training schools and another 20 percent are rearrested or go AWOL. 6 tables, 20 notes, and 15 references