NCJ Number
161490
Date Published
1992
Length
56 pages
Annotation
The processes and outcomes of the second year of Powerline, an urban youth diversion project in Bridgeport, Connecticut, were evaluated using data gathered in March through May 1992.
Abstract
Data were collected by means of document reviews and interviews with clients and governmental and administrative personnel. The analysis revealed that Powerline provides pretrial interventions that seek to prevent longer-term jail sentences and eliminating more intensive contact with incarceration and hardened criminals. It also provides a structured, short-term program for youth who have already entered the prison system. Powerline provides crisis intervention, life skills training, community-based drug treatment, family education and counseling, employability and job skills development, and educational remediation within a supervised case coordination and case management approach. The program has made excellent progress toward its numerical goal for participants. It has been successful in assuring that pretrial participants return to court on their scheduled court dates and keeping them drug-free while awaiting their court dates. By providing a highly structured, full day treatment program with mandatory attendance as a condition of participation, as well as a curfew for each client, Powerline clearly provides an alternative to the street. The program has also made progress on the recommendations in the first-year evaluation. List of recommended improvements and appended background information