NCJ Number
214460
Date Published
August 2000
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This report presents preliminary findings from an overview of case processing decisions of New York State’s Youth Court Project utilizing federally-funded and developed evaluative software, TEAM YC.
Abstract
In the year 2000, youth courts in New York State handled a variety of cases, ranging in seriousness from school violations to felony offenses. Youth courts specialized in particular types of offenses. One court focused on truancy offenses and several focused on alcohol and drug related offenses, while others focused on school offenses and theft-related offenses. In all but one court, nearly every case was sentenced. The majority of offenders (62 percent) were male with an age range of 7 to 20 years. The average time from the date a case was received to the date it was successfully completed was 96 days. Youth courts imposed a variety of sentences with 60 percent of all sentences involving restoration to communities and victims. The remainder of the sentences imposed involved accountability of actions and self-awareness. Of the reporting youth courts, 632 youths were sentenced to 11,277 hours of community service. The above findings represent highlighted preliminary results based upon 14 youth courts in New York State that used TEAM YC software to describe case characteristics and processing decisions. The findings provide an overview of case processing decisions in New York State. In 1997, the Office of Justice Systems Analysis was awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance to develop software to conduct short and long-term evaluations of youth courts throughout New York State. The software, TEAM YC (Tools to Evaluate and Manage Youth Courts) was developed and released in 1999. In 2000, youth courts in New York State were requested to submit a quarterly report using TEAM YC. This report is the result of that request, providing an overview of the case processing decisions in New York State. Tables