Guide to Juvenile Restitution

• NCJ Number: 98466
• Editor(s): A L Schneider
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 162 pages
• Grant Number(s): 84-JS-AX-K045
• Contract Number(s): OJARS-84-C-001
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: National Institute of Justice/NCJRS; Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE)
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This guide for the development, expansion, and improvement of juvenile restitution programs discusses basic program decisions, program models, program implementation, management information systems, evaluation, and resources.

Abstract

This manual is designed to guide decisionmaking pertaining to the development, implementation, and management of juvenile restitution programs without telling users what decisions to make. Decisionmaking options are portrayed, based upon the experiences of existing juvenile restitution programs. The guide opens with a discussion of the most fundamental decisions: program philosophy and goals, organizational structure, location within the juvenile justice system, and the target population. Restitution program models are then described. They include the financial/community service model, which is oriented toward offenders being financially accountable for their offenses and performing community service; the victim-offender mediation model, which focuses on victim-offender reconciliation; and the victim reparations model, which has offenders compensate their victims for financial losses resulting from the crimes. In providing guidance to program implementation, the manual addresses community support, staffing, caseloads, the management of restitution payments, the use of volunteers, the development of a management information system, and the preparation of forms and written materials. A major section is devoted to the development of management information systems for restitution programs as well as designs for continuing evaluation that serves the informational needs of the program. The final section of the guide contains an assortment of papers on resources available for restitution programs. They include summaries of research findings on restitution effects, a review of legal issues, a discussion of employment models, information about Federal assistance for restitution, and a bibliography with approximately 60 listings.