Hillside Children's Center: Livingston County Youth Court and Community Services Evaluation

• NCJ Number: 244237
• Author(s): Thomas H. Nochajski, Ph.D.; Erika Hayes; Lyndsay Kramer; Thomas Michaels; Brienna Hill; Leonora Schreck; Katie Johnson; Anthony Sabino; Melissa Odell; Amber Wiehe; Elisabeth Noonan; Mary Dingman
• Date Published: November 2010
• Length: 73 pages
• Corporate Author: State University of New York at Buffalo
• Publication Format: Document; Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research); Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Findings, recommendations, and methodology are reported for an evaluation of the Hillside Children's Center's Livingston County Youth Court (LCYC) in New York State, which uses youth volunteers in decisionmaking related to the application of restorative justice principles in the disposition of juvenile delinquency cases.

Abstract

Recidivism findings showed no difference between the LCYC participants and the youth sentenced to a community services program; however, comparisons of both groups with the comparison group used by Butts and colleagues (2002) showed that the two programs had a significantly lower recidivism rate than did the comparison group used in that study (3.6 percent and 6.2 percent compared to 18 percent) for a 6-month follow-up period. This suggests some benefit from the LCYC compared to youth who do not participate in LCYC or similar services; however, the authors advise caution with this conclusion, since it relies on a comparison group from 2000 to 2001. Regarding placement, the LCYC participants were less likely to have been placed in a residential setting than youth in community service. Caution is also advised in concluding that this indicates the comparative superiority of the LCYC disposition, since those in the community-service group were assessed at higher risk and with lower protective factors than the LCYC youth. Recommendations pertain to the training and education of the LCYC professional staff; computerization of data for self-evaluation; information sharing on individuals with placement and probation agencies; and the use of LCYC jury duty and community service for all youth. The evaluation was conducted from 2008 to 2010. A particular strength of the evaluation was the use of a mixed-method design that incorporated both quantitative and qualitative data. The ability to integrate research and clinical practice with client outcomes provided an added strength. 23 figures, 6 tables, 23 references, and appended supplementary data and information