NCJ Number
79419
Editor(s)
I A Spergel,
L J McKeon
Date Published
Unknown
Length
168 pages
Annotation
Status offenders and the deinstitutionalization of troublesome youth were the subject of the six sessions which are summarized from the 1979 Illinois Governor's Conference on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Abstract
Five evaluation sessions provided an overview of the Illinois and national evaluation findings on services to status offenders, the deinstitutionalization of status offenders and its impact, the planning and coordination of services to status offenders, and future strategies for the implementation of deinstitutionalization. Among major conference findings were that the status offender problem affected mainly adolescent females, and particularly youth from urban families of lower socioeconomic status. The problem also largely reflected family conflicts and the lack of adequate resources to deal with them. The Illinois Status Offender Services Project had established its program in almost half of the counties in the State and was active where the problem was most severe. Over 4,000 youths had been served through crisis intervention, foster and shelter care, and other services provided through over 250 decentralized programs. The project contributed to a significant reduction of detention for status offenders. Neither detention nor community-based services had any advantage over the other with respect to lowering subsequent contacts with the juvenile justice system. Status offenders improved regardless of the form of intervention, although conference participants agreed that further reduction would be desirable. However, uncertainty existed about complete diversion of status offenders from the juvenile justice system. A comprehensive approach to serve troubled youth was deemed desirable. Two appendixes present summaries of the national and Illinois evaluations regarding status offender services and deinstitutionalization. (Author summary modified)