NCJ Number
80093
Date Published
1981
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This report describes the activities of the Juvenile Restitution Program (JRP) in Charleston, S.C., along with the impact of the program on the community and the court system.
Abstract
Begun under a 2-year LEAA grant in September 1978, JRP has several goals: (1) to reduce the number of incarcerated youth in the county by providing a community service restitution alternative to traditional sentencing for juvenile property offenders, (2) to reduce the recidivism of successful program participants, (3) to increase community confidence in the juvenile justice process, (4) to provide supplemental manpower for community service agencies through a youth volunteer workforce, and (5) to evaluate the impact of the JRP over the 2-year funding period. As part of an impact evaluation, a group of 56 JRP clients was matched with 56 non-JRP juvenile delinquents. Each case was matched by age, race, type of offense, and approximate date petitioned. The cases were tracked through family court records for the same amount of time. The JRP group was found to have a slightly greater incidence of criminal involvement prior to the recidivism study; however, court records showed 18 percent of the JRP group with a subsequent arrest, while the regular probationers had a 30-percent recidivism rate. In measuring the impact of the JRP on incarceration, it was found that between fiscal year 1979 and fiscal year 1980, incarceration rates for Charleston County decreased 29 percent, while they decreased 12 percent for the rest of the State. Additional time and more accurate data are needed to be certain about the extent to which the JRP has reduced incarceration. Tabular data are provided.