Juvenile Treatment Program - A Process Evaluation

• NCJ Number: 88703
• Author(s): A P Selmore
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 43 pages
• Grant Number(s): 80-C9-71-0001
• Sponsoring Agency: Louisiana Cmssn on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice; National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: New Orleans Mayor's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The Juvenile Treatment Program, which has operated in New Orleans from October 1981 through September 1982, should cease operations in its current form, since the program has not accomplished its major goal of rehabilitating serious juvenile offenders through the delivery of differential services.

Abstract

Funded by LEAA, the program aimed to develop individual service plans to provide 50 youths and their families with various services, including individual and group therapy, diagnostic testing and evaluation, and vocational guidance. As actually implemented, the program differs completely from the original concept and is probably not providing services which could not be obtained from existing sources. The delays in starting the program resulted directly from interagency rivalry, an unreasonably lengthy negotiation process, and other problems. If the program continues in its present form, it should reduce the time for processing cases, develop a consistent policy for screening potential participants, adhere more closely to the individual service plans developed for clients, and develop more detailed criteria for choosing participants. A networking of services with all available resource agencies is also needed to avoid duplication of efforts. Data tables are included.