Long-Term Impact of a Family Empowerment Intervention on Juvenile Offender Recidivism

• NCJ Number: 191902
• Journal: Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 33 Issue: 1 Pages: 33-57
• Author(s): Richard Dembo; Gabriela Ramirez-Garnica; James Schmeidler; Matthew Rollie; Stephen Livingston; Amy Hartsfield
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 25 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper reports the results of a study of the long-term impact of a Family Empowerment Intervention (FEI) on recidivism among all 303 youths processed at the Hillsborough County Juvenile Assessment Center (Florida) who entered the project.

Abstract

The FEI seeks to improve family functioning by empowering parents to engage in more positive interaction with their children. Families involved in the project were randomly assigned to either receive an Extended Services Intervention (ESI) or the FEI. Families in the ESI group received monthly phone contacts and, if indicated, referral information. FEI families received three 1-hour, home-based meetings per week over a 10-week period from a clinician-trained paraprofessional. The results provide support for the sustained effect of FEI services in reducing recidivism. Analysis indicated that youths who completed the FEI experienced marginally statistically significant lower rates of new charges and new arrests than youth who did not complete the FEI. These results add to the findings of earlier 12-month recidivism analyses, which provided strong evidence of the deterrent effects of the FEI. 2 tables, 2 figures, and 47 references