National Juvenile Restitution Evaluation - Experimental Designs and Research Objectives (From Oversight Hearing on Juvenile Restitution Programs - Hearing, P 132-158, 1981 - See NCJ-82247)

• NCJ Number: 82248
• Author(s): P R Schneider; A L Schneider
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 27 pages
• Grant Number(s): 79-JN-AX-0009
• Sponsoring Agency: US Securities and Exchange Cmssn
• Corporate Author: Institute of Policy Analysis
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Available on microfiche from NCJRS as NCJ-82247 - Prepared for presentation at the Third National Symposium on Restitution, Duluth, Minnesota, September 28-29, 1979.

Annotation

This paper explains how the data for the national evaluation of the juvenile restitution initiative are being collected and what uses will be made of them. It discusses the major components of the evaluation, describes the studies being conducted, and discusses the progress to date.

Abstract

The juvenile restitution study will examine 85 separate restitution projects in 26 States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, including 35 directly funded projects and 50 other spawned by omnibus grants to six statewide agencies. The study is being funded by the National Institute of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. One major component of the evaluation is designed to assess the impact of restitution on offenders and victims. Experimental research designs have been established in six project sites and focus on outcome measures such as rates of recidivism and shifts in attitudes, and involves comparisons between restitution and nonrestitution dispositions and other factors. Another component is designed to document the progress of the initiative, describe the projects in terms of program and treatment models, and determine the extent to which the initiative is serving its targeted population. It expands the data collection procedures to include all 85 restitution project sites. A third component consists of a series of policy studies relating to the adjudication and incarceration of juvenile offenders, different strategies for funding a Federal initiative, and the costs of operating juvenile restitution projects. All evaluation strategies have been set in motion, but significant progress has been made on only a few studies. Preliminary findings from the process evaluation indicate that the project took longer than expected to get started and are receiving about three-fourths of the number of referrals they anticipated. Evaluation problem are noted. Endnotes are included. For the oversight hearing, see NCJ 82247.