The Indiana program is a post-adjudication Victim Offender Reconciliation Project (VORP) while the Michigan program is non-VORP and pre-adjudication. Data was collected for this study from files of offenders participating in both programs between January 1987 and December 1988. Afterwards, all the participating offenders, including 114 from Indiana and 109 from Michigan, were followed through the end of 1989 to gather information on recidivist offenses. The findings showed no significant difference in completion of restitution contracts between the two programs; over 75 percent of the offenders, all of whom participated voluntarily, made the necessary payments to their victims. The impact of both types of programs on recidivism was basically limited to the period when offenders were under restitution supervision. This short-term effectiveness was particularly noticeable in offenders with prior criminal records. 7 tables and 24 references
Private and Public Operations: A Comparison of Two Juvenile Restitution Programs
NCJ Number
136850
Date Published
1991
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This study compares the effectiveness of a privately operated restitution program for juvenile offenders in Elkhart County, Indiana with a publicly operated program in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. Effectiveness was measured by the impact of the restitution programs on offender repayments to their victims and on offender recidivism.
Abstract