NCJ Number
220206
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 51 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2007 Pages: 555-577
Date Published
October 2007
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study looked at New York State’s diversion efforts for youths with mental health and substance abuse problems who might be at risk for out-of-community placement.
Abstract
The overall initiative was successful in reducing out-of-community placement and recidivism for diverted youth. Despite the numerous problems these youth exhibited and their histories with the juvenile justice system and other agencies, the Mental Health Juvenile Justice (MH/JJ) Diversion Project has shown a marked decrease in the use of out-of-community placement and has an overall lower rate of recidivism. Placement has shown the most dramatic results since policymakers are now focused on diverting youth away from the juvenile justice system, the researcher wanted to evaluate a project that was designed to divert a high-risk population that had mental and substance abuse problems and went to community-based treatment programs instead of into the justice system. The study also set out to describe the characteristics of MH/JJ youth, the services and support they received, and subsequent outcomes specifically with placement and recidivism. The study had 12 counties that participated in the MH/JJ Diversion Project. Data were drawn from a saturation sample of youth that had previously exhibited mental and substance abuse problems and had contact with the juvenile probation departments of participating counties in New York State. Both the project and probation staff collected the data. Figure, tables, notes, and references