SPOKANE (WA) - PROJECT TO DEINSTITUTIONALIZE STATUS OFFENDERS - FINAL EVALUATION REPORT

• NCJ Number: 59950
• Author(s): A L SCHNEIDER
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 94 pages
• Grant Number(s): 77-JN-99-0013
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Corporate Author: Institute of Policy Analysis
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE IMPACT OF A SPOKANE, WASH., PROJECT TO DEINSTITUTIONALIZE STATUS OFFENDERS UPON ENTRY INTO THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM AND THE RECIDIVISM RATE OF STATUS OFFENDERS IS MEASURED.

Abstract

THE SPOKANE PROJECT TO DEINSTITUTIONALIZE STATUS OFFENDERS (DSO) WAS BEGUN IN 1976 BY YOUTH ALTERNATIVES (YA), AND INDEPENDENT, NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, WITH OBJECTIVES BEING THE REDUCTION OF STATUS OFFENDERS ENTERING INTO THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM AND THE REDUCTION OF THE RECIDIVISM RATE OF THESE YOUTH. AN INTERRUPTED TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS OF MONTHLY DATA FROM JANUARY, 1974 THROUGH NOVEMBER, 1977, EXAMINED WHETHER YA DIVERTED STATUS OFFENDERS FROM COURT REFERRALS, DETENTION, THE FILING OF PETITIONS, AND INCARCERATION. YOUTH ALTERNATIVES RECEIVED AN AVERAGE OF 54 STATUS OFFENDER REFERRALS PER MONTH, WITH 85 PERCENT OF THESE REFERRALS COMING FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES OR THE JUVENILE COURT. THE JUVENILE COURT, HOWEVER, CONTINUED TO RECEIVE 45 STATUS OFFENDER REFERRALS PER MONTH, A NUMBER CONSISTENT WITH PRE-PROGRAM TRENDS. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THIS INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF STATUS OFFENDERS PROCESSED RESULTED FROM AN INCREASE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT REFERRALS. THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, THAT THE INCREASE IN STATUS OFFENDER PROCESSING CAME FROM A SHIFT IN CLASSIFICATION PROCEDURE WHICH ALLOWED YOUTH FORMERLY CLASSIFIED AS DELINQUENT OR NEGLECT TO BE CLASSIFIED AS STATUS OFFENDERS SO AS TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE YA PROGRAM. THE THREE AND SIX MONTH RECIDIVISM RATES OF STATUS OFFENDERS REFERRED TO YA WERE NOT SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM JUVENILES HANDLED EXCLUSIVELY BY THE COURT IN EITHER PRE- OR POST-YA PERIODS. NON-JUDICIAL SERVICES ARE BEING PROVIDED TO MORE STATUS OFFENDERS THAN BEFORE AND YOUTHS IDENTIFIED AS STATUS OFFENDERS HAVE A CONSIDERABLY LOWER PROBABILITY OF BEING DETAINED, HAVING A PETITION FILED, OR BEING INSTITUTIONALIZED THAN WAS TRUE BEFORE THE YA PROGRAM. THIS SHOWS THAT A COMMUNITY CAN HANDLE A SUBSTANTIAL PERCENTAGE OF ITS STATUS OFFENDERS OUTSIDE THE JUVENILE COURT WITHOUT INCURRING AN INCREASE IN RECIDIVISM. TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)