Status Offender Program Evaluation - Final Report

• NCJ Number: 80729
• Author(s): T C Trotti
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 48 pages
• Corporate Author: South Carolina Dept of Youth Services
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A program designed to provide rapid diagnostic services to status offenders in South Carolina was evaluated with respect to its success in providing short-term diagnostic evaluations, the quality of evaluations and clients' distinguishing characteristics.

Abstract

The study also compared clients and regular clients with respect to the agreement between the recommendations of the treatment team and the final court dispositions and examined the program's admission criteria and factors affecting the numbers and length of stay of the clients. Official records and informal contacts with program staff were used to gather information. The STOP program is operated by the South Carolina Youth Services Department as a component of its reception and evaluation center. The center provides comprehensive diagnostic services to juveniles who are temporarily committed by the courts for evaluation prior to the final dispositional hearing. The STOP program is housed in a 48-bed cottage, where the youths remain and receive services from professional staff. In contrast, youths in the regular program leave their cottages early in the day to attend programs and receive meals elsewhere on the campus. The STOP unit is characterized by cohesiveness, in contrast to the more sterile atmosphere of the buildings where the other clients experience their diagnostic procedures. A comparison of 102 STOP and 105 regular clients showed that the STOP sample had much larger proportions of white and female clients and a younger average age than the comparison group. The majority of youths in each sample were functioning at three or more grades below their community school placement. Most STOP clients had stays of 10 days or less as planned. Court dispositions concurred with only about half of the treatment team recommendations for both samples. Findings indicated that STOP has a successful first year as shown by its ability to meet its assessment time goal for most clients and by the strong degree of staff commitment to the program. The STOP program appears to be appropriate for a larger portion of the youths in the reception and evaluation population. Tables and additional recommendations are provided.