Program Profile: Red Hook Community Justice Center: Family Court for Juveniles

This is a problem-solving community court that seeks to prevent crime. One component of the program, the Family Court, hears juvenile delinquency cases involving youth aged 15 or younger, with the goal of responding to the specific needs of youth in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The program was rated No Effects. The program had no significant effect on recidivism rates for juvenile defendants.

A No Effects rating implies that implementing the program is unlikely to result in the intended outcome(s) and may result in a negative outcome(s).

Program Goals

The Red Hook Community Justice Center (RHCJC) is a problem-solving community court that seeks to prevent crime by addressing its underlying causes, while also aiming to improve the quality of life in the Red Hook neighborhood. The RHCJC functions as a multijurisdictional court, combining the following four parts: 1) a criminal court, which handles adult misdemeanor cases along with some felony arraignments; 2) a summons part, which handles minor violations of the law; 3) a family court that hears juvenile delinquency cases; and 4) a housing part that handles tenant–landlord disputes.

Target Population

Red Hook is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, with a population of approximately 200,000. The median income is less than one third that of New York City and over 30 percent of the working-age men are unemployed. Red Hook is also considered to be a high-crime neighborhood, with multiple drug-related crimes and shootings. Only youths arrested in the 76th, 72nd, and 78th police precincts and who are not already held in custody are eligible for processing at the RHCJC.

The Family Court only hears cases from juveniles (older than 7 and younger than 16 years old) who have committed an act that would constitute a crime if committed by an adult. Youths who are detained because the arresting officer could not contact a guardian, or because the youth posed a risk to public safety, are sent to Kings County Family Court in downtown Brooklyn. Additionally, youths who are arrested for sex offenses, gang-related interactions, and high-level felonies are not eligible for processing at the RHCJC. Youths arrested in the catchment area who have an existing case in Kings County are processed at Kings County rather than the RHCJC; however, the RHCJC counsel and probation officer can also route cases to Kings County at their own discretion.

Program Components

The primary function of the RHCJC Family Court is to address the juvenile crime in the neighborhood, while also providing positive opportunities for youths. Youths referred to the Family Court report to the RHCJC probation officer for the intake interview. The probation officer has the option to adjust the case or resolve it without court action. An adjusted case would require the youth to fulfill requirements set by the probation officer prior to resolving the case. Such requirements could include family and youth counseling, drug treatment, community service, mediation conflict-resolution programs, participation in Youth Court, and the RHYTHM drug abuse prevention program. If the youth fails to fulfill the adjustment requirements or if the probation officer determines that the case is too serious for an adjustment, the case is referred to the New York City Law Department, also known as Corporation Counsel. The Corporation Counsel reviews the case and determines whether to file the case in RHCJC or Kings County, or to decline the case.

If a petition is filed in RHCJC, the youth is assigned a Legal Aid attorney and arraigned in court. The case is held in a pre-fact-finding status, meaning that either the youth has not entered a plea or the court has not determined if the youth committed the act. The quick presentation of the case allows for the court to provide the youth with services more quickly than would other alternatives. Following arraignment in the Family Court, the juvenile undergoes a comprehensive, strengths-based assessment by RHCJC staff.  This information is used to develop recommendations that form the basis of a 120-day contract for the youth. The contract specifies the court-mandated recommendations that may include drug treatment, counseling, a curfew, and monitoring of school attendance. Once the contract has been signed by the judge, the Corporation Counsel, the youth’s attorney, and the youth and his or her family, the case is turned over to a clinic case manager.

The youth meets with the case manager on a weekly basis to discuss progress toward successful completion of the contract and other goals that are not being monitored by the court. The case manager also meets with the youth’s family every 2 weeks. Case management typically focuses on using positive factors to overcome negative factors. The youth is required to appear periodically before the judge to report on his/her progress, which occurs after a case conference meeting is held with the clinic staff, probation officer, Corporation Counsel, Legal Aid attorneys, and the judge to discuss the youth’s progress. If the youth successfully completes the terms of the contract, the case is settled by an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal or a Conditional Discharge, and the youth and case manager develop an aftercare plan to promote continued success.  However, if the youth does not fulfill the conditions of the contract, the youth may be admitted to a residential treatment facility or placed in alternative programming.  

Study 1

To investigate the impact of the Red Hook Community Justice Center (RHCJC) on recidivism for Family Court juvenile defendants, Lee and colleagues (2013) used a quasi-experimental design that compared cases processed at RHCJC with similar cases processed at Kings County Family Court. To be eligible for inclusion, youths from both courts had to be arrested on similar charges and have their cases processed during the same period. The research sample included 595 juvenile delinquency cases of youths arrested between 2006 and 2008. Of those cases, 102 were processed at RHCJC, and 492 were processed at Kings County Family Court. It is important to note that the comparison group consisted of youths arrested throughout Brooklyn and not limited to those youths arrested in the Red Hook catchment area.  

Propensity score matching was used to ensure that cases at RHCJC and the comparison groups were comparable on baseline characteristics such as demographics, criminal history, and current charges. Following propensity score matching, the final sample included 102 cases in the treatment group and 102 cases in the comparison group. The majority of youths in the sample were male (approximately 75 percent) and the mean age of both samples was 14 years. Approximately 56 percent of both groups were Black, 35 percent were Hispanic, and 10 percent were white/other. Additionally, approximately 24 percent of both groups had a prior arrest record.  

A simple comparison of rearrest rates was used to assess the impact of case processing at the RHCJC on the risk of recidivism among juvenile Family Court defendants. Recidivism was defined by the occurrence of a new arrest over a 2-year period.

These sources were used in the development of the program profile: