Juvenile Courts

This is a program that aims to divert youths charged with serious offenses from detention, with an overall goal of reducing recidivism. The program is rated Promising. Comparison group participants were more likely than treatment group participants to recidivate and to recidivate for a felony charge. Comparison group participants had a higher average number than treatment group participants of referrals and felony referrals. All differences were statistically significant.

The program is an alternative to formal processing in the juvenile justice system. The overall goal is to reduce the number of youths entering the juvenile justice system, while also reducing recidivism. The program is rated Promising. Youths in the treatment group who participated in the diversion program had statistically significantly fewer rearrests, compared with youths in the comparison group who did not participate in the intervention.

This is a community-based, trauma-informed, gender-responsive advocacy intervention for girls 11 to 17 years old who are at risk for or already involved in the juvenile justice system. The program is rated Promising. Intervention group girls were less likely to engage in physical fights and minor status offending behavior (i.e., missing fewer days of school), compared with control group girls. These differences were statistically significant.

This is a model that uses a conceptual plan and organizational framework to strengthen collaborations between child welfare and juvenile justice system professionals and partners to prevent or reduce youths’ involvement in the juvenile justice system or related systems of care. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group youth showed a statistically significant reduction in recidivism rates, compared with youth in the comparison groups.

This is a group, motivational interviewing program for adolescents with a first-time alcohol or drug offense. The goal of the program is to prevent negative consequences of alcohol and other drug use. This program is rated No Effects. There were no statistically significant differences between the intervention and comparison groups on past month frequency of alcohol, heavy drinking, or marijuana use; alcohol or marijuana consequences; recidivism; delinquency; and alcohol and other drug use.

This is a school-based program that integrates a case-management framework for providing social support to truant youth. The goals of the program are to improve school attendance and renew progress toward graduation. This program is rated Promising. Students in the intervention group were more likely to have graduated and less likely to have dropped out than students in the comparison group.

This behavioral intervention targeted high-risk juvenile arrestees in a detention center in Chicago. The curriculum focused on correcting automatic or reactive behavior, with the goal of reducing both the probability and number of readmissions. The program is rated Promising. Participants were less likely to be readmitted and had fewer readmissions to the detention center, compared with non-participants. This difference was statistically significant.

This program provided gender-responsive services in two group homes for female youths who had been adjudicated in the delinquency (formal probation) or truancy divisions of juvenile court. The program is rated Promising. Results showed a statistically significant difference in that the girls who received gender-responsive services had lower recidivism rates after 2 years, compared with the comparison group.

This program provides an alternative to juvenile court processing for youths with justice system contact who may or may not have a criminal record. The program is rated Promising. Although there was no statistically significant difference between the treatment and comparison groups on rates of official police contact, the average number of days to re-arrest was statistically significantly lower for the treatment group (441.7 days) than for the comparison group (254.1 days).

Using comprehensive assessments, the program identified, provided, and coordinated individualized services for high-risk, drug-involved, justice-involved juveniles. This program is rated Effective. Results suggest that JBTC participants were significantly less likely to recidivate and had statistically significantly fewer arrests, compared with non-JBTC participants. However, the impact on self-reported drug use was mixed.

This is a problem-solving community court that seeks to prevent crime. One component of the program, the Criminal Court, hears misdemeanor cases and seeks to provide quick and meaningful sanctions to defendants in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The program was rated Promising. The program had a statistically significant impact on recidivism rates for defendants.

This is a diversion program in which juveniles ages 13–18, who have committed non-violent offenses, study works of literature and classic virtue theory in small groups, led by trained volunteer mentors. The goal is to foster moral development and reduce recidivism. The program is rated Promising. Participants had a statistically significantly lower chance of being prosecuted for any offense (including misdemeanors and felonies) and fewer arrests than the comparison group.

This program represents an alternative to traditional processing in the juvenile justice system. Rather than going through court processing, youth with substance-abuse problems are placed in treatment. The goal is to reduce their use of drugs and criminal behavior. The program is rated Promising. At the 2-year follow up, program participants had fewer overall and drug-related rearrests, compared with a matched comparison group. These differences were statistically significant.

This is a diversion program that provides intensive supervision and treatment for juveniles on probation who suffer from mental illness. This program is rated Promising. The intervention group showed a statistically significant reduction in number of rearrests within 1 year, compared with the comparison group. However, there was no statistically significant impact on time to rearrest.

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.

Transfer of serious and violent juveniles from juvenile court to adult court based on criteria, such as age, seriousness of offense, and use of a deadly weapon. The program is rated No Effects. The preponderance of the evidence suggests that transferring juveniles to adult court had no impact on measures of arrests.

This program incorporates contingency management protocols and multisystemic therapy into traditional juvenile drug court services to provide juveniles and families with additional engagement opportunities and support to reduce recidivism and substance abuse. The program is rated Promising. The program statistically significantly reduced alcohol and poly drug use, positive drug urine screens, status offenses, and property offenses. The program had mixed effects on marijuana use and offenses.

This is a juvenile drug court designed to reduce alcohol and other drug and delinquency offenses through an accountability framework. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group participants were statistically significantly less likely to recidivate in delinquency/criminal offenses, compared with the comparison group participants. However, there was no statistically significant effect on alcohol and other drug recidivism.

This is a preadjudication diversion program designed to divert juveniles with mental health needs away from the juvenile justice system through specialized supervision and case management. The program is rated Promising. Participants were statistically significantly less likely to face adjudication compared to those who only received traditional supervision while on probation.

This is a multi-family group-based intervention targeting juveniles convicted for the first time. The goal is to help youth and their families find solutions to family conflict and poor decision-making that will prevent youth’s recidivism and improve personal and family well-being. The program is rated Promising. Intervention group youth showed a statistically significant lower likelihood of recidivating, compared with youth in the probation comparison group.

This is a strengths-based, university-led program that diverts arrested youth from formal processing in the juvenile justice system and provides them with community-based services. The program is rated Effective. Participants in the program had statistically significant lower rates of official delinquency, compared with control group youth. However, there was no statistically significant difference between groups in self-reported delinquency.

This is a restorative justice program that provides juveniles who have been convicted of an offense and their victims the opportunity to meet face to face in the presence of a mediator to discuss the offense. The program is rated Promising. Individuals in the program were statistically significantly more likely to complete their restitution obligation. There was a statistically significant impact on victim satisfaction with the justice system, but there was no statistically significant impact on

These court supervised, post-plea (but pre-final disposition) drug diversion programs provide comprehensive community-based treatment services to juveniles convicted of an offense and their families. The program is rated Promising. The program had a statistically significant impact on recidivism.

This is a diversion program for young persons. The primary goal of the program is to reduce the occurrence of juvenile crime by diverting youth from the traditional juvenile justice system and providing an alternative to formal processing. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group youth were statistically significantly less likely to reoffend, compared with control group youth.

This program consists of a judicial intervention, which seeks to improve the prosecution of gang-related crimes. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group cases were associated with a statistically significant greater number of convictions and incarcerations of gang members, and a lower number of case dismissals and rejections, compared with control group cases. However, there was no statistically significant effect on the rate of pleas.

This is a prevention program for disruptive kindergarten boys and their parents, designed to reduce short- and long-term antisocial behavior. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group boys had a statistically significant greater likelihood of graduating from high school and having lower rates of property violence, compared with comparison group boys, at the 19-year follow up. However, there were no statistically significant differences between groups in rates of personal violence.

This is a juvenile court-based program designed to address the needs of people on probation who have emotional and behavioral disorders and the needs of their families. The approach is meant to be an integrated, seamless, coordinated system of care for children with mental health problems. The program is rated Promising. The intervention youth were statistically significantly less likely to recidivate, commit a felony offense or serve time in detention, compared with comparison youth.

This is a nonpunitive treatment model that concentrates on teaching juvenile justice–involved youth about prosocial behaviors as alternatives to antisocial behaviors. The program is rated Promising. Overall, findings were mixed. Treatment group youth had a statistically significant lower likelihood of being convicted for any new offense, compared with control group youth. However, there were no statistically significant effects on new charges or on incarceration rates.

This is a group-based intervention for moderate- and high-risk juvenile court youth in Washington State. The goal is to reduce recidivism rates by teaching anger control, moral reasoning, and social skills. The program is rated No Effects. One study found treatment group youth were statistically significantly more likely to recidivate, compared with the comparison group. Another study found no statistically significant differences in recidivism rates between the treatment and comparison groups.

This is a family drug court program designed to serve families involved with child welfare as a result of parental substance use. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group parents had a statistically significant higher percentage of experiencing family reunification, compared with comparison group parents. Children of treatment group parents also had a statistically significant fewer number of days in non-kinship or long-term foster care compared with children of comparison group parents.