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Juvenile Offender Reentry

Page history last edited by Madeline Bell 12 years ago

Note: please note that this issue overview should (a) contain links to additional information on this topic that is focused either the local, state, national, or global level, and (b) be neutrally presented, based on facts, and include footnotes for each of the items.  See the Research Guide and Information Sources to assist you. 

 

Link to issue page: Justice, Crime and Public Safety

 

Goal Statement   one sentence that further defines the topic 


  • To establish, maintain, and nuture the social bonds of juvenile offenders reentering society to reduce recidivism rates.

 

Issue Overview

  • Juvenile re-entry is defined as programs, services, and supports intended to assist youth transitioning from residential placement back into the community[1]. The number of youth incarcerated in this country rose sharply in the 1990s, arguably due  to the institution of punitive policies that resulted in a rise of youth being adjudicated and placed in residential settings with longer sentences.[2] It is estimated that approximately 100,000 youth are returned to the community from residential placement each year.[3] Existing research suggests that the recidivism rate for juvenile parolees ranges anywhere from 55 to 75 percent.[4] Communities across the country are now facing the challenge of successfully re-integrating large numbers of youth fresh from residential facilities away from their corresponding communities. The development of effective re-entry services for transitioning youth is viewed as critical to depress the high rates of juvenile recidivism, ensuring community safety, and providing youth with the services and supports they need to facilitate a smooth and successful transition home.[5]  Despite the recognized importance of this issue, relatively little is known about effective juvenile re-entry or aftercare standards or models. 
  • The Second Chance Act is federal legislation designed to improve outcomes for people returning to the community from prisons and jails. In 2008 President Bush signed the Second Chance Act into law (Public Law 110-199). This first-of-its-kind legislation authorizes federal grants to government agencies and nonprofit organizations to provide employment assistance, substance abuse treatment, housing, family programming, mentoring, victims support, and other services that can help reduce recidivism[6] The appropriations bill also provides $108,493,000 for reentry programs in the Department of Labor, including $15 million for a transitional jobs grant program 
  • Altschuler and Armstrong identified five principles of an Intensive Aftercare Model (IAP) that guide most intervention efforts that are now developed as part of a structured re-entry program for high risk juveniles.[7] These include:
    • Prepare youth for progressively increased responsibility and freedom in the community.
    • Facilitate youth-community interaction and involvement.
    • Work with the offender and targeted community support systems, such as schools and family, on qualities needed for constructive interaction and the youth’s successful community adjustment.
    • Monitor and test the youth and community on their ability to deal with each other productively.

 

 

Policy Options / Model Programs   specific policies or program models, grouped by type, that are profiled 

 

 

  • Employment and technical/vocational programs have been a proven method of effective reentry and recidivism alleviation for juveniles. Employment programs for juveniles who have been through the juvenile justice system, especially during a time of economic recession, are at a premium.
    • Food From the Hood
  • Day Treatment Programs
  • Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (CBT) 
  • Reentry Court
  • Aftercare Programs
    • Weed and seed programs.

 

Local/State/National Information    additional information on this topic at the local, state, national, global level


 

Glossary of Terms   key words or phrases that the layperson needs to know to understand this issue 


  • Adjudicate: to pronounce or decree by judicial sentence. To receive a sentence for a convicted charge. 

  • Aftercare programs: reintegrative services that prepare out-of-home placed juveniles for reentry into the community by establishing the necessary collaboration with the community and its resources to ensure the delivery of prescribed services and supervision.

  • Cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT): problem-focused approach designed to help people identify and change the dysfunctional beliefs, thoughts, and patterns of behavior that contribute to their problems. Its underlying principle is that thoughts affect emotions, which then influence behaviors. CBT combines two very effective kinds of psychotherapy - cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy.

  • Day treatment facility (day reporting center): highly structured, community-based, post adjudication, non residential programs for serious juvenile offenders. 

  • Juvenile delinquency: a violation of the law committed by a juvenile and not punishable by death or life imprisonment. Conduct by a juvenile characterized by antisocial behavior that is beyond parental control and therefore subject to legal action.[8]

  • Juvenile reentry: programs, services, and supports intended to assist youth transitioning from residential placement back into the community 

  • Parole: the conditional release of a person from prison prior to the end of the maximum sentence imposed. 

    • Parolee: a person who is released from prison on parole.

  • Recidivism: the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior. It is also known as the percentage of former prisoners who are rearrested. 

  • Reentry court: specialized courts that help reduce recidivism and improve public safety through the use of judicial oversight. 

 

 

 

Bibliography    


  • Minnesota Comprehensive Offender Re-entry Plan (MCORP): Preliminary Evaluation Results, 2009.

  • H.N. Snyder, "An Empirical Portrait of the Youth Reentry Population." Youth and Juvenile Justice, 2(1), 2004.

  • D.M. Altschuler and T.L. Armstrong. (1991). Reintegration, supervised release, and intensive aftercare. (Washington D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programming.

 

Footnotes

  1. Gies, S. (2003). Aftercare Services. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
  2. Altschuler, D., & Armstrong, T. (1994). Intensive Aftercare for High-Risk Juveniles: A Community Care Model. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
  3. Sickmund, M. (2004). Juveniles in Corrections. Juvenile Offenders and Victims National Report Series. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
  4. Krisberg, B., Austin, J., & Steele, P. (1991). Unlocking Juvenile Corrections. San Francisco, CA: National Council on Crime and Delinquency
  5. Mears, D. & Travis, J. (2004). The Dimensions, Pathways, And Consequences of Youth Reentry. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
  6. Second Chance Act of 2007: Community Safety Through Recidivism Prevention was passed by Congress in March 2008 and signed into law by President Bush on April 9, 2008.
  7. Wiebush, R. McNulty, B. & Le, T. (2000). Implementation of the Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Program. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
  8. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juvenile delinquency.

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