Evaluation of an Innovative Post-Arrest Diversion Program: 12-Month Recidivism Analysis

Abstract

We report the results of an evaluation study of a diversion program, operated by the Miami-Dade County Juvenile Assessment Center in Florida. The Post-Arrest Diversion (PAD) program represents an innovative approach to treatment and intervention within the juvenile justice system that utilizes standardized psychosocial risks and needs assessment to provide individual treatment for first-time, non-violent juvenile offenders. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of the PAD program with regard to one-year follow-up recidivism. The sample is comprised of 409 youths (255 male; 154 female) who entered PAD between April and June of 2003. Stepwise, Poisson and OLS regression analyses of the effects of socio-demographic characteristics, type of charges leading to program involvement, recidivism risk level, PAD completion, and arrests while in PAD on the number of recidivism arrests and charges were conducted. The findings suggest that successful completion of PAD significantly reduces recidivism.

Individual and Familial Variables for Predicting Successful Completion of a Juvenile Justice Diversion Program

“…While juveniles in diversion programs had significantly lower rates of recidivism than those in probation, the offenders who failed to complete actually had higher reoffense rates than the youth in probation. Similar patterns demonstrating the essential role of program completion have been reported in a postarrest diversion program (Dembo et al, 2008), a family empowerment intervention (Dembo et al, 2000), and a rural alcohol diversion program (Martire & Larney, 2011).…”

“…Many recent studies have similarly reported that juvenile diversion programs produced lower rates of recidivism (e.g., Dembo, RamirezGarcia, Rollie, Schmeidler, Livingston, & Hartsfield, 2000;Dembo, Walters, Wareham, Burgos, Schmeidler, Hoge, & Underwood, 2008;Schwalbe, Gearing, MacKenzie, Brewer, & Ibrahim, 2011;and Wilson & Hoge, 2013a). Research has found higher levels of youth functioning accruing from diversion programs (e.g., Gavozzi, Wasserman, Partridge, & Sheridan, 2000;Hodges et al, 2011;and Jordan et al, 2013).…”

The impact of the Cook County state’s attorney’s office deferred prosecution program

“…These discretionary programs have largely been established to reduce the likelihood of a defendant's future involvement with the criminal justice system and to offer defendants an alternative to traditional criminal conviction and punishment (Salzberg, 1983). One study tracked the recidivism of former participants of a Post-Arrest Diversion Program (PAD) for first time non-violent misdemeanor juvenile offenders in Miami-Dade County (Dembo et al, 2008). The study found that successful completion of PAD significantly reduced graduates' likelihood of re-arrest over 12 months, controlling for socio-demographic variables, the charge type at first arrest, and assessed recidivism risk level (Dembo et al, 2008).…”

“…One study tracked the recidivism of former participants of a Post-Arrest Diversion Program (PAD) for first time non-violent misdemeanor juvenile offenders in Miami-Dade County (Dembo et al, 2008). The study found that successful completion of PAD significantly reduced graduates' likelihood of re-arrest over 12 months, controlling for socio-demographic variables, the charge type at first arrest, and assessed recidivism risk level (Dembo et al, 2008). Similarly, a study of the Correct Course Diversion Program in the Wayne County Juvenile Justice system of Michigan found similar results, with just 7.7 % of program participants adjudicated for a new offense over a similar one-year follow-up period.…”

The Challenge of Normative Influences for Program Design for Youth in Detention

“…There is a great deal of rehabilitation and health promotion research for youth in detention, particularly on programs with objectives relating to preventing recidivism by reducing offending (e.g., Dembo et al, 2008;Eddy, Whaley, & Chamberlain, 2004) or increasing prosocial behaviors (e.g., Greenwood, 2008). Research on the sexual risk-taking behaviors of incarcerated women with HIV supports the use of TPB concepts to measure predictors of risky behaviors and to develop health interventions for detained populations (Hogben, St. Lawrence, Hennessy, & Eldridge, 2003).…”