RD244 - 2008 Special Report on Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Programs


Executive Summary:
Various programs have been implemented in Virginia to combat juvenile delinquency, including numerous prevention and early intervention services. Funding for these programs has decreased in recent years, and evaluation research has been minimal. However, efforts are being taken to improve the frequency and consistency of delinquency prevention program evaluations.

Funding

Federal funding for delinquency prevention programs through Title V of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act has decreased dramatically since it peaked in FFY 1999. After receiving no funding in FFY 2003, states received less than $15 million in both FFY 2004 and FFY 2005 and less than $5 million in both FFY 2006 and FFY 2007. Virginia’s Title V funding reflected the national cuts; in FFY 2006, the funding dropped 83.2% from the previous year to $56,250.

Offices on Youth (OOYs) were established to assist in planning and coordination of local delinquency prevention programs and provide direct service delivery. Localities had different needs for addressing delinquency, resulting in a significant amount of diversity in the types of OOY programs offered, including programs that focus on general factors associated with juvenile delinquency rather than specifically targeting delinquency prevention. State funding for OOYs was eliminated in FY 2002, and many OOYs closed as a result. The remaining OOYs receive a variety of mostly state and local funding. The Governor’s Office on Substance Abuse Prevention (GOSAP) also provides state funding for programs focused on drug and violence prevention among youths; thus, these programs target general risk factors for delinquency.

Evaluation Research

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) began developing a performance measurement system in 2004 in order to report quantitative and standardized outcome information on Title V programs and to provide states with training and technical assistance concerning evaluation research. However, it was difficult to report programs’ performances for the OJJDP reporting periods because they did not match local award periods. Furthermore, there were few required outcome measures, so the information provided in the reports had limited usefulness. Evaluation information was not available for the OOYs that were contacted.

Virginia Juvenile Community Crime Control Act (VJCCCA)

Funded by both state and local expenditures, VJCCCA is meant “to deter crime by providing immediate, effective punishment that emphasizes accountability of the juvenile offender for his actions as well as reduces the pattern of repeat offending” (Va. Code §16.1-309.2). After state appropriations stabilized at $29.5 million in FY 2002, VJCCCA received a 51% decrease in state funding to $14.5 million in FY 2003. In FY 2008, VJCCCA state funding was further reduced by over $360,000. Localities must maintain the same level of funding to the programs that they provided in 1995.

The majority of juveniles (80.2%) completed VJCCCA programs satisfactorily in FY 2007. The rate of rearrest within 12 months of entry into a VJCCCA placement in FY 2006 was 35.5%. This rate was lower than the rate for probation placements and JCC releases for the same time interval. In years prior to FY 2006, however, the VJCCCA 12-month rate was slightly higher than probation placements while still lower than JCC releases.

Recommendations

Funding:
• Continuation of funding should be based on outcome results in order to reserve the limited funding for services that truly make a difference. However, consideration should be given to the distinct characteristics of a population before terminating a failed service or expanding an efficacious program to other localities.

• Delinquency prevention funding should be restricted to programs that focus specifically on delinquency or directly related risk factors.

Evaluation Research:
• Defined expectations for outcome and implementation evaluations must be set for delinquency prevention programs in Virginia.
• Program staff must be trained to perform accurate evaluations.
• Delinquency prevention programs, as well as their funding sources, should rely on self-report data (i.e., surveys), program completion information (i.e., exit criteria), and official data (i.e., arrests, convictions, and commitments) for program outcome measures in order to obtain the most accurate depiction of the impact of the programs.
• Programs used as alternatives to other sanctions, such as VJCCCA services, should be evaluated on a cost-benefit basis in addition to outcome measures.