Assessing the Effectiveness of Four Juvenile Justice Interventions on Adult Criminal Justice and Child Welfare Outcomes, Ohio, 2004-2008 (ICPSR 36130)

Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)

Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes

Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the adult criminal justice and child welfare outcomes of four types of juvenile justice interventions - Traditional Probation, Crossroads (specialty court docket), Intensive Probation, and commitment to the Department of Youth Services (state juvenile corrections) and to enhance the Practitioner-Researcher relationship between the Juvenile Court (SCJC) and Policy Research Associates (PRA). The specific goals of the study were twofold - to compare the effectiveness of a continuum of services and supervision in improving public safety, including re-arrest and re-incarceration, and in improving outcomes in engagement with child welfare as parents, including child welfare complaints and dispositions.

Study Design View help for Study Design

The study was a quasi-experimental outcome study with non-random assignment into four program samples. The full group of 2581 youths were the entire population for all youths who entered the Juvenile Court from 2004-2008 inclusively. There were three treatment groups - Crossroads, Intensive Probation, and Department of Youth Services (DYS). Traditional Probation served as the control group as that is the typical or minimum intervention for all youths who enter the court.

Once the study file was completed, the research team negotiated agreements with a number of local and state agencies to obtain administrative data for their research. Those electronic data requests were made to the Juvenile Court, Sheriff's Dept., Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Bureau of Crime Investigation (BCI), and the Children Services Board. Upon receipt of the data files, measures were taken to mask direct identifiers, ensure confidentiality and prevent disclosure of subject identity.

Sample View help for Sample

There was no random sampling involved in this study, it instead included the entire population of youths who entered the Juvenile Court (JC) from 2004-2008, which then was divided into sub-samples based on their program enrollment. The Juvenile Court and PRA teams worked with the court IT Director to identify all youths who were admitted to the JC from 1/1/2004 through 12/31/2008. The first step involved including all intakes for this period of time into the four programs to create a base sample. Within this group, were duplicate cases as some youths had multiple court intakes; intakes into multiple programs; cases involving adults due to the court's processing dependency, neglect, and abuse cases; and some cases with insufficient information to include them in the study. The data were paired down where necessary from the aforementioned circumstances.

The final sample (n=2581) is as follows:

• 1900 Traditional Probation,
• 194 Crossroads,
• 141 Intensive Probation, and
• 346 Department of Youth Services (DYS).

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

All youths who entered the Summit County Juvenile Court (OH, United States) from 1/1/2004 through 12/31/2008, including 7-10 years of follow-up in the adult justice and child welfare systems for all youths.

Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

The variable descriptions are listed by each individual data file:

• Arrest_final.sav : Arrest Dates and Types of Charges.
• CW_Custody_Adult_final.sav / CW_Custody_child_final.sav : Legal Status, Beginning and End dates, and the Reason that legal status ended.
• CW_Intakes_Adult_final.sav / CW_Intakes_child_final.sav : Age the intake was filed, Date the allegation complaint was received, Allegation type, Disposition date, Complaint disposition, Relationship to child (Adult_final only), Father's relationship to child (Child_final only), and Father's involvement in child's life (Child_final only).
• CW_Placements_adult_final.sav / CW_Placements_child_final.sav : Placement Beginning and End dates, Placement type, and Reason for discharge (Adult_final only).
• General_final.sav : Subject sex, Subject race, Full Sample Sequence, Ever been in Crossroads, Ever been in Intensive Probation, Ever been in DYS, Ever been in Regular Probation, Final Program Sample, Age at first filing, Age at first Probation, Any arrests before age 18, Any arrests after age 18, Any arrests lifelong, Number of arrests before age 18, Number of arrests after age 18, Number of total lifelong arrests, Number of Detention days before age 18, Any Prison days after age 18, Any Jail days after age 18, Number of Prison days after age 18, Number of Jail days after age 18, and Any BCI Charges after age 18.
• Jail_final.sav : Date of admission, Release date, Offense date, Statue codes, Bail amount, Initial bail amount, and Description of offense.
• JC_charges_final.sav : Number of charges for each subject, Date of charges, Charges (chapter of Ohio Revised Code), Charges (Section of Ohio Revised Code), Literal description of the charges, Plea code, Date of plea, Date of finding, and Type of case.
• JC_detention_final.sav : Admission and Release dates.
• JC_disposition_final.sav : Date of Disposition.
• JC_Gal_final.sav : Date Gal or other was activated, and Type of case.
• prison_final.sav : Date of admission, Date of release, Release type, and Most serious offense of conviction.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

Not Applicable

Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales

None

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2018-03-21

Weight View help for Weight

None