Process Evaluation of the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice's Regional Service Coordination Model, 2017-2023 (ICPSR 39347)

Version Date: Sep 10, 2025

Cite this study |

Principal Investigator(s):
Kelly Murphy, Child Trends

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39347.v1

Version V1

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Summary

In 2017, the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) began implementation of the Regional Service Coordination (RSC) model. The goal of this initiative was to implement and maintain statewide comprehensive community-based services and alternative placements for youth in Virginia's juvenile justice system. The DJJ partnered with Child Trends to conduct a process evaluation of this RSC model. Child Trends used data from DJJ's administrative data system, and collected qualitative data from groups involved in implementation, such as probation/parole officers, judges, service coordinators, and direct service providers.

Citation

Murphy, Kelly. Process Evaluation of the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice’s Regional Service Coordination Model, 2017-2023. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-09-10. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39347.v1

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Funding

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2017-JF-FX-0062)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

FIPS

Restrictions

Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement. Data are provided via ICPSR's Virtual Data Enclave (VDE). Apply for access to these data through the ICPSR VDE portal. Information and instructions are available within the data portal. For further assistance please reference the VDE Guide to learn about the application process, about using the VDE, and how to request disclosure review of VDE output.

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2017 -- 2022 (First 6 years of model's implementation)

Date of Collection

2014-06-01 -- 2023-05-30 (Fiscal Year 2015 to Fiscal Year 2022)
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Study Purpose

Child Trends was funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency (OJJDP) to conduct an in-depth process evaluation of the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice's (DJJ) Continuum of Services Model, referred to as the Regional Service Coordination Model and Broader Service Continuum, or RSC model. The purpose of this project was to provide feedback and recommendations to DJJ as well as to other juvenile justice systems interested in implementing similar reform efforts.

The researchers had three primary objectives:

  1. Conduct a process evaluation to understand the extent to which the RSC model is being implemented as intended.
  2. Provide an initial assessment of the extent to which implementation of the RSC model is associated with youth outcomes.
  3. Translate and disseminate findings to targeted audiences.

Study Design

Child Trends adopted a utilization-focused evaluation approach to conduct the evaluation. Child Trends focused on four elements in their evaluation.

  1. Adherence to the model.
  2. Responsiveness of services to the needs of individual youth.
  3. Youth participation in the services.
  4. Youth outcomes in relation to the implementation of the model.

Qualitative data were collected in interviews and focus groups using telephone and virtual programs. Direct Service Providers (DSP) and Judges were interviewed. Regional Service Coordinators (RSCs) and Court Service Unit (CSU) staff were included in focus groups. RSCs and CSU staff were directly contacted with information provided by the DJJ. Judges and DSP were identified though public websites.

Quantitative data were collected from DJJ administrative datasets.

Sample

The qualitative sample employed stratified purposeful sampling during recruitment, segmenting the sample by urbanicity (rural and non-rural) and DJJ's five administrative regions (Northern, Eastern, Southern, Western, and Central).

Time Method

Cross-sectional

Unit(s) of Observation

Individuals

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables

  • Dataset 1, Intake Supervision joined by Case Data, contains variables pertaining to youth characteristics (e.g., age at intake, sex assigned at birth, race/ethnicity), History with DJJ, offense characteristics, and results of initial YASI assessment.
  • Dataset 2, Recidivism and Services Data, contains variables pertaining to arrest and conviction dates as well as misdemeanor or felony classification.
  • Dataset 3, Regional Service Coordinators Service and YASI Data contains variables pertaining to youth characteristics, youth's history with DJJ, offense characteristics, and the first and last YASI assessments upon referral and service completion.
  • Dataset 4, Regional Service Coordinators Service and YASI with Non-Services Data, contains variables pertaining to youth characteristics, youth's history with DJJ, offense characteristics, and the first and last YASI assessments upon referral.
  • Dataset 5, Regional Service Coordinators Youth Services Data, contains variables pertaining to service referral approval status, service start and end dates, type of service provided, and youth's service participation.
  • Dataset 6, Supervision Status Data, contains variables pertaining to the start and end dates for each supervision level (e.g., probation, detention, commitment, parole)
  • Datasets 7-23 contain Court Service Unit focus group transcripts.
  • Datasets 24-41 contain Direct Service Provider interview transcripts.
  • Datasets 42-50 contain Judge interview transcripts.
  • Datasets 51-52 contain Regional Service Coordinators (RSC) focus group transcripts.
  • Dataset 53 contains a Regional Service Coordinators (RSC) focus group summary.

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    Original Release Date

    2025-09-10

    Version History

    2025-09-10 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

    • Performed consistency checks.
    • Standardized missing values.
    • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

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    Notes

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    • One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.