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Curbing Re-Arrest for Serious Offenses: Community-Based Alternatives for Youth as Effective as Institutional Placements

NCJ Number
240652
Date Published
January 2010
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This fact sheet from the National Juvenile Justice Network presents the findings from a longitudinal study on the effectiveness of alternatives to incarceration for serious youth offenders.
Abstract
Findings from the study include the following: 1) community-based supervision is an effective alternative to incarceration for youth with serious offenses; 2) most youth who commit serious felony offenses will stop offending regardless of the method of intervention; 3) longer stays in juvenile institutions do not decrease rates of recidivism among serious youth offenders; 4) placement in juvenile institutions has been shown to increase the level of offending for some youth; 5) substance abuse treatment can decrease rates of recidivism for serious youth offenders; and 6) the presence of aftercare services reduced the likelihood of further involvement with the juvenile justice system for serious youth offenders. This fact sheet from the National Juvenile Justice Network presents the findings of a longitudinal study on the effectiveness of alternatives to incarceration for serious youth offenders. The findings from the study are intended to be used by State policymakers to find alternative and effective solutions to the problem of serious youth offending other than a reliance on youth incarceration. 11 references