| NCJ Number: |
186913  |
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| Title: |
Investigation of Philadelphia's Youth Aid Panel: A Community-based Diversion Program for First-time Youthful Offenders |
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| Author(s): |
Nina W. Chernoff; Bernardine H. Watson |
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| Corporate Author: |
Public/Private Ventures
United States of America |
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| Date Published: |
2000 |
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| Page Count: |
16 |
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| Sponsoring Agency: |
NCJRS Photocopy Services
Rockville, MD 20849-6000
Public/Private Ventures
Philadelphia, PA 19103 |
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| Sale Source: |
NCJRS Photocopy Services
Box 6000
Rockville, MD 20849-6000
United States of America
Public/Private Ventures
2005 Market Street, Suite 900
Philadelphia, PA 19103
United States of America |
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| Document: |
PDF |
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| Publisher: |
http://www.ppv.org |
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| Type: |
Program/Project Description |
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| Format: |
Document |
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| Language: |
English |
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| Country: |
United States of America |
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| Annotation: |
This report describes and evaluates the Philadelphia Youth Aid
Panel (YAP), a community-based diversion program for first-time
youthful offenders.
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| Abstract: |
YAP operates out of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and is an alternative sanction for first-time, low-level juvenile offenders. YAP provides an opportunity for eligible youth to
choose to face a panel of volunteers from the community instead
of a juvenile judge, thus allowing them to keep their records
clean. The program includes elements that have proven to work
with high-risk youth, including the involvement of community
adults; priority attention from local law enforcement;
partnerships between law enforcement and community institutions;
and the provision of support to youth while they are held
responsible for their behavior. This report describes the YAP
program and how it operates, based on information collected
through interviews and focus groups with youth panelists,
parents, police officers, probation officers, and YAP staff. For
the evaluation, data were collected and analyzed on 300 youth who
participated in YAP in 1994 and were tracked through the juvenile
and adult court record systems. A total of 300 similar youth who
were arrested for low-level crimes in 1994 but did not
participate in YAP were also tracked. Although this comparison
group does not allow for definitive conclusions on the
effectiveness of the YAP program, it does provide a context for
examining the recidivism rates of YAP participants. In the
36-month period after their first arrest, 29.9 percent of the
youth who completed a YAP contract were rearrested at least once,
compared with 44.4 percent of the youth who did not participate
in the YAP program. Three aspects of the program are cited in
this report as being particularly noteworthy: its community-based
nature, its balanced approach (support and accountability), and
the involvement of the District Attorney's Office. Ten
recommendations are offered for improving the program. 3 tables,
1 figure, and appended description of study methods
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| Main Term(s): |
Juvenile diversion programs |
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| Index Term(s): |
Juvenile first offenders; Juvenile processing; Juvenile program volunteers; Pennsylvania; Prosecutorial diversion; Volunteer programs |
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To cite this abstract, use the following link:
http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=186913 |
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