Effective Use of the Large Body of Research on the Effectiveness of Programs for Juvenile Offenders and the Failure of the Model Programs Approach (Lipsey, 2018)

The conventional conception is that an evidence-based program is a brand-name manualized program model supported by research demonstrating favorable effects on an outcome of interest. These are typically identified by one or another more or less authoritative or-ganization that has reviewed the pertinent research and reported its rating of the program in its registry of evidence-based programs. Familiar registries of this sort in juvenile justice include the Blueprints for Violence Prevention (now expanded as Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development), the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)Model Programs Guide, and CrimeSolutions.gov. Examples of familiar programs targeting recidivism outcomes for juvenile offenders that appear in these registries include Multi-systemic Therapy (MST), Functional Family Therapy (FFT), and Aggression Replacement Training (ART). Although it does not always receive much emphasis in the respective registry presentations, it is understood that model evidence-based programs must be implemented with fidelity to the program specifications before the effects demonstrated in the supporting research can be expected to be produced in practice. PDF

The search for the holy grail: Criminogenic needs matching, intervention dosage, and subsequent recidivism among serious juvenile offenders in residential placement (Baglivio, et al 2018)

The Risk-Need-Responsivity paradigm promotes matching of services to individualized criminogenic needs. This framework has become common lexicon, yet empirical evaluation of individual-level service matching, while including actual dosage received, is surprisingly sparse. We examine the efficacy of matching criminogenic needs to interventions within juvenile justice residential programs while accounting for the dosages of services received (contact hours and number of weeks). PDF

Juvenile Justice System Improvement: Implementing an Evidence-Based Decision Making Platform

Over the past three decades, the juvenile justice system in the United States has benefited from the tremendous growth in knowledge about effective policy and practice. Since the mid-1990s, we have seen the development of the components of an evidence-based decision-making platform, consisting of validated risk and needs assessment tools, structured decision-making tools to assist in the better matching of the needs of youth involved in the juvenile justice system with the correct level of supervision and types of services, and evidence-based programs and services. Today, that knowledge is readily available to policy makers and practitioners, with the challenge being to support jurisdictions in incorporating the components holistically into the operation of their juvenile justice systems. This report draws on the experiences of jurisdictions that have worked to integrate these tools and practices into a platform for juvenile justice decision-making through two demonstration programs--the Juvenile Justice Systems Improvement Project (JJSIP) and the Juvenile Justice Reform and Reinvestment Initiative (JJRRI). These jurisdictions have made significant progress in bringing the tenets of JJSIP and JJRRI to life in their communities and juvenile justice systems. It is our hope that the implementation experiences this report captures will help others to follow in their footsteps. It is our belief that the core tenets of JJSIP and JJRRI are at the heart of what juvenile justice systems across the country will look like in the future – and that the youth and families they serve will be better off as a result. PDF