NCJ Number
230977
Date Published
February 2008
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This bulletin uses performance data from juvenile probation cases closed between 2000 and 2006 by the Allegheny County Juvenile Probation Department in Pennsylvania to demonstrate the utility of juvenile justice outcome data.
Abstract
Allegheny County began collecting and reporting juvenile court outcome data with an eye toward improving practice and providing a juvenile justice report card on key balanced and restorative justice goals: community protection, individual accountability, and competency development. Reaction to the County's juvenile justice report card was to celebrate the success of the juvenile court relative to the outcomes measured The attention to outcomes seemed to have resulted in a decrease in the number of juveniles who reoffended while under supervision, an increase in completion of community service and payment of restitution, and increase in participation in victim awareness classes, and a decrease in the average length of supervision. This bulletin focuses on the experience of one jurisdiction, the Allegheny County's Juvenile Court, specifically its Juvenile Probation Department, which has been measuring and applying performance outcomes for many years. The bulletin includes an exploratory analysis of almost 11,000 cases closed by the Allegheny County Juvenile Court between 2000 and 2006 and presents baseline performance measures for that period. The outcome data are used to take a closer look at those cases and some of the patterns, trends, and questions that emerge. Figures, charts, and endnotes