The impact of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office Deferred Prosecution Program.

• NCJ Number: 253820
• Journal: Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 58 Issue: 2 Dated: 2019 Pages: 133-153
• Author(s): John Orwat; Donald Stemen; Christine George; Jennifer Cossyleon; Whitney Key
• Date Published: 2019
• Length: 21 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Evaluation; Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study analyzed the impact of the Cook County (Illinois) State's Attorney's Office Deferred Prosecution Program (DPP) regarding participation outcome patterns, and it also compared recidivism rates between a sample of DPP participants (695) and a comparison group (991) of defendants found guilty through traditional adjudication from February 28, 2011 and December 5, 2012 with recidivism rates through June 6, 2014.

Abstract

Binary logistic and Cox proportional regressions were utilized to evaluate the program. No statistically significant difference in re-arrest rates was found for a sample of DPP participants and a comparison group of defendants found guilty through traditional adjudication; however, DPP did have a statistically significant effect on re-arrest rates for women charged with theft; in such cases, DPP reduced the likelihood of re-arrest by approximately 76 percent. The study concluded that DPP has the potential to reduce the future collateral consequences of a criminal conviction for individuals who complete the program. Although DPP seems to have limited impact on re-arrest rates overall, the program may be revised to target certain types of defendants. (publisher abstract modified)