NCJ Number
175097
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 60 Issue: 4 Dated: July 1998 Pages: 118-123
Date Published
1998
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The experiences of the States in the third year of a demonstration project sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to test the feasibility and impact of the Intensive Aftercare Program (IAP) model have revealed issues and challenges involved in establishing such programs.
Abstract
The IAP model aims to address high juvenile recidivism rates, facility crowding, and escalating costs of confinement. The model emphasizes: (1) preparatory institutional services that directly lend themselves to application and reinforcement in the community, (2) a highly structured transitional experience that bridges the institution and community, and (3) the delivery of intensive supervision and follow-up services in the community. The experiences in Colorado, New Jersey, Nevada, and Virginia have already produced understanding of the issues and challenges involved. Challenges include the allocation of sufficient numbers of qualified staff and the development of organizational capacity to facilitate consistency and compatibility in service delivery. Other issues include the need to heighten surveillance in a way that promotes participation in treatment and the finding that high levels of supervision for lower-risk offenders is counterproductive. Each demonstration programs applies it IAP to correspond to the local situation while meeting the requirement for overarching case management. Implementation challenges include resistance from institutional corrections, insufficient funding and staffing for intensive supervision and enhanced service delivery, the need for formal assessment procedures, and the importance of specific guidelines about the nature and purpose of increased contact between youth and staff. Nevertheless, developing a workable model of reintegratively oriented incarceration is possible, although much remains to be accomplished. 21 references