Maine Department of Corrections Annual Juvenile Recidivism Report

• NCJ Number: 222588
• Author(s): Susan Pate
• Date Published: March 2008
• Length: 49 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Maine Dept of Corrections
• Corporate Author: Maine Statistical Analysis Ctr
• Sale Source: Maine Dept of Corrections; Maine Statistical Analysis Ctr
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Statistics; Report (Annual/Periodic)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded May 5, 2008

Annotation

This Maine Juvenile Recidivism Report, which is the latest in a series of reports on juvenile recidivism that began with the 1998 Baseline Report, provides statewide and county data and information on first-time juvenile offenders, the crimes for which they were adjudicated, how soon they recidivated, and trends in juvenile recidivism over time.

Abstract

For the purpose of this report, a "juvenile recidivist" is defined as "any individual who records a first adjudication date in Maine's juvenile court system for offenses committed before the age of 18 and records a second adjudication date for a new offense in Maine's juvenile court system or Maine's adult court system." The juvenile recidivism rate is measured by the occurrence of a new, subsequent offense leading to a second adjudication at 1-,2-, and 3-year marks. The rate is calculated by dividing the number of juveniles in the 2005 cohort who were adjudicated within 1 year by the total number of juveniles adjudicated for the first time in 2005. In addition to determining the recidivism rate for the overall cohort, the report also presents the recidivism rate for two subgroups within the cohort: those juveniles adjudicated for a felony or misdemeanor offense at first adjudication and at subsequent adjudication; and those juveniles whose first adjudication was for a civil offense only. The 1,316 first-time juvenile offenders in 2005 were adjudicated for 2,317 offenses; 35 percent of the cohort was adjudicated for 63 percent of these offenses. Of those juveniles who recidivated within 1 year of their first adjudication, the average time between first adjudication and date of offense leading to a second adjudication was 5.8 months. Of the juvenile recidivists in the 2005 cohort, those juveniles who were first adjudicated for a civil offense exclusively not only had the highest recidivism rate, but almost two-thirds of these juveniles were readjudicated for a more serious offense. 18 tables, 14 figures, 8 references, and appended supplementary data