NCJ Number
79798
Journal
Corrections Magazine Volume: 7 Issue: 5 Dated: (October 1981) Pages: 28-34
Date Published
1981
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The development of Project New Pride, a community-based corrections program for juveniles in Denver, Colo., into an Exemplary Project supported by LEAA and replicated in 10 cities, is analyzed.
Abstract
New Pride consists of a diagnostic center to evaluate offenders' educational needs and psychological problems, an alternative school, another school for youths with learning disabilities, individual and family counseling, and a job development and placement service. Two successive evaluations of New Pride showed that the 10-year program is successful in increasing the educational levels of its clients but less successful in placing and keeping offenders in full-time jobs, even though the program itself pays their salaries during the first 3 months of work. The evaluations found a 50-percent recidivism rate for New Pride offenders after they leave the program but no reliable comparative figures. The decision to replicate was based on the Government's desire to encourage community-based programs for youthful offenders rather than on a measured success of Denver's program. Critics have called the decision premature. Because the staff, and especially the director (Tom Jones), are acknowledged to be outstandingly competent, there is doubt that the program can be replicated as effectively elsewhere. Nevertheless, 10 cities were awarded funds for autonomous New Pride programs: Chicago, Los Angeles, Pensacola, Fla., Kansas City, Kans., Fresno, Calif., Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Haddonfield N.J., Providence, R.I., and Boston. All the New Pride projects are fighting an uphill battle to persuade the courts to sentence multiple juvenile offenders to New Pride or any other community program. Most of them are also having difficulty finding jobs for their clients. In spite of these and other problems at individual replication sites, program analysts say overall the replication effort has gone more smoothly than anticipated. The New Pride project is expected to be refunded despite Reagan administration cuts in the OJJDP budget.