NCJ Number
98588
Date Published
1983
Length
39 pages
Annotation
Using individual-level data collected from 85 federally funded juvenile restitution projects, this study examines (1) differences in referrals to restitution projects that do and do not offer job subsidies, (2) factors in selecting youth for job subsidization, (3) effects of subsidies on restitution performance, and (4) the types of offenders who benefit most from employment subsidies.
Abstract
Juveniles referred to job subsidy projects tend to have larger monetary restitution orders, slightly higher levels of offense seriousness, more prior offenses, and lower household incomes than juveniles referred to nonsubsidized restitution projects. Referrals to nonsubsidy projects tend to be older, out of school, and nonwhite. Major factors in the subsidization decisions were offense seriousness (serious offenders tended to receive subsidies), age (younger offenders more often received subsidies), and size of the monetary order (large orders were subsidized more frequently than small). On the average, subsidies produced a 12-percent increase in the completion of restitution requirements without having a significant effect on the level of inprogram reoffending. Youth with a high probability of failing their restitution requirements tended to benefit the most from subsidies. These findings are only suggestive, because the data were not derived from a true experimental design. Additional research involving true experimental designs is required to make a definitive determination of the effect of job subsidies on the performance of youth in juvenile restitution programs. Tabular data and six references are provided.