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Overview:
In the early 2000s, Rhode Island began work to reduce its use of secure confinement for youth involved with the justice system and refocus its juvenile justice system on prevention, early intervention, and community-based resources and engaging families. The statewide reforms have changed the referral and reimbursement processes for service providers, including the state's residential treatment programs. One such program, Ocean Tides, Inc., is a nonsecure residential rehabilitation program and school for adjudicated boys. This study uses data from administrative records and case files collected from Ocean Tides over a 40-year period to examine changes initiated as a result of statewide reforms, trends in service delivery, and behavior and outcomes among participating youth.
This project was funded under the Assessing the Impact of Juvenile Justice Reforms Program, which supported research and evaluations to investigate whether certain juvenile justice policies and practices produce better outcomes for youth, improve public safety, and/or achieve a greater return on taxpayer investments.
Goals and Objectives:
The University of Rhode Island analyzed data that was collected from 2,053 adjudicated boys who were residents at Ocean Tides, Inc., between 1975 and 2015. The cross-sectional analysis compared results from 1975-2006 to 2007-2015 to assess changes in the program participants' characteristics and behaviors following statewide juvenile justice reforms that were implemented in 2006. Several specific indicators were studied to measure change, including:
- Program completion
- Violent behaviors
- Noncompliant behaviors
- Academic achievement
- Alcohol and drug use
- Cooperation with teachers, staff, counselors, and other residents
- Legal infractions (charges for new offenses).
Milestones:
Data analysis concluded in early 2017 and OJJDP posted the final technical report in August 2017.
Publications and Products
Final Technical Report: Van Wyk, J.A. 2017. Assessing a Residential Treatment Program in the Context of Rhode Island's Juvenile Justice Reforms: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/grants/251033.pdf.
Contact Information:
Benjamin Adams, Social Science Analyst
Benjamin.Adams@usdoj.gov | 202-616-3687
Judy A. Van Wyk, Ph.D., Associate Professor
vanwyk@uri.edu | 401-874-4146
University of Rhode Island, Department of Sociology & Anthropology
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