NCJ Number
151587
Date Published
1993
Length
2 pages
Annotation
Mediation services for first-and second-time juvenile offenders are discussed.
Abstract
This is an executive summary of the Community Involvement in Mediation of First and Second Time Juvenile Offenders Project (Project) operated by the Community Board Program of San Francisco. This Project ran from October 1, 1991, through December 31, 1992, and provided community mediation between juvenile offenders and their victims. The purpose of the Project was to reduce the number of repeat offenses by youths who come to the attention of the San Francisco Juvenile Court, as well as court costs, through mediation of appropriate cases by trained community volunteers. The process evaluation consisted of interviews with key actors associated with the Project and the review of relevant project and court documents. The outcome evaluation entailed a quantitative comparison between an experimental group and a comparison group. A total of 113 experimental and 157 comparison cases were included in the final analysis. Comparisons were made on several variables: demographic, offense characteristics, and prior record. A key outcome measure was the rate of recidivism of the two groups. Results of the Project were mixed: recidivism rates of the experimental group were not uniformly lower than that of the comparison group; the financial savings to the Juvenile Court were not as large as anticipated. All things considered, however, the Project was considered successful by all persons involved. This summary provides recommendations resulting from the Project.