Early Court Intervention: A Research and Demonstration Project

• NCJ Number: 168713
• Author(s): W R Smith; M F Aloisi; H M Goldstein
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 118 pages
• Grant Number(s): 92-JN-CX-0009
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Corporate Author: New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts; New Jersey Juvenile Delinquency Cmssn
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/NCJRS; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Program Description (Demonstrative)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The Early Court Intervention Project (ECIP) was funded as a research and demonstration project by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to identify youth at high risk of becoming chronic juvenile offenders.

Abstract

A 12-item risk scale instrument was developed and piloted in two New Jersey counties, Atlantic and Hudson, using a sample of 298 juveniles. The following recidivism criteria were employed to validate the risk scale instrument and to construct an alternative risk instrument that was superior in its prediction of recidivism: referral to juvenile court, arrest as an adult, number of court appearances, and number of counts and charges for violent offenses. The original risk scale showed juveniles designated as high-risk were substantially more likely to recidivate than juveniles designated as low-risk. Needs assessments predicted recidivism about as well as the original 12-item risk scale. There was a greater differential in recidivism between low- and high-risk juvenile offenders using cutoff points selected on the basis of optimizing observed recidivism differences. The average number of recidivism events was five or six times greater in the high-risk category than in the low-risk category. Combining risk and need factors into one scale resulted in six items that were statistically significant predictors of recidivism: poor school performance, behavior problems in school, lack of parental control, negative peer influences, substance abuse, and lack of a sense of mastery. A seven-item risk scale was more successful in identifying high- risk juvenile offenders than the combined risk and need scale. Items on this scale included poor school performance, poor school behavior, parental reports of juvenile behavioral problems, juvenile self-reported drug use, lack of a sense of mastery, law breaking of juvenile peers, and a reading comprehension test. Legal and neurological risk instruments were also examined, but neither predicted recidivism as well as the seven-item risk scale. Because many juveniles had multiple needs, the authors conclude subsequent offending can be substantially reduced if the court's ability to address these needs is enhanced. Appendixes contain screening materials and data collection forms. 48 references, 25 tables, and 8 figures