NCJ Number
132601
Date Published
1990
Length
126 pages
Annotation
State juvenile justice reforms, particularly the transition from large institutions to community-based programs, are described and evaluated for Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Utah.
Abstract
Massachusetts, the first State to close all of its training schools serves as a national model. Its programs include a number of small-scale programs, ranging from a high-security facility for young men to smaller, residential facilities to the Roxbury Youthworks non-residential tracking program. Pennsylvania also closed its training school, but retained a mixture of State-private sector run community based programs including alternative residential communities (ARC), a last resort program operated by a for-profit company, and large rural institutions that uses positive peer pressure methods for control. Maryland is still in the midst of the reform process. It closed one training school and reduced the population at its last training institution. It offers placement options in prevention and diversion programs and various residential alternatives including group homes, mental health treatment centers, and independent living units. Utah is similar to Massachusetts in its successful transition to deinstitutionalization. Its system is characterized by a screening process of offenders and by the use of a vendor system to provide services through private providers. Florida has partially succeeded in accomplishing reform. Political obstacles have prevented further development of community based programs and a large number of juveniles continue to be sent to adult prisons. Nevertheless, the innovative Juvenile Alternative Services program (JASP) and the Associated Marine Institutes (AMI) have developed as successful programs. (See NCJ 132602-132606)