NCJ Number
98591
Date Published
1983
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This paper isolates the organizational characteristics of a number of juvenile offender restitution programs and assesses the impact of those characteristics on program performance.
Abstract
All of the 85 programs included in this study were funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention as part of the National Juvenile Restitution Initiative. Three indicators of short-term client performance were selected to assess the impact, if any, of the choices made by the organizers of the programs. These indicators are (1) successful completion of restitution, (2) proportion of monetary restitution order paid or community service requirement worked, and (3) in-program offense rate. Options available to restitution project planners are identified as those available for siting the project and for arriving at the restitution requirements, those available in formulating a restitution plan for the offender, and those available for supervising the referrals and imposing sanctions in lieu of compliance with the restitution order. The evidence presented strongly suggests that while particular models of restitution projects -- defined as mixes of organizational components -- have some impact on the success of clients in those programs, the effect is, in most instances slight. These findings should not be taken to mean, however, that offenders in restitution programs with essentially no organization may succeed at the same high level as those referred to projects in the Juvenile Restitution Initiative. Tabular data and 10 references are provided.