Juvenile Diversion and Decentralization of Probation Intake First Year Evaluation of the Satellite Intake Project

• NCJ Number: 72385
• Author(s): M B Greene
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 58 pages
• Corporate Author: New York City Criminal Justice Coordinating Council
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report describes and evaluates the first year of operations of a decentralized juvenile diversion and delinquency prevention program in New York City.

Abstract

The Satellite Intake Project, initiated in 1979, is essentially a decentralized version of the probation intake branch offices. The project consists of four units, one each in the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. The program serves troubled youth, cases involving persons in need of supervision (PINS), and all but the most serious delinquency cases. Project goals were to reduce the number of cases referred to court, to reduce the number of intake cases terminated without adjustment, to reduce the manhours spent by police at family court, to limit recidivism, to increase the use of mediation, and to reduce overnight remands of juveniles. Records of the 1,775 cases served between June, 1979 and April 30, 1980, were used to conduct the evaluation. Results indicated that the project successfully met most of its objectives. It referred fewer delinquency cases to court than did the branch offices, although it did not substantially reduce the number of PINS cases referred to petition. It did not reduce the percentage of cases terminated without adjustment. It reduced the manhours spent by police at family court and limited the recidivism rate to a level comparable to that of the branch office cases. Due to a training delay, the use of mediation was limited. Over $100,000 in family court costs were saved. The project could be improved by increasing the number of PINS cases served, increasing efforts to obtain complainants' participation in the intake process, and by improving followup of cases referred to community agencies. In addition, the time between arrest and intake should be reduced, project staff should more aggressively seek out educational resources in their catchment areas, and project staff should enhance community delinquency prevention efforts. Tables, footnotes, and an appendix describing sampling procedures for the recidivism study are included. (Author abstract modified)