NCJ Number
201950
Journal
Criminal Justice Policy Review Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2003 Pages: 339-360
Date Published
September 2003
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This study examined the operations of juvenile drug courts and analyzed the variability in key components of juvenile drug courts.
Abstract
Juvenile drug courts have emerged in the 1990’s as the latest in a long line of specialized courts. Such specialized courts tend to focus on problem-solving and therapeutic-type interventions for offenders. However, little is known about how juvenile drug courts operate and how effective they are at intervening in adolescent drug abuse. The authors begin by describing juvenile drug courts, followed by an analysis of the variability of their key characteristics. The authors engage in a secondary analysis of data obtained through Cooper and Bartlett’s national survey of juvenile drug courts. The authors also used Goldkamp’s typology of adult drug courts to interpret the data. Descriptive variables under examination included the court’s year of inception, the average program cost per client, annual program capacity, average number of eligible clients, and average annual number of clients accepted. Results indicate that the juvenile drug courts display great variation across their key characteristics, such as their target populations, court processing focus, program goals, amount of outside agency support, and candidate screening and evaluation. The variability of the courts and the absence of previous research raises important questions for future research, such as which type of juvenile drug court focus is most effective in deterring future drug crimes. Tables, references