Missouri Model: Reinventing the Practice of Rehabilitating Youthful Offenders, Summary Report

• NCJ Number: 232626
• Author(s): Richard A. Mendel
• Date Published: 2010
• Length: 16 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Sale Source: Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This document describes Missouri's approach to improving the success of its juvenile corrections facilities and juvenile offender rehabilitation programs.

Abstract

Analysis of Missouri's approach to rehabilitating juvenile offenders has found that compared to States that measure recidivism in similar ways, recidivism rates for juvenile offenders in Missouri are quite low. In Texas and Arizona, 43 percent and 52 percent of youths, respectively, are reincarcerated within 3 years compared to just 24 percent in Missouri. Other States with high recidivism rates compared to Missouri include Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, and Florida. Analyses also found that Missouri juvenile correctional facilities have lower rates of assaults on staff and youth compared to comparable facilities; three-fourths of youths in Missouri facilities advance at least as fact as typical students in public school compared to a 25-percent nationwide average; in 2008, 85.3 percent of youths exiting Missouri facilities were actively and positively engaged in the community; and the cost to taxpayers of Missouri's improved approach to juvenile rehabilitation has been relatively low compared to comparable systems nationwide. This document describes Missouri's approach to improving its juvenile corrections system by focusing on the small minority of juvenile offenders who must be removed from the community to protect public safety and placing them in small, regionally dispersed facilities, as opposed to large, prisonlike correctional institutions. The approach includes six core principles: placing in smaller facilities closer to home; involving youth in closely supervised small groups and applying rigorous group treatment processes; improved staff supervision and stressing positive peer relationships; improved academic services; greater involvement by family members; and improved support for youth transitioning back into the community. This report also discusses the organizational essentials required for success of the Missouri approach.