Observational Study of Team Meetings and Status Hearings in a Juvenile Drug Court

• NCJ Number: 233308
• Journal: Drug Court Review Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Dated: 2010 Pages: 95-124
• Author(s): Christopher Salvatore, M.A.; Jaime S. Henderson, M.A.; Matthew L. Hiller, Ph.D.; Elise White; Benta Samuelson
• Date Published: 2010
• Length: 30 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines how juvenile drug court programs are implemented.

Abstract

There currently are several hundred juvenile drug court programs in operation in the United States, but relatively little research has examined how these programs are implemented. The current project used a structured participant observation protocol to capture what happens within the prehearing team meetings and drug court status hearings of a juvenile drug court. A secondary focus was placed on determining the extent to which the youths' family members participated in the proceedings and whether this was related to program compliance. The 51 participants, on whom 272 separate observations were conducted, were predominantly African-American and male. Findings revealed that the most common information discussed during team conferences was participants' performance in substance abuse treatment and instances of noncompliance since the last status review. In addition, participants who had a family member attend court sessions had fewer incidents of non-compliance with respect to attendance at treatment and school. (Published Abstract)