NCJ Number
109470
Date Published
Unknown
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This report presents the activities, objectives, and evaluation results for 'Operation Payback,' a juvenile court restitution program in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri.
Abstract
Established in August 1985, the program now uses two types of restitution services: victim monetary restitution and community service restitution. Under victim monetary restitution, the juvenile offender may pay the victim for all or part of the loss resulting from the offense. This may be done by monetary payment or by providing the victim a service of equivalent value. Community service involves making restitution to a symbolic 'victim,' i.e., the community. Program objectives are to reduce recidivism, compensate victims, cultivate offender awareness of responsibility for the offense, provide a sense of loss-recovery to the community, promote victim and community involvement in offender rehabilitation, and increase victim and community confidence in the court's handling of juvenile offenses. Referrals to the program are either court ordered or voluntarily accepted by the offender as a condition of informal supervision. Since July 1986, 274 juveniles have successfully completed the program, yielding 3,809 hours of community service and $22,599.08 paid to victims.