NCJ Number
226351
Date Published
January 2006
Length
137 pages
Annotation
This report provides an evaluation of the design and implementation of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Juvenile Justice Services' (BJJS) new model of juvenile aftercare.
Abstract
The evidence reviewed indicates the Pennsylvania Bureau of Juvenile Justice Services' (BJJS) aftercare program largely adheres to the case management model and that aftercare program staff have been able to implement a majority of the aftercare program's features. The BJJS aftercare program management is continually engaged in data collection and program monitoring efforts in order to improve program implementation and performance. Highlights of identified program strengths include: (1) the program is research driven, mission-based, and guided by a case management model; (2) the program clearly related to the Balanced and Restorative Justice goals of competency development, community protection, and accountability; (3) the program organizes the youth's transition from facility to community and assures continuity of contact between the program and the resident/client; (4) the program constitutes an outreach from the institution to the community with an established framework for interagency collaboration; and (5) the program is client centered. Highlights of major aftercare program constraints include: (1) no documented, overall plan to guide the data collection and evaluation efforts; (2) data collection systems were fragmented and not in an electronic format; and (3) case managers used a mixture of manual and computerized record keeping to track their ongoing work with youth. Future areas of exploration identified include: information systems, validate risk assessment instruments, and outcomes evaluation. Overall, the recommendations for program enhancement made involve issues of procedure and design that can be addressed without conflict with the case management model. This process evaluation addresses the juvenile aftercare program designed and implemented by the BJJS within the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW). The evaluation was intended to provide feedback to the program so that it might derive benefit from an outside perspective on its strengths, needs, and faithfulness of its implementation to the original case management design. Attachments 1-15