'Diversion, a deterrence to delinquency?' The impact of Florida's Juvenile Civil Citation Program on recidivism

• In Event: Impacts of Criminal Legal Contact

Abstract

Florida’s Juvenile Civil Citation Program, implemented in a staggered fashion across counties, allows police officers to choose to divert first-time misdemeanants from coming into contact with the formal juvenile justice system by substituting a Civil Citation (akin to a traffic ticket) for arrest. Upon successful completion of the citation rehabilitation program, the citation is erased without entering the criminal record. I use the implementation of the Civil Citation Program across counties in Florida to explore whether diversion affects juvenile recidivism. Using data collected from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and a combination of standard and dynamic difference-in-differences, ordinary least squares, and instrumental variable estimators, I find the Civil Citation Program is associated with a decline (of 15-57% over baseline means) in juvenile recidivism. Among those eligible, the citation-receiving juveniles are 32-38% less likely to recidivate compared to those who were eligible but did not receive the citation.

Author

• Tessie Krishna, San Diego State University
  Presenting Author