The Measurement and Impact of Length of Stay and Quality of Care in Secure Juvenile Placements

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

Research to date demonstrates little benefit of long term secure institutional placement on juvenile recidivism. However, residential options are an important part of the array of juvenile justice services, particularly for youth with serious disruptions in home and/or psychological functioning and/or who present significant public safety issues. Further, residential care is likely to remain an element of justice policy for the foreseeable future because of the complexity of political and workforce pressures. Given this, research on the quality of secure institutional placements, length of stay, and outcomes is needed to inform policy on this issue. Results from the Pathways to Desistance study and an NIJ-funded study of Washington State juvenile secure facilities will provide the basis for discussing the relationship between institutional environment and youth outcomes. Presenters from the University of Pittsburgh will describe a youth self-report measure of institutional environment and its relationship with outcomes as well as the relationship between length of stay and outcomes. The University of Washington will then present on a treatment model of institutional care, the Integrated Treatment Model (ITM), and new findings on the relationships among ITM adherence, skill acquisition and outcomes.

Sub Unit

• Area VIII: Roundtables

Discussants

• Sarah Walker, University of Washington

• Eric Trupin, University of Washington

• Carol Ann Schubert, University of Pittsburgh

• Edward P. Mulvey, University of Pittsburgh