The Role of Practical and Change Services as Turning Points towards Successful Reentry Among Youth

• In Event: The Experiences & Challenges of Juvenile Reentry

Abstract

Prior research on youth reentry – or “aftercare” – provides limited, and often conflicting, evidence on the efficacy of reentry programming on reentry outcomes such as reincarceration and substance use. From a longitudinal standpoint, researchers are left with very little in the way of understanding how participation in treatment programs and services during incarceration may function as a turning point post-release. Using data from the youth sample of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative, we examine how a variety of practical services (e.g., having a case manager, receiving a needs assessment) and individual change services (e.g., substance abuse treatment, anger management) relate to reincarceration during the reentry process. Results demonstrate that once post-release substance use is accounted for, no programming significantly relates to reincarceration. To provide a more complete portrait of the reentry experience, the use of cross-lagged dynamic panel models demonstrate that substance abuse treatment programming is significantly – and robustly - associated with post-release substance use even after accounting for substance use prior to incarceration. The theoretical and policy implications are addressed.

Authors

• Adrienne Freng, University of Wyoming

• Thomas Mowen, Bowling Green State University