Philadelphia’s Criminal and Juvenile Justice Debt Relief Program: A Process Evaluation

• In Event: The Landscape of Legal Financial Obligations (LFO) and Reforms in Pennsylvania

Abstract

This study assesses the nature and processes of Philadelphia’s newly created criminal justice debt relief program, with an emphasis on inter-agency collaboration, program admittance and attrition. We report findings from our mixed methods process evaluation, including surveys, interviews, and administrative data, focusing on partner agency perceptions, inter-agency cooperation, and participant selection and screening dynamics. We find broad levels of cooperation and positive program perceptions, with some caveats, as well as program acceptance and attrition patterns influenced by key criminal history and other demographic characteristics. Governments of all sizes have begun to experiment with reforms to the legal financial obligation aspect of local justice systems. Debt relief has emerged as one remedy in a few cities including Philadelphia. While such programs hold promise, critical questions related to their functioning and impact are underexplored, limiting our ability to draw broad conclusions on their capacity to engender meaningful change on a broad scale.

Authors

• Nathan W. Link, Rutgers University - Camden

• Jordan Hyatt, Drexel University

• Samuel E. DeWitt, American Institutes for Research

• Courtney Harding, Drexel University