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Intervention

The Intensive Supervision Juvenile Probation Program (also known as the Peoria [Ill.] Antigang and Drug Abuse Unit) is a four-phase intensive supervision juvenile probation program that targets juvenile offenders placed on probation for known gang-related behavior or substance abuse offenses. All program participants have extensive criminal histories or are at risk of incarceration or residential placement. The program addresses juvenile probationer treatment needs while controlling behaviors through surveillance and intensive supervision. It consists of many essential elements for probation, including small caseloads, distinct graduated phases to structure movement through the program, substance abuse assessments, and behavioral controls, such as electronic monitoring, curfews, home confinement, and random drug testing.

• Phase 1—Planning and Movement— is designed to stabilize participants through intensive monitoring and movement control while allowing time to assess their treatment needs. During this phase, youths are assessed for substance abuse and mental health treatment needs.
• Phase 2—Counseling, Treatment, and Programming— occurs within 1 week of phase 1. Youths begin outpatient, intensive outpatient, residential substance abuse treatment, or some combination of these three. Intensive Supervision Juvenile Probation Program officers attend group sessions as frequently as possible. Youths are referred to aftercare following completion of a treatment program. Bridges, an antigang program, is also offered at this time.
• Phase 3—Community Outreach— requires the completion of a community service project or the youth must write a report describing his or her experience in treatment and present it to one of the aftercare groups.
• Phase 4—Reassignment— gradually reduces the frequency of contacts with the Intensive Supervision Juvenile Probation Program officers, to prepare youths for the transition to regular probation or probation termination. Throughout the first three phases, program officers make frequent contacts with program participants and their families, schools, and treatment providers. Parents are kept up to date with everything going on in their children’s probation and are required to sign all case plans.
  

Evaluation

The program was evaluated with a posttest-only, quasi-experimental design with nonequivalent groups. The study compared the recidivism rates of program completers with noncompleters. In June 2001, postrelease data was collected for all participants who entered the program between its inception in October 1997 and Nov. 30, 2000 (n=119). Recidivism was considered as the charges that were filed in the Circuit Clerk’s Office from the date of program completion through June 2001. This data is limited; information was available only for arrests within Peoria County. Program success was determined by Intensive Supervision Juvenile Probation Program officers and was defined as satisfying all sentence conditions and serving the entire probation sentence length. Participants were mostly male (87.4 percent). The average age was 15.9, with a range of 12 to 18. Ethnically, 59.7 percent were African-American, 32.8 percent were white, and 7.5 were “other.” No control group was used in this evaluation, which makes the results more descriptive than conclusive.

Outcome

The evaluation found that nearly 60 percent of the participants for whom data is known did not commit another offense during the 1st year following program completion. Of participants who successfully completed the program, 63 percent were not arrested for a new offense, while 44 percent of those who were unsuccessful in the program were not arrested for a new offense. The factors that appeared to have the strongest correlation to successful program completion were regular school attendance, gender (if female), lack of mental health problems, an initial assessment of low risk, and the extent of prior involvement in the juvenile justice system—such as age at program entry, number of prior offenses, and length of prior probation terms. The older a participant was at the time of first involvement in the criminal justice system—and the fewer prior offenses he or she had—the more likely the participant was to successfully complete the program.

References

Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. 2002. “The Impact of Intensive Juvenile Probation Programs.” On Good Authority 6(1):1–5.

Wassenberg, Pinky, Laura Gransky Dorman, Lou Ann McGahey, Joy Syrcle, and Barry Bass. 2002. An Impact Evaluation of Juvenile Probation Projects in Christian, Peoria, and Winnebago Counties. Springfield, Ill.: University of Illinois at Springfield, Center for Legal Studies.

Contact

Steve Kossman or Elton Bryson
Peoria County Probation and Court Services
324 Main Street
Peoria, IL 61602
Phone: (309) 672-6958
Fax: (309) 672-6097
E-mail: skossman@co.peoria.il.us