Effective Re-Entry And Prevention Programs In The Juvenile Justice System

Youth who are released from incarceration are more likely to succeed if they have access to services that can help them prosper in a non-institutional environment. An effective re-entry and prevention program begins before a youth leaves the facility and often involves the family, sometimes friends, and the community. Early intervention prevents the onset of delinquent behavior and supports the development of youth. The best ways to make juvenile re-entry and prevention programs more successful and cost effective are through evidence-based programs.
Evidence-based programs in the context of the juvenile justice system, includes practices and policies that have been rigorously evaluated and have shown to be effective at preventing or reducing

crime.1 Policies refer to the strategies to reduce offenses while practices refer to skill development and mentoring. Policies often depend on an evidence-based evaluation of a practice. Evidence-based programs encompass both practices and policies. Evidence-based programs address a youth’s behavior and have been known to be effective through evaluations that meet a certain criteria, systematic research reviews, and meta-analyses. Criteria is set by state legislators, the federal government,or independent task force, often times it will be a combination of the three. Although there is no criterion to evidence-based programs or practices, many experts agree that if the strategy has shown to be successful through several different evaluations and the practice or program has produced the intended outcome for which it was developed it is evidence-based.2 Although evidence-based programs and practices are most effective for supporting re-entry and prevention programs, there are challenges to implementing those practices and programs. Funding is often the leading challenge. A stakeholder may not realize the cost benefit of implementing an evidence-based program.3 In addition, evidence based programs take several years to show success and funding is often cut short because it comes from grants that are not meant to last for several years.
Intensive Family-based Treatment, Psychosocial Therapies, Medication Therapies, and Trauma-informed Care are the four major types of evidence-based programs. Although these programs are fundamentally for youth, the programs can be effective across the board. Intensive Family-based Treatment are evidence-based treatment programs that are designed for a community setting instead of institutional and usually deal with mental health issues.
Intensive Family-based Treatment
The most common Intensive Family-based Treatment programs are Multisystemic Therapy (MST), Functional Family Therapy (FFT), and Muli-Dimensional Treatment Foster Care (MDTFC). Multisystemic Therapy is an intensive family and community-based treatment program for chronic and violent juvenile offenders.4 Functional Family Therapy focuses on improving family communication and supportiveness while decreasing dysfunctional behavior patterns.5 Muli-Dimensional Treatment Foster Care is a foster program where the family of the youth and community members are recruited, trained, and closely supervised to provide youth with treatment and intensive supervision at home, in school, and in the community.
Psychosocial Therapies
Psychosocial Therapies is a therapy provided by trained professionals such psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, or counselors.6 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Aggression Replacement Therapy are the most commonly used therapies for juveniles.6 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a problem focused approach to help you identify and change dysfunctional beliefs, thoughts, and patterns of behavior that contribute to their antisocial behavior, whereas Aggression Replacement Therapy teaches youth to use different techniques to control impulsiveness and anger.6
Medication Therapies
Medication Therapies serves the population of juveniles experiencing mental and physical disorders where the objective is to enable youth to remain in the community safely.7 The goal of many programs are to screen juvenile offenders for drug abuse and mental disorders upon entering and provide intervention should the juvenile need it. Intervention includes but is not limited to, treatment for those who are dependent on alcohol or drugs, or mentally ill, drug abuse prevention for those who are not, and HIV prevention or treatment.7