Over 5 million American children under the age of 18 years, a disproportionate number of whom are Black or Latino, have had a residential parent jailed or incarcerated. While a number of existing studies identify parental incarceration as a key risk factor for poor child and family outcomes, there is more limited information describing programs…

Mental health disorders are prevalent among youths in the juvenile justice system. This literature review focuses on the scope of mental health problems of at-risk and justice-involved youths; the impact of mental health on justice involvement as well as the impact of justice involvement on mental health; disparities in mental health treatment in…

An attachment-based, psychotherapeutic parent education course was created for incarcerated mothers and fathers to help improve their ability to provide positive parenting and a more stable home environment for their children. The current study assessed the effects of this parenting curriculum on parents' reported tendencies to be abusive, their…

The current study examined program outcomes for an understudied population of Relationship Education (RE) participants: incarcerated men and women. In addition to relationship functioning, we examined a number of individual and parenting outcomes which had not previously been explored. In a sample of 453 adult inmates, we found improvements in (a)…

Studies that compare recidivism rates between parolees and unconditionally released inmates typically attach these statuses upon release, and then follow these groups until they either fail or meet the censor date. However, this method of identifying former inmates as parolees does not comport with how parolees are conceptualized by the agencies…

Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to describe the effects of career and technical education (CTE) on recidivism for offenders enrolled in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections CareerTech Skills Center School Systems (SCSS) programs. Specifically, the study mined existing CareerTech and ODOC data to: (a) compare the…

The purpose of this study was to explore the beliefs and perceptions of some of the stakeholders directly involved in a GED® program located in a county jail. The researchers investigated the perspectives of the jail's Chief of Programming, GED® supervisor, teachers, and inmates participating in the program. Although gathering data from the…

One hundred and seventy three male juvenile offenders were followed two years postrelease from a residential treatment facility to assess recidivism and factors related to recidivism. The overall recidivism rate was 23.9%. Logistic regression with stepwise and backward variable selection methods was used to examine the relationship between…

Background: In recent years, several states have created mandatory prison-diversion programs for felony drug possessors. These programs have both individual-level goals of reducing recidivism rates and system-level goals of reducing prison populations. Objective: This study examines the individual level and system level impact of Kansas' Senate…

In 2000, the California State Legislature passed what is now known as the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA). This effort was designed to provide a stable funding source to counties for juvenile programs that have been proven effective in curbing crime among juvenile probationers and young at-risk offenders. The Corrections Standards…

The objective of this preliminary study was to determine the effectiveness of a female gender-specific substance abuse treatment intervention (Holistic Enrichment for At-Risk Teens, or HEART) in improving problems related to personal and social functioning. A quasi-experimental, 2-group pretest and posttest repeated measures design was used to…

In 2000, the California State Legislature passed the Schiff-Cardenas Crime Prevention Act, which authorized funding for county juvenile justice programs and designated the Corrections Standards Authority (CSA), formerly named the Board of Corrections, the administrator of funding. California counties receiving state funds for Juvenile Justice…

Evidence-based programs for substance use and HIV prevention (SUHIP) were adapted for high-risk juveniles detained at 24-hour secure correctional facilities. In this pilot study, comparisons were made between adolescents who received the SUHIP intervention and a control group on changes in: (1) knowledge of HIV prevention behaviors, (2) attitudes…

GED [General Educational Development] Tests offer many young adults who have left school a second chance to gain a credential, yet many educators have concerns about policies for very young test-takers and how they perform on the GED Tests. The GED Testing Service sets the absolute minimum age for taking the GED Tests at 16 years of age. However,…

Objective: This study examined intermediate outcomes of a faith-based prisoner reentry program by assessing how client spirituality related to client- and program-level characteristics, investigating differences between completers and terminators, and examining how religious preference, religiosity/spirituality, religious salience, and…