How much do NC teen court programs reduce recidivism among youth under 18?

Project started: May 2, 2023
Department or Agency: NC Department of Public Safety, Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Share this project

Topics
Crime And Law EnforcementDelinquency PreventionJuvenile Justice

Project Overview

Summary

To better understand the use of teen court programs, the Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (DJJDP) at the NC Department of Public Safety(NCDPS) is conducting qualitative and quantitative research to focus on the fidelity of the traditional teen court model in North Carolina and to understand the local impacts the model produces.

The following topics will inform this work:

  1. Implementation: Are teen court programs in North Carolina operated with fidelity to the traditional teen court model?
  2. Impact: To which populations of juveniles is the traditional teen court model most effective for in North Carolina? For example: Older versus younger, first-time referrals versus repeat referrals, legal status, etc. 
  3. Improvement: What strategies should be considered for continuation, expansion, and targeting of teen court programs?
  4. Benefit-cost analysis: Assess the benefit to cost ratio and chance benefits will exceed costs akin to analysis available for NC traditional Teen Court and hybrid models. 

The NC Department of Public Safety, Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the NC Office of Strategic Partnerships (OSP) hosted a research partnership meeting on Monday, June 6 to discuss this project. Click here for the meeting recording and here for NCDPS’s presentation.

Project last updated 8/17/22.

Anticipated deliverables

  • Inventory of traditional teen court models available in North Carolina and their fidelity status, research briefs, presentations, benefit-cost analysis, and policy recommendations.

Planned use of results

Results can help DJJDP improve its comprehension of the implementation and impact of the traditional teen court model on the populations served by DJJDP. Results can also provide actionable information for continuation and expansion of the model and guide decision making for the continuum of services provided by DJJDP in North Carolina.

Data

The DJJDP will be able to support the project by providing juvenile recidivism data on program participants and the requisite comparison group.

The project is in progress.

We plan to post results and deliverables when the project is complete. In the meantime, we welcome questions about the project.

Project point of contact

NC Office of Strategic Partnerships

partnerships@osbm.nc.gov

Project Team

Montreat College

NC Department of Public Safety

This project portal was developed by the NC Office of Strategic Partnerships and The Policy Lab at Brown University. If you have ideas for how to improve it, please let us know!