by Jennifer Jensen, research associate

Vera’s Center on Youth Justice (CYJ) began working with Albany County in 2005 on a number of reforms, including the development and implementation of both a risk assessment instrument (RAI) to help them determine which youth to detain prior to conviction (referred to as adjudication) in family court and which to serve in the community and a continuum of alternative-to-detention (ATD) programming to serve medium-risk youth in the community.

This assistance, which includes both research and technical assistance, is offered through the Detention Assistance Program, an initiative funded by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services.

The RAI and ATDs have been in place for a few years, and CYJ researchers are now providing two types of research support to help government partners assess how both reforms are working. Researchers plan to validate the RAI using statistical analysis of rearrest and failure-to-appear outcomes among youth assessed between 2007 and 2009. Logistic regression will be used to determine how well the RAI predicts which youth are rearrested and/or fail to appear in court. Researchers will also identify and characterize the youth assigned to the ATD programs to determine whether those programs are serving medium-risk youth as intended. For both analyses, CYJ researchers will use individual-level data from the New York State Department of Probation and the family court. These analyses will enable Albany County to assess whether or not its reforms are meeting public safety and court appearance objectives while also utilizing the least restrictive setting for youth when they enter the juvenile justice system.

For more information, contact Jennifer Jensen at jjensen@vera.org.

This story appeared in issue 1 of Vera's Research Newsletter.