September 2003 

Aftercare Services 

Steve V. Gies 

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is presenting a Juvenile 

Justice Practices Series to provide the field with updated research, promising practices, and 

tools for a variety of juvenile justice areas. These Bulletins are important resources for youthserving professionals involved in developing and adopting juvenile justice policies and 

programs, regardless of their funding sources. 

This first Bulletin in the series examines aftercare services that provide youth with 

comprehensive health, mental health, education, family, and vocational services upon their 

release from the juvenile justice system. 

Aftercare can be defined as reintegrative services that prepare out-of-home placed juveniles for reentry 

into the community by establishing the necessary collaborative arrangements with the community to 

ensure the delivery of prescribed services and supervision (Altschuler and Armstrong, 2001). The term 

“aftercare,” however, is something of a misnomer—the process does not begin only after an offender 

is released. Instead, a comprehensive aftercare process typically begins after sentencing and continues 

through incarceration and an offender’s release into the community. Effective aftercare requires a 

seamless set of systems across formal and informal social control networks. It also requires a 

continuum of community services to prevent the recurrence of antisocial behavior, and it can involve 

public-private partnerships to expand the overall capacity of youth services. 

Two key components of the aftercare concept distinguish it from the traditional juvenile justice model. 

First, offenders must receive both services and supervision. (Offenders in the traditional juvenile 

justice system are generally sentenced to some type of supervision and are sometimes provided with 

services.) Second, they must receive intensive intervention while they are incarcerated, during their 

transition to the community, and when they are under community supervision. This second component 

refines the concept of reintegrative services to include services that occur before release as well as 

after release. 

This Bulletin describes how aftercare can address some of the problems that exist in the juvenile 

justice system. It also reviews relevant research, examines aftercare as it relates to system change, 

and identifies promising aftercare programs. 

Office of Justice Programs • Partnerships for Safer Communities • www.ojp.usdoj.gov 
The Need for Aftercare 

Although deterring juveniles from entering the juvenile justice system through prevention activities 

(such as diminishing risk factors and promoting protective factors) is preferable to punishing them, 

some juveniles will commit crimes, and some of those juveniles will commit serious and violent 

crimes for which they will be sentenced to out-of-home placement. The number of adjudicated cases 

resulting in out-of-home placement has increased in recent years, rising 51 percent nationally from 

105,600 in 1987 to 159,400 in 1996 (MacKenzie, 1999). Most juveniles placed out of home will one 

day reenter the community. Thus, the juvenile justice system must address an important question: 

What should be done to prevent the recurrence of antisocial behavior when youthful offenders are 

released from out-of-home placement? 

Most juvenile justice systems rely heavily on the use of restrictive out-of-home placement as a 

sanction for delinquent behavior. However, relying heavily on this restrictive activity has several 

negative consequences for a juvenile justice system. First, out-of-home placement is exceedingly 

expensive. Second, it increases the number of juveniles in institutions, which are already dangerously 

overcrowded. Third, it does little to correct delinquent behavior. Because youth are often released to 

disorganized communities, where it is easy to slip back into the habits that resulted in arrest in the 

first place, any gains made by juvenile offenders in correctional facilities may quickly evaporate 

following their release (Deschenes and Greenwood, 1998). In fact, a large percentage of serious 

juvenile offenders continues to commit crimes and reappear in the juvenile justice system (Krisberg, 

1997). Although determining a specific figure is difficult, researchers estimate that the recidivism 

rate1

 for untreated serious juvenile offenders is about 50 percent (Lipsey, 1999). 2 

The ineffectiveness of restrictive practices has prompted juvenile justice practitioners and researchers 

to explore innovative, research-based programs that help recently released juveniles reenter the 

community. Researchers have hypothesized that providing transitional and reintegrative supervision 

and services to youthful offenders would reduce the high rate of recidivism among parolees. In turn, a 

reduction in recidivism would reduce overcrowding and the expenses associated with out-of-home 

placement. This hypothesis has helped to produce the concept of a comprehensive aftercare system. 

The Research 

A comprehensive aftercare model integrates two distinct fields of criminological research: 

intervention research and community restraint research. Intervention strategies focus on changing 

individual behavior to prevent delinquency. Community restraint strategies prevent criminal activities 

1

 Few studies have examined juvenile recidivism. Most state juvenile corrections agencies do not routinely collect 

these data. Moreover, there is no consensus on how to measure juvenile recidivism. Studies that have examined 

juvenile recidivism employ a number of different indicators, including (1) the proportion of youth who do not 

engage in criminal activity during a specified period of time, (2) the incidence or frequency of reoffending before 

and after intervention, and (3) the severity of crimes committed before and after intervention. 

2

 Lipsey determined this figure by examining the effects of interventions on recidivism (i.e., police contact or arrest) 

using meta-analytic techniques on 200 separate studies. An effect index was computed as the mean difference 

between the treatment and control groups divided by the pooled standard deviation. The overall mean recidivism 

value for treated juveniles was .12 standard deviation units lower than for the control group. This effect index can 

be interpreted to mean that the recidivism rate was lower for juveniles receiving intervention than for those in the 

untreated control group. In other words, a mean effect size of .12 is equivalent to the difference between a 44­

percent recidivism rate for treated juveniles and a 50-percent recidivism rate for the untreated control group.

 2

by reducing an offender’s capacity and opportunity to commit crimes. The following sections 

summarize major findings in each of these areas of research as it relates to aftercare. 

Intervention 

When applied to an aftercare model, intervention strategies (e.g., counseling, behavioral programs, 

restitution, probation, employment, vocational and academic programs) seek to prevent delinquency 

by changing individual behavior. Despite early skepticism regarding intervention programs, recent 

literature reviews and meta-analyses demonstrate that intervention programs can effectively reduce 

delinquency (Lipsey, 2000; Lipsey, 1992; Andrews et al., 1990). In fact, Sherman and colleagues 

report that the “important issue is not whether something works but what works for whom” (Sherman 

et al., 1997). 

A variety of intervention strategies work for juvenile offenders, and successful treatment approaches 

often have common characteristics (Andrews et al., 1990; Sherman et al., 1997). Some of these 

characteristics are described below. 

‚ Targeting specific dynamic and criminogenic characteristics. Although numerous risk factors 

are criminogenic—associated with criminal activity—some, such as age, gender, and early 

criminal behavior, are static—that is, they cannot be changed in treatment. To be effective, 

rehabilitative efforts must focus on factors that are both dynamic—amenable to change—and 

criminogenic. Research indicates that dynamic criminological factors include attitudes, 

cognitions, behavior regarding employment, education, peers, authority, substance abuse, and 

interpersonal relationships that are directly related to an individual’s criminal behavior (Sherman 

et al., 1997). 

‚ Implementing a plan that is strictly adhered to by trained personnel. Programs must have 

therapeutic integrity—that is, they must be delivered according to a specific plan and design. 

Research indicates that incomplete or poorly implemented programs delivered by untrained 

personnel to offenders who spend only a minimal amount of time in the program will not 

successfully reduce recidivism (Altschuler, Armstrong, and MacKenzie, 1999; Sherman et al., 

1997). Systemic barriers to implementing intervention programs include (1) unstable operating 

environments, (2) competing agency priorities, (3) crowded facilities and aggressive diversion 

practices, (4) poor staff selection and training, (5) staff turnover and vacancies, and (6) poor 

access to services because of inadequate transportation or a long distance between the community 

and the institution (Weibush, McNulty, and Le, 2000). 

‚ Requiring staff and offenders to make frequent contact. Frequent and quality interaction 

between service providers and offenders is essential for effective treatment. Moreover, programs 

of longer duration are more successful than programs of shorter duration, regardless of the 

number of individual treatment sessions. The most effective treatment programs provide larger 

amounts of meaningful contact with offenders over a longer treatment period (Lipsey, 1992). 

‚ Using cognitive and behavioral treatments. Lipsey (1992) examined more than 400 program 

evaluations in one of the most extensive meta-analyses3

 of juvenile delinquency programs. He 

found that the most effective intervention programs used structured, focused treatment based on 

behavioral, skills-oriented, and multimodel methods rather than less structured, less focused 

3

 Research on individual intervention programs often lacks sufficient statistical power (i.e., sample size) to detect a 

significant positive effect. Therefore, researchers use the aggregating power of meta-analyses to study intervention 

programs.

 3 
approaches (e.g., counseling). Moreover, evidence indicates greater reductions in recidivism if 

treatment is provided in community settings rather than in institutions (Andrews et al., 1990; 

Lipsey, 1992, 2000). In a meta-analysis of the most serious juvenile offenders, Lipsey, Wilson, 

and Cothern (2000) found that the best programs for institutionalized youth reduced recidivism 

by 30–35 percent, whereas the best programs for noninstitutionalized youth reduced recidivism 

by about 40 percent.4

 The most effective treatments for institutionalized offenders were 

interpersonal skills programs and family-style group homes. The most effective treatments for 

noninstitutionalized offenders were individual counseling, interpersonal skills programs, and 

behavioral programs. The least effective treatment types were wilderness/challenge, early release, 

probation/parole, deterrence, and vocational (noninstitutionalized) and milieu (institutionalized) 

therapy. 

‚ Targeting offenders with the highest risk of recidivism. According to Andrews and colleagues, 

treatment for delinquent behavior is most effective when it is provided to juveniles with the 

highest risk of recidivism (Andrews et al., 1990). Programs that target low-risk offenders show 

little reduction in recidivism because few of those offenders tend to repeat delinquent behavior. In 

a review of 200 studies, Lipsey and colleagues found that the average intervention effect for 

programs directed at serious offenders “was positive, statistically significant, and equivalent to a 

recidivism reduction of about 6 percentage points from a 50 percent baseline, but variation across 

studies was considerable” (Lipsey, Wilson, and Cothern, 2000:4). 

Community Restraint 

Community restraint refers to the surveillance and control of offenders who are enrolled in alternative 

or intermediate sanction programs. Community restraint activities include contact with parole officers 

or other correctional personnel, urine testing for the use of illegal substances, electronic monitoring, 

employment verification, intensive supervision, house arrest, and residence in halfway houses. 

Theoretically, increasing the surveillance of offenders “will prevent criminal activities by reducing 

both their capacity and their opportunity to commit crimes. Additionally, it is expected that the 

punitive nature of the sanctions will act as specific deterrence to reduce the offender’s future criminal 

activity” (Sherman et al., 1997:485). 

Research shows that community restraint is more promising when surveillance is combined with 

treatment. For example, Land and colleagues (1990) examined the North Carolina Court Counselors 

Intensive Protective Supervision Project, in which juvenile offenders (mostly status offenders) 

received both surveillance and treatment. Using a random assignment research design, researchers 

found that youth with no prior offenses had fewer new delinquent offenses than the control group 

(i.e., no treatment, no surveillance). Researchers also found that youth with prior delinquent offenses 

had more delinquent offenses. In another study, Sontheimer and Goodstein (1993) examined an 

intensive aftercare program for serious juvenile offenders in Pennsylvania in which the experimental 

group received both community restraint and services. Using a random assignment research design, 

the evaluation found that the experimental group had significantly fewer rearrests and a lower mean 

number of rearrests compared with the control group (i.e., no treatment, no surveillance). Although 

the research indicates that community restraint alone does not effectively reduce recidivism, evidence 

suggests that combining community restraint and treatment may effectively reduce juvenile 

recidivism. Unfortunately, these studies have a methodological flaw that makes interpreting the 

4

 Using control group results from available studies, the researchers estimated that the recidivism rate for both 

institutionalized and noninstitutionalized juveniles would be approximately 50 percent without treatment.

 4

results difficult. Because the main objective of these programs is restraint, the research designs focus 

on restraint without paying much attention to treatment. As a result, the research cannot separate the 

effects of restraint from the effects of treatment. 

It should also be noted that community restraint programs do not seem to lead to more arrests, at least 

for high-risk offenders; moreover, they may be significantly less costly than incarceration while 

maintaining the same level of public safety. For example, in an evaluation of the Nokomis Challenge 

Program in Michigan, Deschenes and Greenwood (1998) found that after 2 years, there was little 

difference between youth who participated in the program and youth in the control group. However, 

the cost of placing youth in a state training school or private facility was roughly $83,400 for a 2-year 

period, and the cost of placing youth in the Challenge program was approximately $60,500—a 

savings of more than $10,000 a year. 

Aftercare and System Change 

The aftercare concept is more than just a new program. It is a new way of approaching offender 

reintegration, and it generally requires changes in a state’s existing juvenile justice system. The 

current juvenile justice system compartmentalizes the steps in the juvenile justice process and creates 

competing agendas that overlook what should be a shared goal—the prevention of juvenile 

reoffending. For instance, correctional institutions can prepare offenders for release, but their 

authority is generally limited to what happens within the institution, and they are typically less 

concerned about what happens in the community. On the other hand, parole supervision agencies 

influence offender supervision and service provision in the community, but they have little input into 

what occurs in correctional institutions. For a comprehensive aftercare system to work, the 

components of the juvenile justice system must transcend traditional organizational boundaries. The 

court, corrections, parole, law enforcement, education, social services, and prosecution must work 

together. Two of the most important strategies in transcending these boundaries include building 

program support and developing interagency collaboration. 

Building Program Support 

The first step toward developing an aftercare model is to build program support at the leadership and 

staff levels. This process for building community support is evident in the Intensive Aftercare 

Program (IAP) in Colorado, Nevada, and Virginia (see below). Each of these states has developed 

community support by garnering the cooperation of high-level decisionmakers from relevant agencies, 

managers of various operational units, supervisors, and line staff. The sites used several mechanisms 

to gain support, but the most important factor was their decision to include many people in the 

planning and development stages of the program (Weibush, McNulty, and Le, 2000). 

Developing Interagency Collaboration 

Equally important to effective system change is developing interagency collaboration. Interagency 

collaboration is a key strategy because it reconnects fragmented human services organizations to 

create an efficient system that addresses the multiple needs of incarcerated youth. Its partnerships 

form durable and pervasive relationships that are characterized by mutual benefits, interdependence, 

and a formal commitment to working together for specific purposes and outcomes (Walter and Petr, 

2000). An effective collaborative effort involves multiple agencies (both public and private) that work 

to provide integrated services and supervision to juvenile offenders from their entrance into the 

juvenile justice system, through confinement, and into their release. “For example, corrections 

agencies would create linkages between in-prison job training and community-based employment and 

job training and between in-prison healthcare and community-based health care” (Travis and 

5

Petersilia, 2001:308). In other words, by creating an institutional support system that mirrors the 

support system that offenders will have in the community, a comprehensive aftercare system prepares 

offenders for their release and gives them the tools they need to succeed. 

The implementation of IAP in Colorado and Virginia provides a useful illustration of how to develop 

successful collaborative partnerships. By creating a multiagency service provider network of both 

residential and nonresidential programs, Colorado developed an expansive public-private partnership 

that provides a full range of services. Similarly, Virginia maximizes the number and types of services 

made available to IAP youth by creating and sustaining relationships with key community 

organizations, accessing several different funding sources, and using resources that previously may 

not have served the juvenile parole population (Weibush, McNulty, and Le, 2000). 

Promising Aftercare Programs 

Over the years, several experimental comprehensive aftercare programs have been created. The most 

prominent of these include the Philadelphia Intensive Probation Aftercare Program, the Juvenile 

Aftercare in Maryland Drug Treatment Program, the Skillman Intensive Aftercare Project, and the 

Michigan Nokomis Challenge Program. Evaluations of these programs have produced mixed results,5 

mostly because of poor program design and implementation rather than a faulty concept. For example, 

some programs targeted individuals who were a low recidivism risk. Other programs lasted only a 

short time or, in the case of physical challenge programs (i.e., programs that emphasize rigorous 

outdoor activities), focused on noncriminogenic factors and lacked a sufficient treatment component. 

Lessons learned from these early programs have fueled the evolution of a comprehensive aftercare 

philosophy. Today, several promising programs combine intervention with community restraint to 

form an aftercare design that prepares juveniles for reentry into the community. These programs vary 

slightly in origin, design, and approach, but all share the aftercare concept (i.e., incarceration that 

includes a major focus on structured transition and a followup period characterized by surveillance 

and the provision of community services). 

The Intensive Aftercare Program Model 

IAP is an intensive community-based research and demonstration initiative supported by OJJDP. The 

IAP model seeks to reduce recidivism among high-risk parolees by better preparing them for release 

into the community. IAP is based on data-driven research (described above) that shows that a highly 

structured and enhanced transition from confinement to the community would benefit parolees in 

areas such as family and peer relations, education, jobs, substance abuse, mental health, and 

recidivism without negatively affecting the community. 

The Altschuler and Armstrong aftercare model (see figure) integrates the criminological theories 

of strain, social learning, and social control to explain serious chronic delinquency. Altschuler and 

Armstrong postulate that “serious, chronic delinquency is related to: (1) weak controls produced by 

inadequate socialization, social disorganization, and strain, (2) strain, which can have a direct effect 

on delinquency independent of weak controls and which is also produced by social disorganization, 

and (3) peer group influences that intervene as a social force between a youth with weak bonds and/or 

strain on the one hand and delinquent behavior on the other” (Altschuler and Armstrong, 1994:3). 

5

 See Sontheimer and Goodstein, 1993; Sealock, Gottfredson, and Gallagher, 1997; Greenwood, Deschenes, and 

Adams, 1993; Deschenes, Greenwood, and Marshall, 1996; and Deschenes and Greenwood, 1998.

 6 
Moreover, they argue that effective intervention requires intensive supervision and services—both 

after release and during reintegration and incarceration. They also advocate a highly structured and 

gradual transition process that links institutionalization and aftercare. Consequently, Altschuler and 

Armstrong argue that the IAP model should be thought of “as a correctional continuum consisting 

of three distinct, yet overlapping, segments: (1) pre-release and preparatory planning during 

incarceration; (2) structured transition that requires the participation of institutional and aftercare 

staff prior to and following community reentry; and (3) long-term, reintegrative activities that ensure 

adequate service delivery and the necessary level of social control” (Altschuler and Armstrong, 

1996:15). 

Intervention Model for Juvenile Intensive Aftercare 

Source. Altschuler, Armstrong, and MacKenzie, 1999 

The central component of the IAP model is its overarching case management system. It is the 

mechanism that “achieves coordinated planning and continuous, consistent service provision, referral, 

and monitoring of juvenile offenders who have been committed to secure confinement and who will 

need to be transitioned to aftercare status in the community” (Altschuler and Armstrong, 1994:7). The 

five elements of the case management system provide explicit guidance for successful transition and 

aftercare. These elements are described below. 

‚ Risk assessment and classification. To maximize its potential for crime reduction, IAP focuses 

on high-risk offenders. Jurisdictions intent on implementing the IAP model need to use a 

validated risk-screening instrument to accurately identify high-risk youth. 

‚ Individualized case planning that incorporates family and community perspectives. This 

component specifies the need for institutional and aftercare staff to jointly identify the treatment 

and service needs of an offender shortly after commitment and to plan how those needs will be 

addressed during incarceration, transition, and community aftercare. The component requires 

addressing the problems of youth in relation to their families, peers, schools, and other social 

networks. 

‚ A mix of intensive surveillance and services. Although the IAP model offers close supervision 

and control of high-risk offenders in the community, it also emphasizes the need for intensive 

services and treatment. This dual approach requires both a sufficient number of qualified staff to 

keep caseloads small and funds to support the provision of services. Ideally, IAP services parallel 

those that are initiated in institutional care. 

7

‚ A balance of graduated incentives and consequences. The IAP model requires the use of 

sanctions to punish inappropriate behavior or program infractions and rewards to encourage 

compliance and mark progress. Because intensive supervision programs are intrusive, numerous 

technical violations (e.g., curfew violations) are likely to occur. Instead of relying on a one-sizefits-all solution, the IAP model requires a range of graduated sanctions that are directly and 

proportionately tied to the seriousness of the violation. A number of approaches have been 

employed to monitor progress, reinforce prosocial conduct, and guide program advancement. 

Approaches range from relatively simple mechanisms, such as those involving frequent case 

reviews incorporating peers and family, to elaborately structured token economies6

 in which 

particular privileges and rewards are tied directly to meeting specific goals and objectives 

(Altschuler and Armstrong, 2001). 

‚ Links with community resources and social networks. To meet the broad range and depth of 

services required for high-risk, high-need parolees, the IAP model creates alliances and 

partnerships among a host of departments, agencies, and organizations. Because interventions 

focus on family, school, peer, and community issues, case managers and service agencies need to 

create strong working relationships among these social networks. Successfully achieving this goal 

will often directly affect the outcome of a program. 

The IAP model has been implemented in three7

 demonstration sites: Colorado, Nevada, and Virginia. 

The sites have the same basic eligibility criteria. To be eligible, youth must— 

‚ Be male.


‚ Have been committed to the custody of the state juvenile corrections agency.


‚ Live in a selected county or counties.


‚ Be placed at a specified juvenile correctional facility.


‚ Be at high risk of reoffending (based on the results of a site-specific risk assessment instrument).8


Youth who meet all of the eligibility criteria are placed in the IAP-eligible pool and randomly 

assigned to either IAP or the control group by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency 

(NCCD). Details of program eligibility and selection are found in table 1. 

6

 Token economies are part of a reinforcement system that provides token awards to motivate individuals to modify 

behavior. 

7

 Participation in the IAP demonstration by a fourth site (Essex and Camden Counties, NJ) ended in 1997. After a 

promising first year of implementation, program development stalled and the project could not be reinvigorated. The 

New Jersey site ceased participation in December 1997. 

8

 With outside technical assistance, IAP sites developed risk measurement tools using a cohort of juveniles released 

to parole in the early 1990s and outcome measures that included data on any new arrest or revocation within a 1­

year period after release. The youth identified as “high risk” on each of the scales had recidivism rates of 60 to 70 

percent, depending on the site. In Colorado, for example, the recidivism rate among high-risk youth was 68 percent, 

whereas it was 41 percent for medium-risk youth and 22 percent for low-risk youth.

 8 
Table 1: IAP Eligibility and Selection 

IAP Site 

Eligibility Criteria Colorado Nevada Virginia 

Legal status Committed Committed Committed 

County of residence Denver, Arapahoe, Jefferson Clark (Las Vegas) City of Norfolk 

Facility placement Lookout Mountain Caliente Beaumont Hanover (since 

3/97) 

Risk of reoffending High risk High risk High risk 

Gender Males Males Males 

Age 12–18 12–18 13–18 (16–18 prior to 3/97) 

Excluded offenses None Sex offenses Murder, rape, arson (with 

determinant commitment to 

age 21) 

Excluded conditions Severe mental health Severe mental health or Pending charges or sentence 

problems; developmental medical problems. in adult court; potential 

disabilities. rescinded commitment; 

severe mental health or 

substance abuse problems; 

prior IAP. 

Location and timing of At separate diagnostic facility; While in local detention; prior At separate diagnostic facility; 

selection after completion of 30-day to assessment and after 60-day assessment/ 

assessment and classification classification process. (IAP classification process and 

process and facility placement selection determines facility facility placement decision. 

decision. placement.) 

Number of youth, 

randomized to 11/30/98 

IAP 82 104 76 

Control 68 108 45 

Total 150 212 121 

Inclusion in the demonstration program required the use of the IAP intervention framework, program 

principles, and program elements, which served as the foundation for local program designs. 

However, to create the best fit between the model’s parameters and the local context, each site had a 

great deal of flexibility in developing a specific design. As a result, the sites share key IAP features, 

but they also incorporate individual program characteristics (Weibush, McNulty, and Le, 2000). 

Details of the three programs are summarized below, as is the status of the IAP evaluation. 

Colorado Intensive Aftercare Program. The Colorado project, which is operated by the Colorado 

Division of Youth Corrections (DYC), serves the Denver metropolitan area, including parts of 

Arapahoe, Denver, and Jefferson Counties. In addition to being assessed with the standard battery of 

educational and psychological instruments used to develop individualized case plans, IAP participants 

are evaluated with enhanced assessment techniques (e.g., Youth Offender Level of Service Inventory 

and the Adolescent Living Independently Via Education and Employment). One of the key 

components of the Colorado program is its continuity of service delivery. During the institutional 

phase, community-based providers begin weekly services that continue through aftercare. The 

Colorado program provides vocational skills training, individual counseling, parent orientation, 

experiential learning activities, and anger management and survival skills groups. Moreover, family 

members of IAP youth are involved in multifamily counseling groups. Sixty days prior to release, IAP 

youth begin a series of stepdown measures, including supervised trips to the community and, 30 days 

before release, overnight or weekend trips home. Upon release, IAP youth continue to receive services 

and are subject to various surveillance provisions. For example, most program youth go through 

several months of day treatment programming that provides a high level of structure during the day. 

9

The Colorado program also requires frequent (once per week) contact with the supervision team. 

Other monitoring or surveillance-oriented activities include curfews and random urinalysis. IAP youth 

have access to a comprehensive provider network that involves 25 different agencies offering a full 

range of services. Funding for these services is provided through a combination of DYC contractual 

dollars, IAP funding, and an additional pool of state subsidy money. 

For additional information on the Colorado Intensive Aftercare Program, contact: 

David Bennett 

Division of Youth Corrections 

4111 South Julian Way 

Denver, CO 80236 

303–866–7931 

303–866–7930 (fax) 

www.cdhs.state.co.us/dyc/about.htm 

Nevada Intensive Aftercare Program. The Nevada IAP project, which is located in Clark County 

(Las Vegas), is administered by the Nevada Youth Parole Bureau. After youth are selected through a 

screening process and randomly assigned to the IAP program, they are sent to the Nevada Youth 

Training Center for an initial 3-week assessment. Then the youth are transferred to the Caliente Youth 

Center, where they are exposed to a special prerelease curriculum (including Jettstream and Rational 

Recovery) that focuses primarily on life skills. Afterwards, the youth begin an initial 30 days of 

“furlough” release that involves service provision, intensive supervision, day programming, frequent 

drug testing, and evening and weekend surveillance. As with the Virginia program (see below), after 

offenders successfully complete the furlough, their IAP transition continues through phased levels of 

supervision. During the first 3 months, three contacts per week with the case manager or field agent 

are required. This level of supervision is reduced to two contacts per week for the next 2 months and 

then reduced again to once per week during the last month of parole. Other monitoring and 

surveillance-oriented activities include curfews and random urinalysis, house arrest, and electronic 

monitoring. Compared with the Colorado and Virginia sites, Nevada struggled to create community 

links and provide brokered services to the IAP youth. Ultimately, Nevada contracted with a day 

treatment provider to offer core services such as life skills training, tutoring, anger management, and a 

continuation of the Jettstream and Rational Recovery classes. 

For additional information on the Nevada Intensive Aftercare program, contact: 

Bruce Kennedy 

Nevada Youth Parole Bureau 

620 Belrose Street, Suite E 

Las Vegas, NV 89158 

702–486–5080 

702–486–5087 (fax) 

http://dcfs.state.nv.us/page22.html 

Virginia Intensive Parole Program. The Virginia IAP project, the Intensive Parole Program (IPP), 

is located in the city of Norfolk and operated by the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice. 

Participants are identified through an intensive aftercare risk assessment instrument. IPP differs from 

the other two IAP sites in that its central feature is the use of group home placement, which serves as 

a bridge between the institution and the community. Youth stay at the group home for 30 to 60 days 

 10

following incarceration. The programs and services they receive center around a life skills program 

and are initiated shortly after their placement in the group home. Other activities and services include 

a vocational assessment and individual counseling. In addition, parents of IAP youth participate in 

counseling groups run by the service providers and receive other community services. Virginia uses a 

formal stepdown system to gradually ease the intensity of parole supervision. In the 2 months 

following a youth*s release from the group home, IAP staff are required to contact him five to seven 

times per week. This contact is reduced to three to five times per week during the next 2 months and 

is reduced again to three times per week during the final 30 days in the program. Other surveillanceoriented activities include curfews and random urinalysis, house arrest, electronic monitoring, random 

paging, and monthly court reviews. Virginia also offers a variety of services to IAP youth upon their 

release. Approximately 15 different public and private community-based organizations provide 

services that include alternative education, a specialized public school reentry class, vocational 

programs, mental health and family preservation services, and substance abuse treatment and relapse 

prevention programs. Access to these services is enhanced by the availability of flexible funds, 

including IAP grant money and a $2 million state subsidy. In addition to these brokered services, 

parole staff provide counseling for life skills and substance abuse and offer access to participation in 

youth and parent groups. 

For additional information on the Virginia Intensive Parole program, contact: 

Scott Reiner 

Department of Juvenile Justice 

700 East Franklin Street, Fourth Floor 

Richmond, VA 23218 

804–371–0720 

804–371–0773 (fax) 

IAP evaluation. Although an outcome evaluation of the IAP model is currently being conducted, the 

process evaluation reveals that the implemented programs have been relatively successful. Weibush, 

McNulty, and Le (2000) found that the IAP demonstrations in Colorado, Nevada, and Virginia largely 

reflect their program designs and the intent of the IAP model and have resulted in supervision and 

services for IAP youth that are quite different from those received by traditional parolees. The sites 

have generated internal and external support for the program; identified and selected the high-risk, 

high-need youth intended by the model; and, using a team approach, served these youth through small, 

IAP-only caseloads. By developing a host of mechanisms that facilitate the transition between 

institution and aftercare, the projects also have responded successfully to the central feature of the 

IAP model. These mechanisms include early parole planning, routine institutional visits by aftercare 

case managers, and stepdown structures and procedures to facilitate community reentry. By focusing 

on transition-related activities, these programs have dramatically improved the level of coordination 

and communication between institutional and aftercare staff. The programs have also facilitated youth 

involvement in community services almost immediately after institutional release. 

The next step in the implementation process is to complete the outcome evaluation, which will 

determine how well the IAP program affects participating youth by comparing them with youth 

enrolled in traditional institutional and aftercare models. Data will be collected on the characteristics 

of the youth, the extent and nature of supervision and services provided, and intermediate and longrange outcomes. The analysis will use an experimental design (a 1-year postrelease followup period 

and multiple measures of reoffending behavior) to examine recidivism among the IAP youth and 

control groups. A series of standardized pretests and posttests also will be used to assess intermediate 

 11

outcomes in selected areas of youth and family functioning. The tests will provide evidence to suggest 

“whether a well-conceived and strongly implemented IAP model will have the desired effect of 

reducing recidivism and recommitments among high-risk parolees” (Weibush, McNulty, and Le, 

2000:17). 

The Thomas O’Farrell Youth Center 

The Thomas O’Farrell Youth Center (TOYC) is an unlocked, staff-secure, residential program located 

in Woodstock, MD, outside of Baltimore, and operated by the North American Family Institute under 

contract with the Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice. The TOYC program includes a residential 

treatment program for male youth ages 13–18 who have been committed to the Maryland Department 

of Juvenile Services. On average, these youth spend 8 months in the residential phase of the program, 

followed by 9 months in the specialized aftercare component. The aftercare component, which 

actually begins immediately after admission, is designed to help youth make the transition from 

residential care to the community. The typical TOYC resident is a chronic and serious property 

offender. The center is not specifically equipped to handle sex offenders or arsonists. 

Because youth entering the program often have delinquent or antisocial norms that guide their 

behavior, the center uses a normative therapy treatment model to help residents develop positive 

social norms. Through the use of group activities, the normative model diverts youth away from 

antisocial norms and emphasizes healthy values. This evolutionary process typically involves three 

stages of normative change, which are described below. 

‚ Active persuasion. To foster positive community norms, staff and resident peer groups actively 

persuade residents to accept a change in their concepts, beliefs, and behaviors. 

‚ Cognitive dissonance. Psychological research suggests that individuals who experience a change 

in their normative values develop emotional conflict as the gap widens between old and new 

beliefs. This psychological tension is known as cognitive dissonance. The TOYC program strives 

to assuage cognitive dissonance by demonstrating the validity of the new social situation while 

simultaneously attacking the old belief system. 

‚ Inoculation. Inoculation introduces social change through small doses of highly controlled 

challenges and gives youth an opportunity to test new values and behavior patterns in a controlled 

environment. TOYC staff inoculate youth in a variety of ways—for example, by normalizing the 

residential environment and getting the youth to participate in off-campus activities, community 

service projects, camping trips, role-playing activities, sporting events, and other recreational 

activities. 

The center uses a point system to guide youth through the stages of normative change. This system 

provides positive reinforcement and establishes graduated phases in which the youth receive 

additional liberties as they progress from one phase to another. The point system encourages positive 

behavior by providing TOYC youth with the opportunity to earn special privileges such as home 

passes, off-campus activities, special recreational opportunities, and salaried employment. The phase 

system creates challenges designed to promote the mastery of community norms and program tools. 

These phases include the following: 

‚ Initiation. The group process is the foundation of the TOYC community. On arrival, TOYC 

residents are divided into 4 groups of up to 10 youth and assigned to a treatment team. Each group 

lives in a separate dormitory, eats together, engages in a work detail as a unit, and participates in 

(and eventually directs) small group discussions and problem-solving sessions. During initiation, 

12

the youth learn the mission of TOYC, the dynamics of the various group processes, and the 

expected program outcomes. To move to the next phase, TOYC youth must seek and receive 

approval by consensus of their peer group. After consensus is reached, the treatment team is 

convened to test the skills and knowledge acquired by the youth during the orientation period. The 

team must reach agreement to pass youth to the next phase. The initiation phase lasts at least 28 

days, but it may be extended for several weeks. 

‚ Phase 1. During phase 1, youth must demonstrate expertise in the group process by being active 

participants, following all TOYC norms, performing daily maintenance details, and participating 

in on-campus jobs. To move to Phase 2, TOYC residents must demonstrate consistent and 

positive behavior in all aspects of the TOYC program, including school attendance, work details, 

group meetings, meal times, and phone usage. With the consensus of their peers and the treatment 

support team, youth can apply for advancement. This phase lasts for at least 60 days. 

‚ Phase 2. During phase 2, youth must demonstrate proficiency in the group process by educating 

other group members about it. Phase 2 also requires enrollment in a specialized treatment program 

such as Alcoholics Anonymous. During Phase 2, youth may periodically leave the center, and 

they are permitted to visit their homes (a urinalysis test is given upon their return) and to have a 

part-time job off campus. Finally, Phase 2 prepares youth for release by formulating a community 

treatment aftercare plan designed to extend the TOYC environment into the community. 

‚ Aftercare. After completing Phase 2, youth enter the aftercare component, in which they make 

the transition from residential living to community living. The goal of the aftercare program is to 

maintain intensive contact with program youth and to prepare them for living a prosocial life in 

the community. During this phase, each TOYC youth receives postrelease services from two 

aftercare workers. Services include assistance in reentering school, vocational counseling, crisis 

intervention, family counseling, transportation, and mentoring. TOYC staff contact youth at least 

12 days per month for 6 months and often accompany them to counseling or Alcoholic 

Anonymous meetings. Staff also involve parents, school officials, and community organizations 

in the life of the youth. Finally, TOYC aftercare staff work with probation officers from the 

Maryland Department of Juvenile Services to provide surveillance and to ensure compliance with 

court mandates. 

An NCCD evaluation of the TOYC program showed promising results (Krisberg, 1992). The 

evaluation, which used a pretest and posttest design, found that the majority (55 percent) of the first 

56 TOYC graduates had no further court referrals in the year following release (11.6 months)—a 

recidivism rate of 45 percent. The evaluation also revealed a dramatic decline in the number of 

offenses committed by program participants after their release from TOYC. Compared with 219 

offenses committed during the year prior to their placement in TOYC, the same youth were charged 

with only 51 offenses a year after their release from TOYC—a decline of 77 percent. Finally, the 

evaluation also showed that youth who committed new crimes after leaving TOYC were likely to 

commit less serious offenses than those committed prior to placement. Even though no control group 

was used in the evaluation, these findings are promising. The TOYC recidivism rate (45 percent) 

compares favorably with a baseline recidivism rate (approximately 50 percent) for untreated serious 

juvenile offenders (Lipsey, 1999). The treatment is (arguably) responsible for a 5-percent drop in 

recidivism of high-risk youth. However, this analysis cannot determine if the 5 percent is or is not 

significant. 

13

For additional information on TOYC, contact: 

John Yates, Director 

Thomas O’ Farrell Youth Center 

7960 Henryton Road 

Marriottsville, MD 21104 

410–549–6330 

The Bethesda Day Treatment Center 

The Bethesda Day Treatment Center in West Milton, PA, is a private, nonprofit corporation that was 

established in 1983 with OJJDP formula grant funds provided through the Pennsylvania Commission 

on Crime and Delinquency. The center, which consists of several facilities in 18 Pennsylvania 

counties, offers an array of intervention options, including treatment foster care, alternative education, 

group homes, drug and alcohol counseling, and intensive community-based intervention. The center 

also includes an intensive aftercare component designed to reintegrate youth released from 

institutional placement. The center serves male and female youth ages 12–17 who are discharged from 

various institutions and placements. The program receives most of its referrals from court orders 

based on recommendations from area juvenile courts and other organizations that serve children and 

youth. Often, youth are discharged from costly residential placement sooner than expected and are 

returned to their own communities under the center’s intensive community-based supervision. The 

program is funded entirely by the communities, and the state reimburses counties up to 80 percent of 

the treatment costs for community-based services. On average, youth stay in the program for 6 

months, though some stay for as long as 12 months. 

After being released from institutional care, Bethesda youth are either placed in day treatment or 

moved directly to the aftercare portion of the program. The day treatment program begins with a 

needs assessment interview and a diagnostic evaluation, both of which are conducted by a designated 

caseworker. The diagnostic evaluation includes individual and family histories, behavioral 

observation reports, and familial, psychological, educational, and medical assessments. After the 

evaluation, a treatment plan is formulated and tailored to the specific needs of the youth. At the 

beginning of treatment, and at the start of each 3-month period thereafter, center staff map a 

therapeutic direction by defining short-term goals and the appropriate units of service. 

To alter the antisocial behavior of the youth in its care, the Bethesda treatment program offers life 

skills training, career opportunities, and a variety of counseling activities. According to individual 

needs assessments, the center tailors its treatment plan by applying approximately 7 to 10 different 

units of service to identified problem areas each week. The center defines a unit of service as a 

treatment modality (e.g., counseling, social interaction, family intervention) that specifically 

addresses a youth’s needs and problem areas. The units of service are divided into three main 

categories: client-based, group-based, and family-based. The following are the 19 units of service 

within these categories: 

Client-based services 

‚ Intake interviews are used to formulate and apply an appropriate treatment plan. 

‚ Casework combines psychological and social needs assessments to build a treatment plan. 

‚ Service and treatment planning ensures the integrity of the treatment. 

 14

‚ Individual counseling sessions are used to discuss progress in the program, personal problems, 

feelings, goals, and other areas of need. 

‚ Psychological counseling is provided by licensed psychologists to meet the psychological needs 

of the youth. 

‚ Intensive supervision (i.e., direct supervision or intensive services provided by staff) ensures 

accountability to the treatment schedule and structure. 

‚ Study skills improve individual academic performance. 

‚ School and jobsite visits monitor youth compliance with authority while in school and at work. 

Group-based services 

‚ Social interaction develops social skills by encouraging the youth to participate in a group setting 

where they learn to interact with each other and to adhere to the program structure. 

‚ Group counseling builds leadership and decisionmaking, interpersonal adjustment, teamfunctioning, and coping skills. 

‚ Life and job skills training enhances independence and the performance of daily activities. 

‚ Games, crafts, art, and music activities teach the youth how to interact socially within an 

accepted set of norms and behaviors. 

‚ Physical activity/training teaches the youth about constructive competition, sportsmanship, 

individual achievement, sharing, taking turns, group cohesiveness, and following rules. 

‚ Outdoor camping experience provides opportunities to win awards, mix with youth from other 

centers, and build cultural awareness. 

‚ Field trips expose offenders to community resources in an effort to stimulate cultural 

development. 

Family-based services 

‚ Home visits take clinical operations into the field (at least once a week) to offer a more indepth 

analysis of the youth in a personal environment. 

‚ Family counseling is designed to enhance communication among family members. 

‚ Parental counseling places a strong emphasis on the needs of the parent(s), many of whom need 

encouragement and assistance in dealing with their children. 

‚ Family intervention and training services provide programs and training for parents and 

families to enhance family stability and to increase the family’s capacity to function 

independently. 

After youth complete the day treatment program or are released from institutional placement, they 

enter the aftercare component of the program, which is designed to provide necessary services and 

supervision and to minimize reentry problems. The aftercare component uses a needs assessment to 

determine youth’s clinical needs. Once those needs are determined, aftercare staff refer youth to the 

appropriate agencies. Community integration enables the center to use various community resources. 

For instance, youth may be referred to mental health services, family planning services, or private 

consultants who offer expertise in areas such as group counseling, life skills, or job skills. The center 

15

also maintains a relationship with several activity sites throughout the community (e.g., nursing 

homes, state schools, campsites, parks) that provide treatment services for youth. Finally, to ensure 

attendance at all activities, the center provides transportation services. 

The center’s aftercare component incorporates these treatment services with an intensive supervision 

program. (Intensive supervision refers to any direct supervision or intensive services provided by the 

staff to ensure youth accountability to the treatment structure.) Intensive supervision includes search 

and rescue, 24-hour crisis intervention, and detention accountability sessions. Accountability sessions, 

which are designed to provide immediate consequences for negative behavior, typically involve 

separation from the group and/or additional time in the program. 

A preliminary study of the Bethesda program (Howell, 1998) revealed a recidivism rate of only 5 

percent in the first year after discharge, a rate that compares favorably with an estimated baseline 

recidivism rate of 50 percent for untreated serious juvenile offenders (Lipsey, 1999). This finding, 

although impressive, must be viewed in the context of the study’s small sample size (n = 20) and lack 

of a control group. Nevertheless, evidence does suggest that the Bethesda Day Treatment Center is a 

promising aftercare program for delinquent youth. 

For additional information on the Bethesda Day Treatment Center, contact: 

Jerilyn Keen, President 

Bethesda Day Treatment Center 

P.O. Box 270

Central Oak Heights 

West Milton, PA 17886 

717–568–1131 

717–568–1134 (fax) 

Florida Environmental Institute 

The Florida Environmental Institute (FEI), also known as the Last Chance Ranch, is a residential and 

aftercare facility located in the Florida Everglades. The FEI facility contains no locks, bars, or cells, 

but it is completely surrounded by forests and swamps and maintains a low student-to-staff ratio to 

provide security. FEI serves males ages 15–18 who have a history of serious delinquent behavior (an 

average of 18 delinquent offenses and 11.5 felonies), including crimes against persons and property 

and drug offenses. FEI has the capacity to house 22 juveniles in its residential facility, and it can 

monitor up to 22 additional youth in aftercare. On average, youth participate in the program for 18 

months, with a residential stay of at least 9 months, after which they return to the community in the 

aftercare program. FEI is operated by the Associated Marine Institutes, a network of 51 affiliated 

residential and nonresidential programs in 7 states (Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, South 

Carolina, Texas, and Virginia) and the Cayman Islands. The primary source of funding for FEI is the 

Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. 

The theoretical model of the FEI program seeks to reduce recidivism by focusing on educational and 

vocational skills. Structurally, the program consists of three graduated phases (each with several 

levels), through which participants progress until they are released from the program. The three 

phases of the FEI program are graduated according to the degree of restriction. The phases range from 

a highly supervised rural setting in phase I to a nonresidential locale in phase III. Youth progress 

through the phases by earning points for positive behavior under a strict behavior management 

regimen. The point system provides a constant reminder that good behavior will be rewarded. Each 

 16

youth earns roughly 1⁄2 or 11⁄2 point cards per week and must earn 12 cards to complete each of the 

levels. Rule infractions may hinder the ability to earn points. To monitor their progress, youth are 

ranked five times per day in seven behavior areas: (1) being on time, (2) appearance, (3) attitude, (4) 

leadership, (5) participation, (6) enthusiasm, and (7) manners. 

The program begins with a tough 3-day orientation known as O Camp. During O Camp, staff 

members initiate an assessment and outline the program’s rules, philosophy, and expectations. During 

this orientation, caseworkers establish a treatment plan, assign work projects, and initiate a bonding 

process. If the offender resists the rules, the orientation may be extended by a day or two. After 

completing O Camp, the youth move into phase I and progress through each of the phases, as 

described below. 

‚ Phase I. The goal of phase I is to provide 24-hour-a-day residential care using constructive 

punishment in a demanding environmental setting (i.e., a primitive camp site surrounded by 

forests and swampland). This phase stresses academic education and physical labor to reduce 

recidivism. During this phase, youth receive individualized academic education, participate in 

labor-intensive projects such as forestry work, perform camp duties, care for farm animals and 

crops, and clean and repair ranch facilities. Phase I is characterized by a low student-to-staff ratio 

and austere living conditions. This phase generally lasts 6 months, and participants must progress 

through the “Tenderfoot,” “Ranch Hand,” and “Buckaroo” levels. 

‚ Phase II. The goal of phase II is to demonstrate that positive behavior yields tangible rewards. At 

the start of phase II, youth are relocated to more comfortable living conditions. They are required 

to continue their academic and ranch work, but phase II activities include community service and 

environmental projects that offer youth money, which they use to pay restitution for their crimes. 

Near the end of this phase, participants can earn the privilege to return home with a staff member 

to begin to find work, rebuild family relationships, and arrange aftercare services. This phase lasts 

about 6 months. 

‚ Phase III. The goal of phase III is to transfer youth safely back into the community. During the 

month before they leave the ranch, youth work closely with counselors to develop aftercare plans. 

After their release, youth are placed under a strict curfew and receive at least four contacts per 

week from an FEI community coordinator and frequent calls from the case manager. In addition, 

coordinators actively help youth return to school, find employment, and secure services or 

benefits. This support system continues for 6 months, when the youth graduate from the program. 

If, during this time, youth engage in criminal activity, they can be returned to the residential part 

of the program. Contact with youth is maintained for 3 years after their release. 

Several assessments of the FEI program have produced positive (but limited) results suggesting that 

the FEI aftercare model successfully reduces recidivism among juvenile offenders. The first study 

(Weaver, 1989), which involved a 3-year followup of 21 FEI graduates, found that only one-third of 

the FEI sample was convicted of new crimes during the 3-year period. However, because no control 

group was used in the study, assessing the program’s effectiveness is difficult. Nonetheless, FEI 

graduates perform favorably when compared with youth released from traditional training schools, 

who have much higher recidivism rates (50 to 70 percent). 

Another assessment of the FEI model, the 1992 Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative 

Services (DHRS) study of recidivism, compared the outcomes of seven residential programs, 

including the FEI program, for high-risk offenders. The study revealed impressive results: only 36 

percent of FEI participants were referred to the juvenile court after release (compared with 47–73 

17

percent from the other six programs). Moreover, none of the 11 FEI youth were readjudicated or 

recommitted to DHRS during the followup period. Readjudication rates in the other facilities ranged 

from 20 to 50 percent (Howell, 1998). More recently, a similar study conducted by the Florida 

Department of Juvenile Justice found comparable results. This study found that between 1997 and 

2000, only 9 of 57 serious juvenile offenders (16 percent) released from FEI were found guilty of new 

offenses during the first 12 months after program completion (compared with an average rate of 

subsequent convictions of more than 40 percent for all Florida institutions serving juvenile offenders) 

(Mendel, 2001). 

In summary, analyses indicate that FEI holds great promise as a juvenile aftercare program model for 

serious and chronic juvenile offenders. It is important, however, to interpret both of the Florida 

studies cautiously, considering that (1) none of the programs was specifically designated as a control 

group for any of the others, (2) the FEI sample in each study was small, and (3) the results were based 

only on returns to the juvenile justice system. Other outcome indicators could include the incidence 

and frequency of waivers to the criminal justice system, the incidence and frequency of reoffending 

before and after intervention, and the severity of crimes committed before and after intervention. 

Nevertheless, the results from each assessment suggest that FEI is a promising aftercare model. 

For additional information on FEI, contact: 

Robert Weaver, CEO 

Associated Marine Institutes 

5915 Benjamin Center Drive 

Tampa, FL 33634 

813–887–3300 

813–889–8092 (fax) 

Project CRAFT 

Project CRAFT (Community Restitution and Apprenticeship Focused Training) is a Home Builders 

Institute (HBI)9

 initiative offering comprehensive treatment, prerelease, and aftercare services to 

juvenile offenders. Project CRAFT can be used for prevention or intervention and as an alternative to 

incarceration. Designed to promote the employment of economically disadvantaged out-of-school and 

incarcerated youth ages 16–21 by providing industry-validated training in home building skills, 

Project CRAFT can be implemented in residential juvenile correctional facilities or as a communitybased program for youth in aftercare or under day treatment supervision. Through funding from the 

U.S. Department of Labor, Project CRAFT was originally implemented in three locations nationwide: 

Sabillasville, MD; Bismarck, ND; and Nashville, TN. Currently, the program is being replicated in 

nine other sites in Colorado, Florida, and Ohio. 

By partnering with private juvenile and correctional facilities, juvenile judges, juvenile justice system 

personnel, education agencies, community-based organizations, and other human services agencies, 

Project CRAFT helps program youth successfully return to the community. Youth are directly 

referred to the program by juvenile judges and probation officers. The program focuses on skills 

achievement, and students must master several building-related skills that are evaluated weekly by 

Project CRAFT instructors. 

9

 The Home Builders Institute is the workforce development arm of the National Association of Home Builders.

 18 
Prior to the training period, youth enter a 2-week assessment stage to evaluate their motivation and 

interest in the construction industry. After youth are accepted into the program, Project CRAFT uses 

10 distinct components to create a holistic approach to treatment that combines career training, 

support services (e.g., employability training, social skills training, case management), and 

community service activities sponsored by the construction industry. The following are the 10 

program components: 

‚ Outreach and recruitment. A three-pronged approach includes (1) orientations for program 

partners; (2) orientations for prospective participants, parents, and offender advocates; and (3) 

community meetings. 

‚ Assessment and screening. The assessment and screening process includes level-one screening 

by justice system personnel and level-two screening by project staff and prospective employers. 

An 80-hour situational assessment phase was incorporated into the initial stages of training for 

those meeting the selection criteria. 

‚ Individualized planning. Program partners are involved in a dynamic process that includes the 

development of project-specific action plans to complement treatment and aftercare plans. 

‚ Case management. This component is provided by contractual arrangements with local social 

services providers (from program entry through the end of the project period) and includes the 

counseling and support services required for youth to participate successfully in the program and 

to make the transition back into the community. 

‚ Training program. PACT (Preapprenticeship Certificate Training) is an industry-validated, 

trades-related program that specifies industry skills standards as documented in the Student 

Achievement Record. 

‚ Trade-related academics. This integrated program uses HBI’s CraftMath and CommuniCraft 

curriculums. 

‚ Trade-related community service. Youth perform restitution by participating in construction 

projects that teach trade competencies, build esteem and leadership skills, and enhance 

community reintegration. 

‚ Academic preparation and substance abuse treatment. Youth are enrolled in both, as indicated 

by their assessment. 

‚ Employability and life skills training. Youth receive training in conjunction with trades-related 

instruction. 

‚ Community transition and followup services. These services include job development, job 

placement, cooperation with corrections personnel and employers, and coordination with aftercare 

service providers (e.g., education, chemical dependency, housing, family, financial assistance, and 

other community service providers). 

After graduating from the program, participants are placed in industry-related jobs and receive longterm aftercare services that link treatment with community safety. The treatment services focus on 

connecting youth with continuing education, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing services, 

and employment and re-employment assistance. Community safety is addressed by working in 

coordination with parole officers, probation officers, and juvenile justice case managers to provide a 

variety of community surveillance alternatives. The range of alternatives accounts for offenders with 

varying risk levels and includes community-based work, facility-based community service projects, 

and traditional probation and parole options. 

19

Resource Development Group, Inc., independently evaluated Project CRAFT during a 4-year period. 

The evaluation, which was designed to produce descriptive, qualitative, quantitative, and comparative 

data on project interventions, examined four program dimensions: implementation, process, outcome, 

and aftercare. The evaluation found that HBI operated an extremely effective demonstration project 

that included a 3-month startup period, a 3-year implementation period, and a 9-month period of 

followup and aftercare services (Resource Development Group, 1999). The project was characterized 

by high-quality vocational skills training, case management, placement, and aftercare services 

generated through partnerships with private juvenile and correctional facilities, juvenile judges, 

juvenile justice system personnel, parole and probation officers, sheriff’s departments, and other 

public safety agencies. Specifically, the evaluation found the following: 

‚ A low rate of recidivism for Project CRAFT graduates. Of the 149 participants in the 3 

national demonstration sites, 39 youth (26 percent) were convicted of new crimes after training 

completion, release, or placement. This percentage compares favorably with the baseline 

recidivism rate for untreated serious juvenile offenders, which is estimated to be 50 percent 

(Lipsey, 1999). Moreover, of the 39 participants who recidivated, 23 (59 percent) recidivated 

within the first year of release. 

‚ An improvement in program performance over time. Year 1 participants sustained the highest 

recidivism rates, followed by year 2 and year 3 participants, respectively. The recidivism rate for 

year 1 was 15 percent. The percentage declined to 10 percent for year 2 and 1 percent for year 3. 

In summary, Project CRAFT is a promising juvenile aftercare program. It works well with a range of 

juvenile and adult correctional systems, including those operated by private organizations under 

contracts with state and local governments, state and local government-operated facilities, and 

community correctional systems. 

For additional information on the Project CRAFT program, contact: 

John Hattery 

Home Builders Institute 

National Association of Home Builders 

1201 15th Street NW. 

Washington, DC 20005 

202–371–0600 or 800–795–7955 

202–266–8999 (fax) 

hatteryj@hbi.org 

GROWTH 

GROWTH is a community-based, gender-specific program that incorporates an intensive aftercare 

component for high-risk female offenders returning to the community. Located in Mobile County 

(AL) and operated by the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Alabama, Inc., GROWTH is the first genderspecific treatment option for female offenders in the State of Alabama. The program uses the 

intensive aftercare services of the Network Aftercare System (NAS) in its reintegration component. 

NAS (an ongoing adaptation of Altschuler and Armstrong’s IAP model) is a 24-month demonstration 

project funded by OJJDP through a direct congressional appropriation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of 

South Alabama. NAS is the first implementation of the original IAP model with female participants. 

 20

The GROWTH program is designed for female offenders ages 13–17 and their families. The program 

seeks to help female offenders successfully return to the community. By providing both evidencebased interventions and “best practice” models within a female-specific framework, the program also 

seeks to promote healthy adolescent development. Participants benefit from a continuous relationship 

with staff personnel. Aftercare counselors are assigned at intake, and they initiate relationships that 

are fortified during phases I and II and continue after participants return to the community (phase III). 

Female offenders sentenced by the juvenile court to GROWTH enter one of three treatment options, 

depending on the type of petition and petition history. Treatment options include residential treatment, 

intensive day treatment, and Safe Start, an intensive day treatment program for teenage mothers and 

their infants. Serious or chronic offenders are referred to the residential placement option; less serious 

offenders are referred to intensive day treatment. Offenders in both categories are typically victims of 

sexual and physical abuse and neglect, and a large number of them are also pregnant and have a 

DSM–IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition) psychiatric 

diagnosis. A smaller number of offenders suffer from eating disorders. 

All three treatment options include core programming and individualized treatment modalities. The 

core programming modalities include female-specific life skills, adventure therapy, community 

service, academic education, Functional Family Therapy, and up to 1 year of reintegrative aftercare 

when the offenders move out of treatment and return home and to the community. Individual 

treatment modalities include individual and group therapy, a trauma recovery group for survivors of 

sexual abuse, gender-sensitive treatment groups for substance abuse, mentoring, vocational education, 

job placement, and linkages to the Mobile County Health Department’s Healthy Start Family Support 

program for parenting teen mothers. Additional services within the residential treatment option are 

offered by community partner agencies and can continue after offenders are released from 

confinement. Such services include substance abuse treatment, mental health services, mentoring, and 

vocational training and placement. 

In all three treatment options, the GROWTH program is phase-based. All participants begin at phase I 

and progress through phase III according to successful program completion. Participants who 

successfully complete a minimum of 18 weeks of intensive treatment (phases I–II) (either residential 

care or day treatment) are placed in the reintegrative aftercare program (phase III) for a minimum of 6 

months and a maximum of 1 year. The content of each phase is as follows: 

‚ Phase I: Facility/intensive treatment. Phase I involves an assessment to determine an 

individualized treatment plan, the implementation of the 18-week core program, and specialized 

therapeutic services. These activities are carried out with an emphasis on female-sensitive, 

developmentally appropriate approaches. The assessment instruments used include Youth Level 

of Service and Case Management (YLSI), Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers 

(POSIT), Functional Assessment Measure (FAM–3), Outcome Questionnaire, Youth Outcome 

Questionnaire, Trauma Symptom Child Checklist, and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. 

‚ Phase II: Transition. Phase II seeks to enhance offenders’ reintegration into the community 

through a series of stepdown activities that begin prior to release from confinement or intensive 

day treatment and continue during the high-risk 30–60 days after release. The program achieves 

this goal by providing an individualized treatment plan that includes (1) in-home Functional 

Family Therapy through GROWTH’s Project FLEX (Families Learning through Experience), (2) 

a series of stepdown activities held on and off the residential campus, (3) one-on-one supervision 

and monitoring of individual reentry progress, and (4) the continuation and development of 

community-based services. 

21

‚ Phase III: Community reentry (aftercare). Phase III seeks to help offenders successfully 

negotiate community reentry by identifying and connecting them with formal and informal 

sources of community support. GROWTH participants are matched with an appropriate level of 

required supervision, monitoring, and support, which decreases as they progress through the 

program’s phases. The appropriate levels of supervision and contact are determined through 

readministration of the assessment instruments during the two or three “decompression” stages of 

phase III. Supervision and monitoring are provided by the aftercare counselors in a very hands-on 

fashion. Supervision activities include weekly empowerment meetings facilitated by aftercare 

counselors, who also contact offenders in diverse locations (e.g., school, home, job). In addition, 

graduated consequences and incentives are coordinated in team meetings with aftercare 

counselors, aftercare case managers, and probation officers to respond to compliant and 

noncompliant behavior through values-based activities, services, or items. Finally, aftercare staff 

work to connect GROWTH participants with formal and informal family, neighborhood, and 

community support by identifying, recruiting, and motivating social networks within the 

community. Examples include volunteer mentors, with a special focus on the faith-based 

community; special teen pilot programs in neighborhood Boys & Girls Clubs; and paid work 

experiences. 

The University of South Alabama’s Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology began a process 

evaluation of the entire NAS (including phase I of GROWTH) in June 2001. In spring 2002, the team 

will undertake a long-term outcome evaluation of GROWTH and NAS. The outcome evaluation will 

follow offenders for 1 year after their completion of the aftercare program and will measure several 

outcomes, including recidivism, first time pregnancy for girls 15 and younger, and second time 

pregnancy for girls 16 and older. 

In the meantime, however, preliminary data from the GROWTH 2001 fourth-quarter report indicate 

excellent progress in reducing recidivism and pregnancy rates and increasing the educational/ 

employment successes of GROWTH participants. Of the 34 girls and families actively involved in 

aftercare during 2001, 100 percent had not committed a new offense, 97 percent had not become 

pregnant, and 100 percent were in school, working, or working toward or had completed their GED. 

For additional information on GROWTH, contact: 

Cynthia Weaver, Director 

GROWTH 

1102 Government Street 

Mobile, AL 36604 

251–432–1235 

cweaver@bgsa.org 

Comparison of Six Promising Aftercare Programs 

The programs reviewed in this Bulletin provide examples of several comprehensive aftercare 

programs that prepare juveniles for reentry into the community. Although these programs vary in 

origin, design, and approach, all share certain formal characteristics. In fact, the designs of the six 

promising aftercare programs are strikingly similar. Table 2 provides evidence of this symmetry 

across several program characteristics. 

 22

Table 2: Comparison of Six Promising Aftercare Programs 

Intensive Thomas Bethesda Day Florida 

Aftercare O’Farrell Treatment Environmental 

Program Youth Center Center Institute Project CRAFT GROWTH 

General Program Information 

Location Colorado/ 

Nevada/ 

Virginia 

Maryland Pennsylvania Florida Florida/ 

Maryland/ North 

Dakota/ 

Tennessee 

Alabama

Funding IAP grant, state 

funds 

Maryland 

Department of 

Juvenile 

Services 

Formula grant, 

private 

(nonprofit) 

Florida 

Department of 

Juvenile Justice 

CRAFT grant, 

state funds 

Boys & Girls 

Clubs of South 

Alabama 

Gender Male Male Male/Female Male Male/Female Female 

Age 12–18 13–18 10–18 15–18 16–21 13–17 

Risk of 

recidivism 

High High High High High High 

Average 

length of 

program 

Colorado: 10 

months’ 

incarceration, 

8 months’ 

aftercare 

Nevada: 8 

8 months’ 

incarceration, 

9 months’ 

aftercare 

6–12 months 9 months’ 

incarceration, 

9 months’ 

aftercare 

2–12 months 18 weeks’ 

intensive 

treatment 

(residential or 

day treatment), 

minimum of 

months’ 6 months’ 

incarceration, 

8 months’ 

aftercare 

aftercare 

Virginia: 

7 months’ 

incarceration, 

6 months’ 

aftercare 

Program Characteristics 

Facilitates Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

transitional 

structure 

Uses Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes 

assessment 

and 

classification 

Develops Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes 

individualized 

case planning 

Uses rewards Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 

and sanctions 

Links to Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

community 

treatment 

services 

 23

Intensive Thomas Bethesda Day Florida 

Aftercare O’Farrell Treatment Environmental 

Program Youth Center Center Institute Project CRAFT GROWTH

Combines Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

intensive 

supervision 

and treatment 

Types of Services and Supervision Options After Release 

Treatment 

services 

• Education 

• Employment 

• Vocational 

training 

• Mental health 

counseling 

• Life skills 

training 

• Drug/alcohol 

treatment 

• Education 

• Vocational 

counseling 

• Crisis 

intervention 

• Mentoring 

• Family 

services 

• Transportation 

• Individual, 

group, and 

family 

counseling 

• Drug/alcohol 

treatment 

• Education 

• Life skills 

development 

• Education 

• Employment 

• Vocational 

skills 

• Family 

assistance 

• Employment 

• Drug/alcohol 

treatment 

• Housing 

services 

• Family 

services 

• Vocational 

training 

• Financial 

• Femalespecific life 

skills 

• Community 

service 

• Education 

• Functional 

Family 

Therapy 

• Adventure 

assistance therapy 

• Trauma 

recovery 

• Substance 

abuse 

• Parenting 

teen 

Supervision 

options 

• Staff contact 

(1–5/week) 

• Curfew 

• Urinalysis 

• House arrest 

• Electronic 

monitoring 

• Paging 

• Monthly court 

review 

• Day 

• Staff contact 

(12/month) 

• Coordination 

with probation 

staff 

• Surveillance 

• Intensive 

supervision 

program 

• Search and 

rescue 

• 24-hour crisis 

hotline 

• Treatment 

detention 

accountability 

• Staff contact 

(4/week) 

• Curfew 

• Required job 

attendance 

• Frequent calls 

• Coordination 

with parole 

and probation 

officers 

• Community 

work service 

• Traditional 

probation and 

parole 

• Staff contact 

(weekly 

empowerment 

meetings) 

treatment 

(NV) 

• Furlough 

(NV) 

• Group home 

(VA) 

Focus on high-risk youth. Most of the aftercare programs described in this Bulletin focus on high-risk 

male youth ages 10–18. GROWTH targets high-risk female youth ages 13–17, and the Bethesda Day 

Treatment Center and Project CRAFT accept both male and female participants. 

A means to facilitate transition. Although the methods for doing so differ, each program facilitates 

offenders’ transition from the institution to the community. For example, the GROWTH program uses a 

series of stepdown activities that begin prior to release from confinement or intensive day treatment and 

continue during the high-risk 30–60 days after release. Other mechanisms used to modulate community 

reentry include early parole planning, routine institutional visits by aftercare case managers, and other 

stepdown structures and procedures. 

 24

Use of assessment and classification instruments. With the exception of TOYC, each program uses an 

assessment and classification system to pinpoint appropriate program participants and to identify their 

needs. The IAP project in Denver, for instance, uses a standard battery of educational and psychological 

assessment instruments to develop individualized case plans. The Bethesda Day Treatment Center 

initiates its program with a needs assessment interview and a treatment evaluation. Project CRAFT 

requires youth to enter a 2-week assessment stage before the training period to evaluate their motivation 

and interest in the construction industry. 

Individualized case planning. Five of the six programs (the exception is TOYC) use an individualized 

case planning system to provide appropriate treatment options. For example, the FEI program requires 

case managers to meet during the initiation phase to establish an individualized treatment plan and assign 

specific work projects. The Bethesda Day Treatment Center formulates and tailors treatment plans to the 

specific needs of each youth. At the beginning of treatment and at the beginning of each 3-month period 

thereafter, the center staff chart a therapeutic direction through the use of short-term goals and the 

appropriate units of service. 

Use of rewards and sanctions. Five of the six programs (the exception is Project CRAFT) employ a 

system of rewards and sanctions to punish inappropriate behavior and to encourage positive behavior. 

For instance, the FEI program consists of three graduated phases based on restrictiveness, and 

progression through the phases is guided by points earned for positive behavior. The TOYC program also 

uses a point system to provide positive reinforcement. TOYC youth have the opportunity to earn special 

privileges such as home passes, off-campus activities, special recreational opportunities, and salaried 

employment. The IAP models offer another example of a rewards and sanctions system. Both the Nevada 

and Virginia IAP models use rather elaborate systems that involve classifying various behaviors or 

infractions into multiple tiers and specifying the types of rewards and sanctions that are considered 

appropriate to each tier. 

Links to community treatment services. All of the aftercare programs provide links to community 

treatment services. The cornerstone of Project CRAFT is its partnership with private juvenile corrections 

facilities, juvenile judges, juvenile justice system personnel, education agencies, community-based 

organizations, and other human services agencies. The community link component is also vital to the 

Bethesda Day Treatment Center and TOYC. The Bethesda Day Treatment Center connects youth to 

virtually every local agency that serves youth interests. The TOYC aftercare program provides each 

youth with an individual aftercare worker who links him to a variety of community resources to ensure a 

continuity of services. GROWTH aftercare staff also work to connect program participants to formal and 

informal family, neighborhood, and community support, eventually decreasing structured aftercare 

supervision. 

Combination of intensive supervision and treatment. Providing a mix of supervision options is 

another hallmark of each aftercare system. For example, the IAP model creates a wide-ranging and 

balanced mix of interventions designed to control offender risk and to address offender needs. The IAP 

projects in Colorado, Nevada, and Virginia all provide enhanced, IAP-specific programming during the 

institutional and aftercare phases and create a blend of control and treatment strategies during aftercare. 

The FEI program also provides an excellent mix of supervision and treatment services. After release from 

the Last Chance Ranch, youth receive at least four contacts per week from an FEI community coordinator 

and frequent calls from their case managers, and they must adhere to a strict curfew. In addition, FEI 

coordinators actively help youth gain admission to school or employment and help them secure services 

or benefits. This support system continues for 6 months, until the youth graduate from the program. 

 25

Summary 

Aftercare is a promising program concept designed to minimize recidivism among youth released from 

out-of-home placement. A review of the research and an analysis of current aftercare programs in the 

field reveal that comprehensive aftercare models integrate intervention and community restraint 

measures. These programs combine strategies to change individual behavior with surveillance 

mechanisms to protect the community from further harm. Moreover, the symmetry found in the 

characteristics of these programs provides practitioners with a blueprint for an aftercare program that can 

effectively help youth return from institutions to the community. The analysis does not suggest that these 

are the only valid aftercare strategies, but it does offer practitioners a resource with which to strategically 

construct effective aftercare designs. 

Resource Organizations 

American Correctional Association 

The American Correctional Association is a multidisciplinary organization of professionals representing 

all facets of corrections and criminal justice, including federal, state, and military correctional facilities 

and prisons, county jails and detention centers, probation and parole agencies, and community 

corrections and halfway houses. 

For additional information, contact: 

American Correctional Association 

4380 Forbes Boulevard 

Lanham, MD 20706 

301–918–1800 

800–222–5646 (toll free) 

www.aca.org 

American Probation and Parole Association 

The American Probation and Parole Association has developed several resources to help jurisdictions 

respond to the needs and concerns of victims when offenders return to the community. 

For additional information, contact: 

American Probation and Parole Association 

P.O. Box 11910 

Lexington, KY 40578 

859–244–8203 

859–244–8001 (fax) 

www.appa-net.org 

Juvenile Reintegration and Aftercare Center 

The Juvenile Reintegration and Aftercare Center promotes best practices in juvenile transition and 

community aftercare services, provides training and technical assistance to state and local juvenile justice 

organizations and service providers, conducts and reviews ongoing research, and creates links with other 

juvenile justice technical assistance and program providers to share information and resources. 

 26

For additional information, contact: 

Randy S. Thomas, Technical Assistance Coordinator 

Juvenile Reintegration and Aftercare Center 

859–264–8796 

859–264–9957 (fax) 

randysthomas@yahoo.com 

National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice 

The National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice offers transition planning services to 

help localities develop specific strategies for reintegrating juvenile offenders from secure confinement 

into the community. These transitional services help youth achieve social adjustment, employment, and 

educational success after incarceration. 

For additional information, contact: 

The National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice 

University of Maryland 

1224 Benjamin Building 

College Park, MD 20742 

301–405–6462 

301–314–5757 (fax) 

edjj@umail.umd.edu 

www.edjj.org/education.html 

National Institute of Corrections 

The National Institute of Corrections offers Critical Elements of Successful Aftercare Services training to 

three- to five-person community teams. In this 36-hour program, participants use an interactive, 

experiential format to explore principles, elements, and strategies for implementing successful aftercare 

services for juveniles. Using a six-stage model of aftercare as an example, participants learn how to help 

juvenile offenders successfully transition from institutional settings to the community. 

For additional information, contact: 

Leslie LeMaster 

National Institute of Corrections 

320 First Street NW. 

Washington, DC 20534 

800–995–6429, ext. 121 

llemaster@bop.gov 

www.nicic.org 

Assessment Instruments 

Assessment instruments are actuarial tools based on empirical research designed to create greater 

accuracy and structure in decisionmaking. Risk assessment instruments help juvenile justice agencies 

make better decisions about case service and custody, whereas needs assessments help develop focused 

case plans to address specific delinquent behavior. Identified below are three jurisdictions that have 

developed validated risk and needs assessment instruments designed specifically for aftercare 

 27

populations. It should be noted that although these instruments may be applied to broader populations, 

each was developed specifically for the target population in that particular locality. 

‚ Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections (Risk and Needs).


‚ Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (Risk).


‚ Indiana Department of Corrections—Juvenile Division (Risk).


For additional information on the instruments developed by these jurisdictions, contact: 

Dennis Wagner 

National Council on Crime and Delinquency 

426b South Yellowstone Drive, Suite 250 

Madison, WI 53719 

608–831–8882 

608–831–6446 (fax) 

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Recommended Reading 

Goodstein, L., and Sontheimer, H. 1997. The implementation of an intensive aftercare program for 

serious juvenile offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior 24(3):332–359. 

Gottfredson, D.C., and Barton, W.H. 1993. Deinstitutionalization of juvenile offenders. Criminology 

31(4):591–611. 

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Consequences. Research in Brief, Sentencing and Corrections: Issues for the 21st Century. Washington, 

DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice. 

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Acknowledgments 

This Bulletin was prepared by Steve V. Gies, Ph.D., Research Associate with Development Services 

Group, Inc., in Bethesda, MD. 

This Bulletin was prepared under grant number OJP–2000–298–BF from the Office of Juvenile Justice and 

Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice. 

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, 

which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of 

Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime. 

NCJ 201800 

 31