DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38271
title: Evaluation of the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program: Long-Term Outcomes and Sustained Impact, 2013-2020
title: Archival Version

description: Schools are a primary referral source to the juvenile justice system, helping create and perpetuate the school-to-prison pipeline. Seeking to dismantle this pipeline in the city, the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) partnered with the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) and the Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) to develop and operate the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program. Implemented in May 2014, all first-time offending youth aged 10 years or older who commit specified school-based minor misdemeanor or summary offenses on school property are diverted from arrest, referred to a Department of Human Services (DHS) social worker and community-based services, and face no consequences even if they decline services. This evaluation examined long-term outcomes for diverted youth and sustained program impacts over five years. From a full sample of 3,616 diverted and arrested students, this study used a quasi-experimental design to compare data for diverted youth (quasi-experimental group; n = 1,281) and similar youth arrested in schools in the year before the program's implementation (quasi-control group; n = 531). PPD school police officers completed surveys regarding their knowledge and perceptions of the Diversion Program immediately before and after a training session held prior to its implementation, then on an annual basis through year five. A cost-benefit analysis of the program was conducted in partnership with the Vera Institute of Justice. The data have been organized by analysis. Short-term analysis refers to two-year recidivism analyses and one-year child welfare involvement, and covers the full and quasi-control arrested samples and youth diverted in school years 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017. Long-term analyses include four-year graduation/drop-out, five-year recidivism analyses, and five-year child welfare involvement, and covers the full and quasi-control arrested samples and youth diverted in school year 2014-2015. Short- and long-term recidivism outcome data (DS1 and DS2), police survey data before and after program implementation (DS3), and cost-benefit analysis tables (DS9) are included in this collection. Please refer to the User Guide for details on how to acquire additional data from SDP and DHS and steps to create the full analytic files for academic-related and child welfare involvement outcomes.
description: As a follow-up to a short-term outcome evaluation of the School Diversion Program, the purpose of this study is to examine moderate- and long-term programmatic, justice, and academic outcomes for youth diverted through the program. Research questions include: Does the Diversion Program reduce recidivism rates for diverted youth? Does the Diversion Program result in fewer disciplinary sanctions and higher school attainment? Does the Diversion Program narrow disparities in youth outcomes by race, ethnicity, and special education status? With implementation of the Diversion Program in lieu of arrest, do school police officers' beliefs about and experiences with school policing change over time? What is the return on investment (ROI) of the Diversion Program in lieu of previous school-based arrest practices?
description: The research team used a quasi-experimental design to compare outcomes for diverted youth with records from School District of Philadelphia (SDP) to data for similar youth arrested in schools in the year before the Diversion Program's implementation. To do this, the team partnered with Philadelphia Police Department (PPD), Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS), and SDP to collect de-identified administrative records for 2,302 students who were arrested in schools during the 2013-2014 academic year or diverted through the Diversion Program in the 2014-2015, 2016-2017, or 2017-2018 years. Researchers then analyzed short-term and long-term recidivism rates, school disciplinary sanctions, graduation/drop-out rates as individual-level outcomes, as well as number of school-based arrests, serious school-based behavioral incidents, and community-based service referral acceptance as program-related outcomes for sustained impact. Long-term school outcomes needed to be adjusted from five years to four years given COVID-19-related school closures from March 2020 to June 2021. School police officers completed a 2.5-hour training session on the Diversion Program one week before its implementation. Immediately before and after the training session, participating officers filled out surveys regarding their knowledge of procedures, perceptions of the Diversion Program, and anticipated challenges to implementation. Surveys were continued on an annual basis to track changes in beliefs over time. The research team provided survey materials to Philadelphia Police Department headquarters for distribution to district officers and then to officers, instructing participants to return completed surveys in sealed envelopes back to the team. In partnership with the Vera Institute of Justice, the research team assessed taxpayer-supported costs incurred by the PPD, SDP, and DHS to implement and operate the Diversion Program. Sources used included City of Philadelphia budget documents, agency administrative records, and correspondence with agency leaders. Benefits or cost-savings of the program were calculated based on analyses of outcomes (school-based arrests, recidivism arrests, exclusionary discipline) and cost estimates of youth arrests and detention, crime victimization, and students dropping out of school. When local estimates were unavailable, other jurisdictions were used as sources.
description: Incident data (DS1, DS2) from the Philadelphia Police Department includes any and all subsequent arrests, with the type of crime based on Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) codes. School-related data (DS4, DS6) from the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) includes suspensions and referrals for expulsions or disciplinary transfers. Academic achievement data (DS5) from SDP includes whether the youth graduated from school within four years of entering ninth grade. Student demographic information (DS1, DS2, DS4 to DS8) include gender, race, ethnicity, age at diversion or arrest, whether the student had an individualized education plan (IEP), and the school attended. Officer survey data (DS3) is limited to baseline (2014) and year five (2019) measures. Items cover how the Diversion Program affected relationships with students, teachers, and administrators; how the Program affected school safety; and to what extent officers agreed with the tenets of the Program.
description: Not applicable.
description: Response Rates: Not applicable.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None
description: For short- and moderate-term outcomes (two years post-incident), the quasi-experimental sample included all youth with SDP data diverted between September 2014 and June 2017 (n = 1,281). For long-term outcomes (four years for school outcomes, five years for police outcomes), the quasi-experimental sample included all youth with SDP data diverted between September 2014 and June 2015. From the full sample of youth arrested in school in 2013-2014, the Philadelphia Police Department identified those who would have been eligible based on the arrest type and whether the youth had a previous delinquency finding or open case at the time of the incident. Individuals who met these criteria and had SDP data available were added to the quasi-control sample (n = 531). Both the quasi-experimental and quasi-control samples were largely male (experimental 69%; control 62%), Black (experimental 74%; control 77%), and between the ages 10 and 22 at the time of their diversion. A total of 110 responses were collected for the officer surveys, after removing those who did not respond to more than 5% of items. 63 responses were from officers who attended the initial training session at baseline, and 47 officers who completed the year-five survey (7 officers completed both iterations).
description: Datasets: DS0: Study-Level Files DS1: 2-Year Recidivism Data DS2: 5-Year Recidivism Data DS3: Police Pre- and Post-Implementation Survey Data DS4: 1-Year Disciplinary Outcomes (Syntax Only) DS5: 4-Year Graduation Outcomes (Syntax Only) DS6: 4-Year Suspension Outcomes (Syntax Only) DS7: 1-Year Child Welfare Involvement Outcomes (Syntax Only) DS8: 5-Year Child Welfare Involvement Outcomes (Syntax Only) DS9: Cost-Benefit Analysis Tables
description: 1) Students in Philadelphia who were arrested in school or diverted from school-based arrest through the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program during the study period. 2) Philadelphia Police Department officers working in schools during the time of study. Smallest Geographic Unit: School district
description: record abstracts; self-enumerated questionnaireThe recidivism and academic outcome data were collected as part of grants from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). The officer survey data (DS3), child welfare involvement outcomes syntax (DS7, DS8), and cost-benefit analysis (DS9) are unique to the NIJ grant.For datasets 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, ICPSR released syntax files created by the P.I. to be used with data that is archived outside of ICPSR. For user convenience, syntax files used for multiple analyses (e.g., individualized education plan indicators, school coding) have been added to each applicable zipped package. Please refer to the User Guide for details on how to acquire these data, and please refer to the ICPSR README documents for information on the syntax files.For more information on the evaluation of the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program, please visit the Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab website.