DOI: 10.3886/icpsr39682
title: Implementation and Evaluation of an Emerging Adult Curriculum in Rockdale County, Georgia, 2023-2024
title: Archival Version

description: Emerging adults (EAs) are the future of America, even with an increasing number of individuals confined by the criminal legal system on any given day. To address the needs of the justice-involved youthful adults population, this project aimed to implement and test the effectiveness of a developmentally appropriate jail-based program for improving youths' lives post-release. The Developmental Reentry for Emerging Adult Management (DREAM) program follows cognitive-behavioral approaches tailored to 17- to 24-year-olds using group-based learning sessions, individualized counseling sessions with clinical staff, and case management and comprehensive reentry services. The goals of the 90-day program are to reduce institutional misconducts within the jail and improve EAs' reentry success. This study tested the effectiveness of the DREAM program in one county jail among a developmentally unique population -- young adults (n = 132) -- to address their high rates of recidivism.
description: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the Developmental Reentry for Emerging Adult Management (DREAM) program on youth and young adult offenders. Specifically, the research team sought answers to the following research questions:
How does DREAM influence recidivism outcomes, including new bookings to jail?
How does DREAM impact institutional misconducts?
What are the key predictors of the effectiveness of DREAM programming?
description: The Developmental Reentry for Emerging Adult Management (DREAM) program is a 90-day jail-based initiative grounded in cognitive-behavioral therapy and developmental psychology. It is designed to: (1) Address the neurodevelopmental and psychosocial needs of emerging adults; (2) Support reentry through individualized goal-setting and wraparound case management, and (3) Reduce in-jail misconduct and post-release recidivism. The structure of the program includes six group sessions covering topics such as brain development, emotional regulation, stress response, and future planning, along with individual counseling sessions tailored by risk level and focused on criminogenic needs. Additionally, the program combines comprehensive case management and reentry planning, emphasizing stability in housing, employment, and mental health. In line with a rehabilitation approach, the DREAM curriculum was provided to incarcerated youth (17- to 24-year-olds) at the Rockdale County Jail in Georgia who were in jail for at least 10 days (to allow time for programming), not on restrictive security status (to allow for group programming), and were likely to return to the community within 12 months.
description: Measures were limited to those that the jail system could consistently and reliably gather and make available to researchers at the time of booking. This included demographics (age, race/ethnicity, and gender), time in jail, jail returns, and in-jail misconducts. Descriptions of up to 13 charges per participant were also included.
description: An on-site research assistant recruited and obtained consent from eligible respondents as part of the booking process into the jail. The study was originally implemented as a randomized control trial with consenting participants randomized into one of two groups: supervision as usual and the Developmental Reentry for Emerging Adult Management (DREAM) program. After 12 months of recruitment, only 31 percent of the target sample was obtained due to low booking rates and shorter jail stays as a result of COVID-19. This prompted the research team to adapt to a quasi-experimental matched control sample for the last 6 months of recruitment with a 3:1 control-to-treatment sample that matched DREAM participants to 3 control participants using nearest-neighbor matching without replacement. At this point all eligible participants were enrolled in the DREAM arm. The control sample included a historical and contemporary comparison group. The year 2023 was selected for the historical comparison to be as far removed from the most severe impacts of COVID-19 on the delayed and altered court processing and arrest procedures that were in place. Samples were matched using variables that might be related to recidivism and misconduct, including: age at booking, gender, race, and days in jail.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Implementation and Evaluation of an Emerging Adult Curriculum in Rockdale County, Georgia, 2023-2024
description: Youth and young adult offenders at Rockdale County Jail in Georgia..