DOI: 10.3886/icpsr37617.v1
title: Assessing the Impact of a Graduated Response Approach for Youth in the Maryland Juvenile Justice System, 2013-2017
title: Version 1

description: The Accountability and Incentives Management (AIM) system is a graduated response system that was implemented by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) to promote supervision compliance and reduce rates of supervision violations and recidivism, among other juvenile justice-related outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess AIM's implementation and outcomes. The treatment group (or AIM group) included adjudicated youths who started/completed probation or aftercare supervision with DJS between November 1, 2015 and October 30, 2017. A comparison group was comprised of youth who were supervised prior to AIM implementation (July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2015). Data were gathered from de-identified administrative records provided by DJS. The unit of analysis is the individual. Variables include: youth delinquency history before supervision; risk/needs assessment; detentions, complaints, and arrests during supervision; AIM sanctions and incentives; youth responses in the AIM program; and demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and race/ethnicity.
description: Supervision violations are a major contributing factor to the incarceration of young people. Graduated response systems use a range of sanctions and incentives to respond to youth behaviors without relying on confinement. The Accountability and Incentives Management (AIM) system is a graduated response system that was implemented by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) to promote supervision compliance and completion, reduce rates of supervision violations and recidivism, prevent detention and committed placements resulting from supervision violations, decrease lengths of stay under supervision and in placement, and address racial disproportionality in detention and committed placements. The purpose of this study was to assess AIM's implementation and outcomes. The treatment group (or AIM group) included adjudicated youths who started/completed probation or aftercare supervision with DJS between November 1, 2015 and October 30, 2017. A comparison group was comprised of youth who were supervised prior to AIM implementation (July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2015). Process analyses showed that 55% of youth under supervision received an AIM response, and youth were more likely to receive sanctions as opposed to incentives. Virtually all case managers adhered to the range of sanctions recommended through the structured AIM grids. Moreover, responses were applied within approximately 3 days of the identified behavior, on average. Outcome analyses indicated that youth supervised with AIM in place were significantly less likely to have a violation of probation filed with the court, be placed in a committed residential placement, and commit an offense resulting in adjudication/conviction during supervision, relative to comparable youth supervised prior to AIM implementation. The effects for AIM did not vary by race or supervision type. Cost analyses showed that AIM did not have a substantial impact on placement costs.
description: The primary data sources were administrative data collected through Maryland Department of Juvenile Services' (DJS) management information systems, ASSIST (Automated Statewide System of Information Support Tools) and METS (Maryland Evaluation and Treatment Services), in addition to adult criminal justice system data from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) for DJS-involved youth. DJS researchers de-identified the data files from ASSIST, METS, and DPSCS and transferred them to the University of Maryland researchers via a secure online data transfer system. The study was approved by the University of Maryland's Institutional Review Board.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Maryland Comprehensive Assessment and Service Planning (MCASP)
description: The study entailed a process evaluation of the Accountability Incentives Management (AIM) program's implementation; a two-group, quasi-experimental design to assess youth outcomes; and a cost savings analysis. The treatment group (or AIM group) included 1,983 adjudicated youths who started/completed probation or aftercare supervision with DJS between November 1, 2015 and October 31, 2017. Propensity score matching was used to create a statistically equivalent comparison group, comprised of youth who were supervised prior to AIM implementation (July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2015).
description: Datasets: DS0: Study-Level Files DS1: Merged Cohorts DS2: Treatment Group Behaviors and Responses
description: Adjudicated youths under probation or aftercare supervision with Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS). Smallest Geographic Unit: None
description: record abstracts