Evaluation of the Utah Juvenile Court’s Implementation of the Carey Guides

Study Dates: 2011
Study Description: This study examined the Carey Guides implementation in three pilot sites and the impact of that process on Juvenile Court outcomes such as changes in probation supervision and recidivism. During the pilot year of Carey Guide use in Utah, the probation offices involved in the study demonstrated that it was possible to implement a new resource as a component of probation with moderate and high risk youth, as well as record those changes for a comprehensive evaluation. Unfortunately, the level of use that was practical for the probation officers and youth was not sufficient to tie Carey Guides use to long-term outcomes.

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Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Diversion Assessment

Study Dates: 2011
Study Description: The DMC Diversion Assessment examined issues related to the lower rate of diversion from juvenile court for minority youth in Utah. Key factors related to the lower minority diversion rate were: the use of short-term detention (DT) with minority youth who have a new offense and the cumulative impact of minority youth often having more severe criminal histories, being less likely to meet diversion criteria, when meeting criteria being less often diverted, and recidivating at a higher rate. Study also reports on variance in outcomes for different racial/ethnic groups.

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Performance Management Measures – Staff Satisfaction

Study Dates: 2011
Study Description: Conduct an independent analysis of staff satisfaction for Salt Lake County Criminal Justice Services (CJS) as a part of their performance management action plan. Internal report was issued.

Report not available

Evaluation of the Drug Offender Reform Act: DORA Pilot

Study Dates: November 2008; Updated May 2009, November 2010
Study Description: DORA offenders received significantly more supervision and treatment than comparison probationers. Predictors of successful probation completion included shorter time from conviction to probation start, community-based supervision, and treatment completion. At the 2010 update, DORA offenders were more likely to successfully complete supervision and treatment than comparisons. Treatment completers did significantly better than non-completers on post-supervision criminal justice outcomes.

November 2008 Final Report

May 2009 Update

November 2010 Update

Drug Offender Reform Act: DORA Statewide Report

Study Dates: November 2009; Updated November 2010 and November 2011
Study Description: Statewide DORA was implemented as planned, with supervision and treatment rates comparing favorably to the Pilot. At the time of the 2011 update, nearly all probationers (85%) and parolees (97%) had exited supervision. Nearly half of probationers (45%) had successfully exited supervision (39% supervision and treatment) compared to 34% of parolees (31% supervision and treatment). Longer time in treatment and more intensive supervision were related to successful treatment and supervision completion, as well as longer time to recidivism post-supervision. Treatment completers did significantly better on post-DORA criminal justice outcomes.

November 2009 Final Report

Brief November 2010 Update

Full November 2010 Update

Full November 2011 Update

Evaluation of Utah Juvenile Drug Court: Final Report

Study Dates: 2010
Study Description: The report examines six Utah Juvenile Drug Courts (JDCs) in Weber, Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Emery, and Grand counties, providing descriptive statistics on population served, services offered, and during and post-JDC juvenile recidivism. The four largest JDCs are compared to similar probationers on post-program juvenile and adult recidivism, with a 30 month follow-up period. There were no significant differences on alcohol/drug recidivism between probation and JDC after controlling for other significant factors; however, JDC had significantly less delinquency/criminal recidivism, even after controlling for other significant factors.

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State Supervision Evaluation and Improvement Project – Ongoing

Study Dates: 2006 – continuous
Study Description: An ongoing quality assurance and improvement project for programs that contract with the Utah Juvenile Court to provide services for offenders sentenced to the State Supervision sanction. Internal reports have been issued.

Reports not available

Utah Board of Juvenile Justice (UBJJ) Outcome Evaluations

Study Dates: 2003 – continuous
Study Description: An ongoing quality assurance and improvement project for programs funded by the Utah Board of Juvenile Justice (UBJJ).

Annual Reports:

Download 2010 Report

Download 2009 Report

Download 2008 Report

Download 2007 Report

Download 2006 Report

Download 2005 Report

Calculation of Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) in the Juvenile Justice System

Study Dates: 2005-continuous
Study Description: The Utah Criminal Justice Center assists UBJJ annually with calculations of disproportionate minority contact from Juvenile Court and Juvenile Justice Services data. These figures are reported to OJJDP through a national website and internal reports have been issued.

Reports not available

Evaluation of Pretrial Services: Final Report

Study Dates: 2010
Study Description: The study examined pretrial releases (PTR) in Salt Lake County and found that failure to appear (FTA) rates ranged from 20% (for those released to Pretrial Supervision (PTS) at CJS) to 43% for those released on overcrowding (OCR) from the jail. PTR Recidivism rates ranged from 7% (Own Recognizance (OR) releases and Day Reporting Center (DRC) releases) to 15% (OCR). After controlling for individual significant risk factors (e.g., jail history, PTR history, current booking type, homelessness, etc.), groups who were supervised during pretrial release (PTS, Ordered to PTS (OPTS), bail/bond (BB)) had better outcomes than those not supervised (OR, OCR).

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Mission Statement

The Utah Criminal Justice Center is a collaborative effort between the S.J. Quinney College of Law, the U of U College of Social and Behavioral Science, the U of U College of Social Work, and the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice.  The Center serves the needs of citizens through a partnership between government and academe that seeks to reduce crime and victimization, inspire sound public policy and fair treatment in the criminal and juvenile justice systems, and provide a model of higher education promoting good governance through independent and non-partisan research, innovative programs and teaching, and the development of a superlative criminal and juvenile justice workforce.