Post on 17-Aug-2015
Running Head: THE MISSOURI MODEL OF JUSTICE SYSTEM
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Introduction
For over 100 many US States had a common believe that the Juvenile Justice system was
the means by which the public would be protected from the children who are in transition to
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adulthood. It was commonly agreed that children who engage in crimes were not in the same
class as the adults who committed the same crimes. It was believed that there was a higher
capacity among children to change that there is for adults. As a way of responding to these
changes, there is an establishment of a separate justice system for juveniles by the state. The
system is different, providing services related to the juvenile dissimilar to that of the adults.
Since 1899, there has been a substantial growth as well as changes in the juvenile justice system
since the establishment of the first US juvenile justice system in Illinois State. Initially, there was
an informal court system whereby the court proceedings entailed a conversation between the
judge and the youth, and the defendant did not have a legal representation. In order to separate
the juveniles’ jails from that of the adults, there was a creation of a probation system by the early
juvenile courts. At the same time, the probation system used a separate system of service
delivery to provide supervision, education, and guidance to the minors. All the US states, as well
as the District of Columbia, followed Illinois to establish the juvenile justice system (Bonnie &
National Research Council, 2013).
In 1967, a ruling in a case involving In re Gault determined that the US Constitution has a
provision for the same rights of the juveniles as well as the adults when it comes to the court
representation. These rights included that of an attorney as well as that of having a confrontation
with the witness. In 1971, the US supreme court held that there was no constitutional right for
the juveniles to have a jury trial. Today, the justice system of the youth has a primary goal of
maintaining rehabilitation and there is an important way in which this system has a distinction
from the criminal justice system. Unlike the proceedings of the crime by an adult, members of
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the public are not allowed to access the hearings of the juvenile courts and the information
provided during the proceedings is usually confidential, offering protection to the child against
committing delinquency inadulthood. Some states offers therapeutic and education program, or
the child is put into the residential program. Since the 1990s, there is a steady decline in the
juvenile crime. However, when there was a rise in the rate of juvenile crime all over the US in
the late 1980s and early 1990s. There was an adoption of the “get tough” crime policies by the
states. Because of this, some youths were deprived off some of the protections offered by the
juvenile justice system. Ever since 1975, Juvenile Law Centre has make sure that there is the
involvement of the Juveniles in the Missouri justice system for the juveniles. The juveniles are
treated with dignity, given the right to acquire education and provided a chance to become
healthy as well as productive adults (Wilson & John F. Kennedy School of Government, 2013).
The US president and the Congress established the JJDP (Office of Juvenile and
Delinquency Prevention) Act of 1974, and its aim is to prevents well as control delinquency in
the US. Missouri State also developed its own Juvenile, who has atas tained success. Several
strategies make the juvenile justice system of Missouri attain this success, and these include its
location close to the homes of the juveniles. In addition, these facilities are small making their
management efficient. The facilities do not resemble the traditional cells but are more like
homes, making the juveniles be comfortable. In addition, the staffs of these facilities are well
trained to handle the juveniles. The juveniles also receive respectful as well as dignified
treatment while in these facilities. Unlike the traditional model, the Missouri juvenile justice
system uses a therapeutic as well as rehabilitative model. Its aim is to bring a positive impact to
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the lives of the youths by teaching them how to be positive in life (Merlo & Benekos, 2013).
The Missouri juvenile model has achieved success because only 8 percent of the
juveniles go back to their old habits, and only 8 percent of these youths proceed to the adult
classes. A third of these juveniles receive their GED or high school diplomas while still in these
facilities, and approximately 50% go back to school. Over the last twenty years, there has been a
steady increase in the rate of juvenile incarceration. Each day, over 368 out of 100,000 juveniles
are serving their terms in correctional facilities, not to mention that all these people will be back
to their community. There is a need for a programming services continuum to assist the
population of the incarcerated juvenile to prepare them for release, go back to the community,
and leaving the prison. the aim is to ensure that there is an improvement of their success when it
comes to the adjustment to the community. In addition, such a programming service will ensure
that there is a reduction in the recidivism risk. The Missouri Model of Justice System for
Juvenile correction is hailed as being a leader in the juvenile reform area. Nevertheless, very
little empirical analysis on this program has been done. The governance of the tone and the
structure of the juvenile justice system is a periodical understanding of the delinquency and how
best the delinquency behaviour can be corrected. More focus is put on therapy as well as
education instead of punishment in the Missouri juvenile justice system. In 1980s, there was a
closure of the training schools as well as large facilities that were characterized by minimal
schooling. The aim of this paper is to conduct a policy analysis of Missouri model of the justice
system (Bonnie & National Research Council, 2013).
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Policy statement
The term juvenile does not have a clear definition. Some states perceive a juvenile as
being an 18-year-old while others see a juvenile as being a 15-year-old. In Missouri, a juvenile is
a person whose age does not exceed 17 years. Nevertheless, the juvenile system of justice serves
a vulnerable as well as a marginalized population of youths guilt of a crime. The funding for this
system is mainly from the state. Various issues such as perception of events, perceptions issues, a
shift in population, and program changes have affected the Juvenile judicial system of Missouri
in immeasurable ways. Today, five referral categories do exist in Missouri, and these are status
offense, law violation, municipal/juvenile violation, abuse/negligence/custody matters, and law
violations. The focus of this study would be juvenile justice system of Missouri with the focus
being the juvenile population (Missouri Bar, 2011).
The Missouri model of the justice system is an intervention program targeting the
juvenile offenders, and it aims at reducing recidivism. Though there is a causal influences
understanding variations, the model of Missouri juvenile justice system has ensured that certain
identifiable cycles are followed. The legal thinking on delinquency and juvenile justice has
strongly influenced the state of Missouri. Many states across the US including Missouri held
their juveniles in training facilities with each gender being kept in different facilities. In 1889,
Missouri State opened tow juvenile facilities, one in Chillicothe to house female and another one
in Boonville to house the male juveniles. In 1948, there was a killing of two youth in the
Boonville facility and following this incidence, the courts became more active in influencing the
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processes of the juvenile justice. In 1967, the Act of the Unified Juvenile Court was passed by
Missouri legislature and under this act; the court assumed the jurisdiction over all the adoption,
delinquency, abuse, and the status offense related cases. The law gave the provision to the court
that they should make a consideration of having the least punishment alternatives as well as
reduce the placements of out-of-home. Whereas there is an extensive criticism of the Juvenile
system of the US for its involvement in abuse as well corruption, the juvenile system of Missouri
is however transformative. It ensures that the offenders are not repeating their offense once they
go through the system (Bonnie & National Research Council, 2013).
Many offenders are passing through the Missouri facilities where they are receiving a
national commendation. Through this system, a caseworker is assigned to a group of 10-15
offenders and during the day, the offenders are allowed to go to school. In addition, the offenders
are also allowed to engage in co-curriculum activities such as sports and play production. The
offenders are also taught how to work as a team, and this is through mingling together through
mountain climbing and camping. Through this system, many teenagers are becoming better
citizens. There is an emulation of this system by several states including Virginia, New Mexico,
California, and Louisiana. Washington State, for instance, closed its troubled juvenile centre of
detention namely Oak Hill Youth Centre in 2009 and rebuilt it to look like the model of
Missouri. There has been a change in the Missouri system from its traditional punitive system
that was characterized by harsh conditions such as rape, beatings, and sometimes death.
Tremendous improvement in the model took place in the 1970s. Under the model, the juveniles
whose crimes are minor such as trespassing or skipping classes are placed in cottages or low-
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security houses in a group of 10 kids. The small size is essential as it ensure that there is efficacy
among the staff members when it comes to working with the individual offenders. The system
also provides that delinquencies with violent crimes are put into gated facility with a capacity of
holding about 50 offenders. It offers the same atmosphere of the group as well as ensure that its
focus is on rehabilitation. Having been placed in small groups, the offenders are also provided
counselling services as well as allowed to go to school. Once a juvenile is found to have acquired
good behaviour as well as demonstrated progress, he or she can e released after a short time.
Critics stipulate that the Missouri juvenile system is too lenient on juvenile delinquency and that
it may contribute to the youth not becoming law abiding. However, studies done on this system
indicates that very few people who have gone through the juvenile system of Missouri tend to get
into the trouble compared to high number of juveniles in other systems (Merlo & Benekos,
2013).
The laws and policies direct the direct the juvenile justice system and they (the laws and
policies) are guided by parens doctrine. It requires that the state to act as the parent to ensure that
the interests of juveniles whom they serve are met. The Missouri system of Juvenile was
established and improved so that it would respond to the numerous needs of the youths, running
simultaneously with the teachers, caregivers, protectors, and ensuring that the community safety
is a priority. The objectives of parens patriae also necessitate the tailoring of the administrative
decisions to individual children. The operations of the Missouri juvenile justice system take
place with limited resources as well as with more obscure goals than the criminal justice does
(Merlo & Benekos, 2013). The juvenile justice system in Missouri has undergone numerous
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reforms including the construction of the juvenile correction centres with a dormitory style. The
focus of the Missouri juvenile justice system is in therapy as well as comfortable conditions of
living with a great emphasis on job training as well as on education (Wilson & John F. Kennedy
School of Government, 2013).
Prior to the 1970s reform, the Missouri juvenile justice system was littered with poor
strategies that led to the rise of crime rate, endangered the juveniles, wasted a lot of money, and
damaged the bright future of the youths. The policy also violated the profound meaning of the
equal rights provided for in the law. Despite numerous scholars as well as juvenile practitioners
providing the direction on how the juvenile justice system should be done, there was a consistent
failure of this system in many states. However, the Missouri system has achieved success in the
last 20 years, and many states are already reconstituting their system to resemble that of
Missouri. The primary function of the juvenile system of justice is the preventing a juvenile from
recommitting the offense. Although the court plays the role of preventing the breaking of the
laws by the community, it will continue to respond to the adolescents who continue to engage in
delinquency within the community. While providing services or imposing sanctions, the court
will have the final say concerning the type as well as the intensity of the interventions for the
juveniles. The knowledge about the adolescent development is essential when it comes to the
making of the decision with the aim of preventing the reoffending among the adolescents (Merlo
& Benekos, 2013).
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The justice system of the juveniles in the US has struggled for a long a long time with the innate
tension between the role of the system in ensuring that the punishment for the violation of the
law is met and the role of the system to ensure that the juveniles are attaining a constructive
behaviour. The juvenile justice system should ensure that the public is protected from the harm
brought about by the juvenile offenders, and it should ensure that these juveniles are leading a
productive life in future. To attain these goals, it is important to control the short-term behaviour
as well as having a means to induce a behaviour change that will continue even after the juvenile
is not supervised by the court. Missouri juvenile justice system uses various methods to control
the acts of the juveniles and among the old methods included the use of the community
supervision as well as custodial care (Merlo & Benekos, 2013).
Approximately 93,000 youths are placed in the facilities of juvenile justice across the US. The state-
funded, residential and the post-adjudication facilities holds approximately 70% of these youths. Each
day, each youth held in these facilities spends about $240.99 each day. Since most states are spending a
lot of budgetary constraint, there is a need for the states to reconsider ways that would reduce the
spending on the juvenile justice system. The state of Missouri is also spending a lot to keep the youths in
the facilities, and it falls under this category. The rate of recidivism is higher among the adolescents who
are imprisoned that the youths who serve in the community. Policies whose aim is to confine children
do not guarantee public safety. According to studies, states that raised the youth number in the facilities
did not have a reduction in the crime rate. According to studies, recidivism rates can best be reduced by
the use of the community-based programs. Such programs also promote positive outcomes of life.
Studies have indicated that the rate of recidivism can be reduced by about 22% using these programs.
Low cost is incurred by using the community-based programs than by using incarceration. There is
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efficacy in community-based program and at the same time, the programs have been shown to produce
more benefits in terms of public safety than putting the youths into the detention or incarcerating them.
There is an existence of numerous theories to give an explanation why there is a rise in the
youth numbers that are placed under the juvenile justice system. Among these theories include the idea
that there is a rise of young members of the gang. The Missouri model of the juvenile justice has been
embraced nationally as the model to emulate. The Missouri model has a great emphasis on small
facilities, and its focus is on rehabilitation as well as support for the youths. The model has been shown
to influence positively the youths and to improve the safety of the public. While in the facilities, the
youths can attain the educational benchmarks at a rate similar to the youths who serve their terms at
the prisons. Although the best practice to treat the youths who have broken the law, if there is a need to
confine a young person, the best model to emulate is the Missouri model. However, there is a need for
more focus on the community-based programs instead of confinement. In terms of cost, the
community-based programs are inexpensive compared to the confinement. Research investigating the
effects of community-based versus the institutional interventions has shown that more positive
outcomes are achieved by youths who undergo treatment in community-based programs. According to
research, the best way to enhance public safety is to ensure that there is more investment in the
community-based youth programs as this will also save money. Another recommendation is to ensure
the rate of employment among the youths is improved. According to studies, there is a less likelihood
for an employed youth to engage in crime than an unemployed youth. Another strategy will involve
establishing programs within the community that that will address issues such drug and substance
abuse, mental illnesses, as well as the emotional distress that occur as a result of trauma. Subsequently,
it is important for the jurisdiction to ensure that the confined youths are receiving care even after they
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transit into the community. Such care would include arranging for housing, employments, and other
support for the youth once they are released from the confinement.
The policy will discuss the juvenile justice system and will look at how the efficacy of the
Missouri justice system in preventing crime. The recommendations provided by this policy will assist the
law enforcers and the people involved in the youth rehabilitative efforts, to be effective in their work.
The policy will strengthen the current reforms made to the juvenile system, assisting other policymakers
in developing better policies and this in term will help them to avoid discrimination. In addition, the
policy will be essential in assisting in predicting the juvenile justice system’s future. The policy intends to
give the description of the juvenile justice system in Missouri State.
Literature review
The primary purpose of the criminological theory is to assist an individual in
understanding criminal justice as well as a crime. Through the theories, we are able to learn
about how the laws are made as well as how they are broken, deviant, and criminal behaviours,
and the criminal activities pattern. Theories are also essential as they are used in guiding the
policy making. Several theories would conduct this study, and they include the following:
Absolute deterrence: this entails any form of crime that is being prevented due to the presence of
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formal system to ensure that a person is receiving punishment for committing a criminal act.
Deterrent theory: the theory indicates that there can be the control of a crime through the
utilization of punishment that brings together a proper degree of severity, celerity, and certainty.
Expected utility principle: it states that individuals’ acts in a way that would benefit them as well
as reduce loss. Through this theory, individuals are willing to increase their pleasure as well as
reduce their pain.
Social learning theory: Robert Merton developed this theory with the anomie concept, which involves a
split between the goal of an individual and the impediment possessed by the society to attaining these
goals. In 1992, Robert Agnew indicated that worry and stress is a criminal behavior impetus and that the
source of these emotions is anomies. There exist three main forms of strain namely lack of capacity to
attain a goal, positive motivations’ loss, and the quantity of negativity in the life of an individual. There
are two ways of measuring strain namely the identification of the life aspects by the subject or the
predetermination of the strain causes by a researcher and asking the respondents whether there is
existence of such strain in their life. According to Agnew’s research, there is a connection between the
negativity and the life of a person that is then connected to the criminal behavior.
According to the experts of juvenile justice, the Missouri model is a potential reform
movement that is emulated by many states to reduce youth confinement cost. California, whose
annual spending on every incarcerated juvenile stands at $200,000 had a reallocation of $93
million in the expenses of the prison by sinking state confinement. Facilities like Missouri Hills
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near St. Louis do not have the barbed wire that characterized the traditional prison. The Missouri
model limits the number of youths living in a wooden cottage style dormitory to 10, and each of
these facilities has two facilitators. The majority of the other states do not have such an
arrangement and most of them maintain the traditional juvenile justice system of putting the
juveniles in the same cells with the adults. The most impressive thing about the Missouri model
is that it has lowest rate of recidivism in the nation. Other states for instance Illinois, Louisiana,
and Florida are focussing on bringing improving the facilities to prevent the juveniles from
running. In order to avoid confinement, some states works at the level of the country to ensure
that the youths remain in their community while they are been rehabilitated. According to the
advocates, this option is cheaper compared to the residential care. The two largest systems of the
state namely the California and Texas cut long-term confinement of the juveniles, requiring that
each county would use detention halls to house offenders of low-level.
Each year, one-half over a period of two years cut the youth population in Texas while
the state of California reduced its youth population from 10,000 in 1997 to 2,500 presently.
However, many critics see county and city detention programs as uneven and indicate that there
is an inadequate monitoring of these facilities by the states. Using the Missouri model
techniques, Missouri was able to cut the population of the adults from 2005 to the first half of
2007. Through the Missouri model reform, there is a nationwide impact for instance a 12%
decline in the number of the juvenile offenders from 105,000 juveniles to 93,000 youths from
1997 to 2006.
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A study done by Krisberg, Vuong, Hartlney, and Marchionna (2010) looked at the means
that can be used to reduce the correction system of the state. According to the study, the creation
of the state-wide correction centres for the juveniles took place in 1941. The initiation of the
juvenile system was the creation of the CYA (California Youth Authority). For three decades,
the CYA population did not go beyond 7,000. Towards the end of 1970s as well as at the
beginning of 1980s, the CYA population began to rise. CYA was later changed into Division of
the juvenile facilities. There was however a decline in the population of the youth offenders in
1997. The data for this study was from various agencies of the state as well as from the interview
that was conducted with individuals who had knowledge of the declining trend of the CYA
population. There was also a review of the media coverage regarding the youth crime. The data
showed the change of the numbers and the media review as well as the interview provided the
changing numbers’ context. Just like the Missouri justice system, there is a declining trend of the
juvenile offenders in the California State. The rate of the arrest of the Juvenile felony was 2,902
in 1991 to 1,345 in every 100,000 youths of ages 10 to 17 in 2009. The two systems show a drop
in the number of the juvenile arrest. In California, the reduced arrest has led to a decline in the
custody of CYA since fewer arrests will translate into fewer youths in the facilities.
One of the focuses of the California juvenile justice systems is the public safety. The
primary goal of the California model of the juvenile justice system is to rehabilitate as well as
treat the juveniles. The Missouri model shares the same goal of restoring as well as treating the
juveniles, preventing them from returning to their old habits. There are numerous methods as
well as programs used by the California model for addressing the crimes committed by the
juvenile, ensuring that the severity of the crime is considered, as well as regarding the offender’s
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background. The California models run a number of programs such as treatment, incarceration,
detention, as well as community supervision. In addition, the system offers increasing response
to the increasing severity for instance the formal probation, informal probation, incarceration,
and detention. Since the primary goal of the California juvenile justice system is to ensure that
the juveniles are being rehabilitated, they system works with other agencies to achieve this goal
and these agencies include the schools, agencies of the social services, as well as community-
based organizations. Following the arrest of the juvenile offender, a law enforcer has a right to
take the juvenile either to the juvenile hall or to the offender’s parents. Since there is
overcrowding in most of the juvenile halls, only violent offenders are taken into these rooms, and
the rest of the arrestees are released. If there is a placement of the juvenile into the juvenile hall,
the department of the probation or the attorney of the district may take the youth to the juvenile
court and file a petition there, a move similar to the filing of charges in the adult courts. The
district attorney in the California state may also opt to ask for the remanding of the juvenile to
the courts of the adults. Once the minor is proved guilty, he or she is placed on community
probation, placed in a group home or foster care, or incarcerated in the juvenile camp within the
county. Consequently, the judge may opt to send the juvenile to the authority of the youth. The
California juvenile system ensures that 97% of the of the juvenile offenders are supervised by the
county department, and the remaining 3% are submitted to the Youth Authority and the state
become their primary responsibility.
The California system has identified numerous treatment services for the juvenile
offenders. The policy has identified several factors that may put the youth at the risk of
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committing a crime, and they include the family dysfunction, school failure, mental disorder, and
substance abuse. Among the intervention services proposed by the system include the school
services, social services of the county, as well as the community-based organizations. The
California’s Division of Juvenile Justice provide academic, vocational education, and treatment
programs that addresses criminal and violent behaviour, substance abuse, medical care, problems
of the mental health, as well as maintaining secure as well as safe learning environment. The
assignment of the living units is based on the age, institution violence risk, gender, as well as
their needs for the specialized treatment. Unlike the Missouri model, the integrated behaviour
treatment model forms the framework for the programs of DJJ of California. The aim of this
model (integrated action treatment model) is to ensure that there is a reduction in the institution
violence as well instilling anti-criminal attitude to the juveniles. In addition, the model provides
skills to the youth on how they can manage their environment. There is thus some similarities
among the California model and the Missouri model in that they both serve the purpose of
rehabilitating the youths. Just like the Missouri model, there California model ensures that the
youths are attending schools to attain a diploma of the high school. Since the year 2004, the
number of the youths who have achieved academic success through this model stands at 5,632.
The number of juveniles who completed the high school education rose to 300%.
When there is a recommendation for an intervention for the youth, there is efficacy when it comes to
the reduction of the recidivism rate. In addition, there is the promotion of the positive outcomes of life
using the community administered intervention or those administered outside the juvenile justice
system. Such programs appear to reduce the rate of recidivism by about 22 percent and at a lower cost
than the cost incurred through imprisonment. According to researchers, youths treated in an outside
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secure environment have positive outcomes. Recent studies indicate that while appropriate treatment
improves the outcomes in both the community and the institution settings, high success occurs in
community setting than in the institution setting. Comparing the large residential and the community
programs are compared; research shows that there is the dampening of the appropriate services
positive effect by the residential facilities. According to WSIPP (Washington Institute for Public Policy),
more taxpayers’ money would be saved if there is an investment of alternative approach other than
incarceration.
In Colorado, there is the decentralization of the juvenile justice system. Colorado State has three
main law enforcement agencies namely the municipal police department, Colorado State Patrol, and the
Sheriff’s department. Each county of the Colorado State has a sheriff whose term lasts for four years.
The main role of the sheriff is to maintain the jails within the county, provide criminal and civil paper
service, as well as investigating cases involving crimes. The county funds the Department of the sheriff.
The department of Colorado municipal police primary role is answering the service calls and temporary
housing prisoners prior to their transfer to the county jails or while pending to be released. The
Colorado State Patrol turns the cases involving the juveniles to the sheriff department or the local
police. In general, the main role of the juvenile law enforcers includes putting the juvenile into custody
temporarily without a court order when there is a strong ground that a juvenile has committed a
delinquency act. In Colorado, a juvenile is only taken into the custody once there is an insurance of a
court order. There is an appointment of an agency or an individual to perform screening or intake
function for a juvenile who is taken into the temporary custody.
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The Colorado Intensive Aftermath Program is run by DYC (Colorado Division of Youth
Corrections), its operating area is the Denver Metropolitan, and these areas include Jefferson, Denver,
and Arapahoe counties. Various techniques such as the education, psychological, and standard battery
instruments do the assessment of the juveniles in this program. Other assessment techniques include
the youth offender service level as well as the adolescents who are living independently, and this is
through employment and education. The Colorado program ensures that there is service delivery
continuity. The model also offers individual counseling, vocational training of skills, experiential activities
of learning, parent orientation, survival skills, and anger management skills. Apart from that, the youths
in the Colorado family are engaged in numerous counseling groups. The majority of the youth in the
program spends several months undergoing programming in the day treatment that offers a high
structure level during the day. Several other activities of monitoring the youths include the random
urinalysis and curfews. Through the Colorado program, the youth are required to be reporting to the
supervisor team once per week.
Numerous studies indicate that there is a high likelihood for the incarcerated youths to recidivism than
youths who undergo supervision through the settings that are community-based.
A study of the incarceration of youths in Arkansas found that there was a high rate of recidivism
and apart from that, the incarceration experience is an important factor in increasing the recidivism
odds. The study also found that approximately 60% of the studied youths went back to the DYS
(department of youth services) in a period of three years after their release. The study further indicated
that there was an increase in the possibility of going back to the DYS for a prior commitment youths by
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13.5 times than for youths possessing a weapon (3.5 times), poor relationship with the parents (0.6
times), or gang membership (2 times).
Similar findings were found in Texas where there was less likelihood for the youths who were
placed under a community-based program to committee delinquency behavior than incarcerated
youths. 63.4% of the 443 studies about the justice systems of the juveniles show that youth who
received interventions that put more emphasis on the community-based treatment, as well as other
alternatives parallel to incarceration, had a less likelihood to recidivism than those with no intervention.
In addition, the study showed that 32 to 37% of youths who are provided with the employment as well
as behavioural programs were likely to recidivate compared to a higher rate of recidivism (50%) for
youths who did not receive any form of intervention.
Recidivism studies from large residential facilities of correction, such as the training schools
show a high percentage. A study done by youths discharged from the two training schools of Minnesota
in 1991 indicated that there was a re-arresting of 91% of these youths five years after they were
released. The similar study in Maryland sampled 947 youths whose release from the correctional
facilities was in 1994. According to the study, 82% of the youths were referred to the criminal or juvenile
court in a period of two and a half years following their release. In the state of Washington, 59% of the
youths who were incarcerated were returned to the incarceration center for a period of one year while
68% in two years.
Numerous other studies show a similar pattern of a high percentage of youths being re-arrested
few years after their release. Incarceration is not the way to handle the youths who are involved in
delinquency behavior. There is a need to alternate incarceration with other programs as these programs
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are effective when it comes to public safety. According to research, the majority of the youths desist
from illegal as well as delinquency behavior on their own without the criminal or juvenile justice system
interventions. However, when there is the involvement the two systems or one of them, such a move
would impede the youth’s development. In addition, involving other of the system would derail the
chances of the youth to successfully transit into adulthood. There is the disruption of the youth engaging
naturally with the members of the family, work, and school. Recent studies have shown that
confinement has a high likelihood of reinforcing delinquency behavior in the at-risk group than
individual treatment in the community. In addition, confining a young person in a confined facility would
make him/her feel that the society has socially isolated him/her. Because of this, the youth aremore
likely to associate with his or her peers as they feel that they are isolated socially.
A study done by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Office indicated that the
likelihood of the youth returning to their old behavior is high if they have a direct contact with the
juvenile court. In addition, the percentage of the youths likely to repeat the same delinquency behavior
following their referral stands at 41. Incarceration can also hinder the process of natural development of
getting educated and being employed as the youth does not have equal opportunities likes the youths
who remain in the community. When a youth does not develop these attachments, he/she is likely to
have reduced recidivism. The study, however, fails to recognize the role played by the confinement
facilities. Although the confinement facilities are associated with so many setbacks, many youths change
their behaviors through these facilities. According to a study done in 1993, the rate of crime among the
youths is low among the youths who have stable jobs. Due to the education, opportunities of
employment, and natural processes of life, research indicates that the incarceration process could make
a person to an unstable employee. However, no sample size or the methodology is well established in
Running Head: THE MISSOURI MODEL OF JUSTICE SYSTEM
the study. The study also fails to recognize the youths who succeed in education and employment after
the incarceration.
References
Champion, D. J., Merlo, A. V., & Benekos, P. J. (2013). The juvenile justice system:
Delinquency, processing, and the law. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Education.
Bonnie, R. J., & National Research Council (U.S.). (2013). Reforming juvenile justice: A
developmental approach.
Missouri Bar. (2011). Missouri juvenile law. Jefferson City, Mo. (326 Monroe St.,
Jefferson City 65101: Missouri Bar.
Wilson, J. B. & John F. Kennedy School of Government. (2013). Cross-branch
collaboration: What can we learn from the collaboration between courts and the division
of youth services in Missouri?. Williamsburg, Va.: National Center for State Courts.
Recommendations
Running Head: THE MISSOURI MODEL OF JUSTICE SYSTEM
As the years goes, several programs on the comprehensive aftercare have been generated.
Among these programs include the Maryland’s juvenile aftercare program for drug treatment,
the Michigan Nokomis Challenge program, as well as the PIPAP (Philadelphia Intensive
Probation Aftercare Program). Such programs are not present n Missouri, and it is important for
the model to include them to ensure that there is efficacy in the juvenile service delivery.
However, the programs should be proper to avoid problems during the program
implementation. In addition, such programs should be inclusive of all the groups, bow the low
and the high recidivism risk groups. There is a need to focus more on the criminology factors
and more components of treatment should be involved. Although the Missouri model is among
the best in the US, there is a need for more, and there is a need to monitor the youth once
he/she is released back into the community. Such a youth should receive support from another
program for instance support for education once he/she is living in the community. In addition,
another program whereby the youth who have made a change while in the juvenile custody
should be implemented with the aim of positively influencing the youths within the community
to change. The Missouri model should also incorporate some of the interventions provided in
the intensive aftercare program (IAP). The aim of IAP is the reduction of the recidivism among
the parolees with high risk by preparing them to better prior to their release into the
community. A highly structured as well as an enhanced transition from the lives in confinement
to the life in the community would make the parolee to benefit in many areas such as peer
relations, education, mental health, and family relations. The aftercare models by Armstrong
and Altschuler integrates the theories of criminology namely the social learning, social control,
and the strain theory to offer an explanation for a serious, as well as a chronic delinquency.
Running Head: THE MISSOURI MODEL OF JUSTICE SYSTEM
According to Armstrong and Altschuler, a serious as well as a chronic delinquency has a close
relationship with social disorganization, weak control generated by the inadequate control, the
strain that is generated by the disorganization among others. According to them, an effective
intervention needs intensive supervision, as well as services both after the youth, is released as
well as during the reintegration and incarceration. The model of IAP also entails a correctional
continuum comprising of three segments namely the pre-release as well as preparation planning
for the period of incarceration, structural transition requiring the participation of the aftercare
and the institutional staffs prior to as well as following the re-entry into the community. In
addition, the model also entails the reintegration of the activities to ensure that there is an
adequate delivery of the services, as well as a necessary social control level. This should be the
alternative model for the current Missouri model. The IAP’s central component is the system of
the overarching case management. The IAP model is a mechanism that attains coordinated
planning as well as consistent and continuous provision of services, referral, as well as observing
juvenile offenders who are placed in a secure confinement awaiting transition into the status of
the aftercare in the community. There are several element of the model, and they are as
follows:
Risk assessment as well as classification: to maximize its capacity for the reduction of the crime,
the focus of IAP is high-risk offenders. Sometimes, the youths who passes through the Missouri
model tend to go back to their old ways. With IAP, there is the utilization of the authenticated
risk screening instrument to identify clearly the youths who are at a higher risk.
Running Head: THE MISSOURI MODEL OF JUSTICE SYSTEM
Individualized case planning incorporating family as well as community: this component gives
the specification for the need for the institutional as well as aftercare staff to identify the service
need as well as treatment of an offender soon after commitment as well as plan the means of
addressing those needs during the incarceration, community aftercare and the transition. The
component also aims at addressing the youth problems in relation to their peers, families,
schools, as well as other social networks.
Intensive scrutiny and services: Although the model of IAP offers a close supervision as well as
control the offenders of high risks within the community, the model also necessitate treatment
and service. Such an approach requires adequate number of staffs to ensure that the caseload is
small. It also requires funds to ensure there is the provision of services. Ideally, the services
provided by IAP are parallel to those offered in the institution.
Graduated incentives balance and consequences: The model of IAP requires that sanctions are
used to chastise inappropriate behavior and the use of rewards to mark progress or to
encourage. Since the programs on intensive supervision are intrusive, there is a likelihood of the
occurrence of many technical violations, for instance, the curfew violation. Unlike the Missouri
model that relies on cottage and supervision of youths in small groups, the IAP model creates a
partnership with and working relationships with families, agencies, and organizations to ensure
that the program is successful. There has been a successful implementation of the IAP program
in Nevada, Virginia, and Colorado States.
Running Head: THE MISSOURI MODEL OF JUSTICE SYSTEM
Another recommendation would be increasing the number of MTFC (Multidimensional
Treatment Foster Care) as an alternative to the Missouri model. Instead of putting the youths in
small groups, the best alternative would be to place these youths into foster homes where a
family would be given a responsibility of one youth. Individual treatment is essential, as it will
enable close monitoring of the child. The first step would entail retaining the youth with the
foster parent with total restriction, but with the improvement of the youth’s behaviour, there is
the loosening of the restriction and more freedom is accorded to the youth. Although there is a
close monitoring of the youth by the foster parent, the youth also receives training on the social
and job skill from a therapist. The birth parents also receive training on how they can discipline
the child properly. On average the rate of recidivism reduction by MTFC stands at 22 and the
method and unlike other models, it is cost-effective.