An Evaluation of JUST Court in Yuma County, AZ

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Juvenile Delinquency Unspecified; Substance Abuse; Adolescent Behavior
• Interventions: Other: JUST

• Registration Number: NCT02449057
• Lead Sponsor: Pepperdine University

Brief Summary

Arizona has created a pilot program for juvenile probationers called Juveniles under Supervision and Treatment (JUST), which includes swift and certain, but modest responses, to technical violations of the terms of juvenile probation. JUST targets high- and medium-risk juvenile probationers and its stated objective is to reduce violations and overall incarceration of youth in the program. The JUST pilot is being implemented under the authority of the Arizona Governor's Office for Children, Youth and Families (GOCYF) and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).

Detailed Description

Arizona's Juveniles Under Supervision and Treatment (JUST) Court is a pilot project initiated by the Arizona Governor's office. It is designed to test whether the principles of Swift, Certain, and Fair (SCF) Supervision-clear rules, close monitoring, and swift and certain, but modest, penalties for each violation can succeed when applied to juveniles under community supervision. The Arizona Administrative Office of the Courts piloted JUST in two counties: Yavapai and Yuma. The Yuma program was launched in March 2011. The goal of JUST is to (a) reduce the violation rate so as to reduce the number of petitions filed to revoke probation (the purpose is to reduce the use of juvenile detention), and (b) reduce recidivism overall. All juveniles in Yavapai are supervised under JUST (evaluation using an RCT is therefore unfeasible). JUST in Yuma is now being scaled up, which affords the opportunity for an RCT. The goal of the RCT is to compare the performance of youth supervised under JUST with those supervised under probation-as-usual.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2014-03
• Study First Submitted: 2015-02-10
• Study First Submitted QC: 2015-05-15
• Study First Posted: 2015-05-20
• Primary Completion: 2016-06
• Study Completion: 2016-06
• Status Verified: 2018-04
• Last Update Submitted: 2018-04-06
• Last Update Posted: 2018-04-10

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 150

Inclusion Criteria

• Newly probated
• At least 13 years old
• No older than 17 years and 3 months
• At least nine months remaining on supervision
• Must be on standard probation with a supervision level of moderate to maximum
• Must be able to participate in the program for at least nine months

Exclusion Criteria

• Not meeting all inclusion criteria
• Sex offender
• Dangerous offenses

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
JUST	JUST	Juveniles Under Supervision and Treatment. This entails swift, certain, and modest sanctions for violations of terms of community supervision.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Recidivism	followup at 6 months	Number of new arrests (overall, and by type)
Number of days served in detention	followup at 6 months	Number of days served in detention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Truancy	followup at 6 months	Number of days truant
Failure to appear	followup at 6 months	Number of no-shows for probation appointments
Other technical violations	followup at 6 months	Number of other technical violations
Substance use	followup at 6 months	Results of urinalysis screens from routine testing and research-based testing
New dispositions	followup at 6 months	Number of new dispositions, by (type)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Yuma County Juvenile Justice Center; 🇺🇸 Yuma, Arizona, United States