This article summarizes the results of the Transition Research on Adjudicated Youth in Community Settings (TRACS) project, a 5-year longitudinal study that examined the facility-to-community transition of 531 incarcerated youth (58% had a disability) from Oregon's juvenile justice system. About 40% of the sample returned to the juvenile correctional system within 12 months after release. Only 47% were engaged in work or school at 6 months after release, and 31% were engaged at 12 months after release. Participants who were engaged in work or school at 6 months after release tended to stay involved in those positive activities at 12 months after release and not return to the juvenile correctional system. These results point to the importance of providing interventions focused toward work and school placements immediately upon youths' release from the juvenile correctional system and their return to the community.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AltschulerD. M. (1998). Intermediate sanctions and community treatment for serious and violent juvenile offenders. In LoeberR.FarringtonD. P. (Eds.), Serious and violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions (pp. 367–388). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.*
2.
AltschulerD. M.ArmstrongT. L. (2001). Intensive aftercare for the high-risk juvenile parolee: Issues and approaches in reintegration and community supervision. In ArmstrongT. L. (Ed.), Intensive interventions with high-risk youths: Promising approaches in juvenile probation and parole (pp. 45–84). Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press.
3.
AmbroseD.LesterD. (1988). Recidivism in juvenile offenders: Effects of education and length of stay. Psychological Reports, 63, 778.
4.
BenzM. (2000). YTP decade report: 1990–2000. Eugene: University of Oregon, Institute on the Development of Educational Achievement.
5.
BenzM.LindstromL.LattaT. (1999). Improving collaboration between schools and vocational rehabilitation: The youth transition program model. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 13, 55–63.
6.
BlackT.BrushM.GrowT.HawesJ.HenryD.HinkleR. (1996). Natural bridge transition program follow-up study. Journal of Correctional Education, 47, 4–12.
7.
BlackorbyJ.WagnerM. (1996). Longitudinal postschool outcomes of youth with disabilities: Findings from the National Longitudinal Transition Study. Exceptional Children, 62, 399–414.
8.
BrierN. (1994). Targeted treatment for adjudicated youth with leaning disabilities: Effects on recidivism. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 27, 215–222.
9.
BullisM. (1994). Investigation of the institution-to-community transition of adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders. Funded grant proposal, Office of Special Education Programs, Field Initiated Research Studies.
10.
BullisM.CheneyD. (1999). Vocational and transition interventions for adolescents and young adults with emotional or behavioral disorders. Focus on Exceptional Children, 31(7), 1–24.
11.
BullisM.FredericksH. D. (Eds.). (2002). Providing effective vocational/transition services to adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders. Champaign-Urbana, IL: Research Press.*
12.
BullisM.MoranT.TodisB.BenzM.JohnsonM. (in press). Description and evaluation of the ARIES project: Achieving rehabilitation, individualized education, and employment success for adolescents with emotional disturbance. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals.
13.
BullisM.YovanoffP. (1997). Return to close custody: Analysis of the Oregon Youth Authority's data set. Eugene: University of Oregon, Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior.
14.
BullisM.YovanoffP.HavelM. E.MuellerG. (2001). Transition research on adjudicated adolescents in community settings: Final report on the TRACS project. Eugene: University of Oregon, Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior.
15.
CheneyD.HagnerD.MalloyJ.CormierG.BernsteinS. (1998). Transition services for youth and young adults with emotional disturbance: Description and initial results of project RENEW. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 21, 17–32.
16.
ClarkH. B.DavisM. (Eds.). (2000). Transition of youth and young adults with emotional/behavioral disturbances into adulthood: Handbook for practitioners, parents, and policy makers. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.*
17.
DeStefanoL.WagnerM. (1992). Outcome assessment in special education: What lessons have we learned? In RuschF.DeStefanoL.Chadsey-RuschJ.PhelpsL.SzymanskiE. (Eds.), Transition from school to adult life (pp. 173–207). Sycamore, IL: Sycamore.*
18.
EdgarE. (1985). How do special education students fare after they leave school?Exceptional Children, 51, 470–473.
19.
EnsmingerM.JuonH. (1998). Transition to adulthood among high-risk youth. In JessorR. (Ed.), New perspectives on adolescent risk behavior (pp. 365–391). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
20.
FoleyR. (2001). Academic characteristics of incarcerated youth and correctional education programs: A literature review. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 9, 248–259.
21.
FultonS.SabornieE. (1994). Evidence of employment inequality among females with disabilities. The Journal of Special Education, 28, 149–165.
22.
GallagherC. A. (1999, March). Juvenile offenders in residential placement, 1997. OJJDP Fact Sheet. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Juvenile Delinquency Prevention.
23.
HabermannM.QuinnL. (1986). The high school re-entry myth: A follow-up study of juveniles released from two correctional high schools in Wisconsin. Journal of Correctional Education, 37, 114–117.
24.
HollingsheadA. (1975). Four factor index of social status. New Haven, CT: Yale University, Dept. of Sociology.
25.
HosmerD.LemeshowS. (2000). Applied logistic regression (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.*
26.
HowellJ. (1998, February/March). Abolish the juvenile court? Nonsense!Juvenile Justice Update. Kingston, NJ: Civic Research Institute.
27.
KazdinA. (1993). Adolescent mental health: Prevention and treatment programs. American Psychologist, 48, 127–141.
28.
LevineP.EdgarE. (1994). An analysis of respondent agreement in follow-up studies of graduates of special and regular education programs. Exceptional Children, 60, 334–343.
29.
LipseyM. W.WilsonD. B. (1998). Effective intervention for serious juvenile offenders: A synthesis of research. In LoeberR.FarringtonD. P. (Eds.), Serious and violent juvenile offenders (pp. 313–345). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
30.
MacMillianD.ReschlyD. (1998). Overrepresentation of minority students: The case for greater specificity or reconsideration of the variables examined. The Journal of Special Education, 32, 15–24.
31.
McCordJ. (1992). The Cambridge-Somerville Study: A pioneering longitudinal-experimental study of delinquency prevention. In McCordJ.TremblayR. (Eds.), Preventing antisocial behavior (pp. 196–208). New York: Guilford Press.*
32.
McDanielL. (1992). Transition programs in correctional institutions. In RuschF.DeStefanoL.Chadsey-RuschJ.PhelpsL.SzymanskiE. (Eds.), Transition from school to adult life (pp. 425–442). Sycamore, IL: Sycamore.*
33.
MenhardS. (1990). Longitudinal research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.*
MynerJ.SantmanJ.CappellettyG.PerlmutterB. (1998). Variables associated with recidivism among juvenile offenders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 42, 65–80.
36.
PampelF. (2000). Logistic regression: A primer (Sage University papers series on quantitative applications in the social sciences, No. 07–132). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.*
37.
QuayH. (1986). Conduct disorders. In QuayH.WerryJ. (Eds.), Psychopathological disorders of childhood (3rd ed.; pp. 35–72). New York: Wiley.*
38.
RudasT. (1998). Odds ratios in the analysis of contingency tables (Sage University papers series on quantitative applications in the social sciences, No. 07–119). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.*
39.
RumbergerR.LarsonK. (1998). Student mobility and the increased risk of high school dropout. American Journal of Education, 107, 1–35.
40.
RuschF. (1995). Reflections—Ten years of the Transition Research Institute. Interchange, 13(4), 1–2.
41.
RutherfordR.BullisM.AndersonWheeler C.GrillerH. (in press). Youth with special education disabilities in the correctional system: Prevalence rates and identification issues. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Prevention and Office of Special Education Programs.
42.
ThompsonB. (1999). Improving research clarity and usefulness with effect size indices as supplements to statistical significance tests. Exceptional Children, 65, 329–338.
43.
TodisB.BullisM.D'AmbrosioR.SchultzR.WaintrupM. (2001). Overcoming the odds: Qualitative examination of resilience among adolescents with antisocial behaviors. Exceptional Children, 68, 119–139.
44.
WagnerM. (1992). Analytic overview: NLTS design and longitudinal analysis approach. In WagnerM.D'AmicoR.MarderC.NewmanL.BlackorbyJ. (Eds.), Trends in postschool outcomes of youth with disabilities (pp. 2–1 to 2–14). Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.
45.
WilkinsonL., & Task Force on Statistical Inference. (1999). Statistical methods in psychology journals: Guidelines and explanations. American Psychologist, 54, 594–604.
46.
WillM. (1984). OSERS program for the transition of youth with disabilities: Bridges from school to working life. Washington, DC: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation.
47.
WolfgangM.ThornberryT.FigiloR. (1987). From boy to man, from delinquency to crime. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
48.
WolfordB. (2000). Youth education in the juvenile justice system. Corrections Today, 62, 128–130.
