To reduce minority overrepresentation in its juvenile justice system, Pennsylvania sponsored nine community-based delinquency prevention programs in Harrisburg and Philadelphia. The authors describe results of their evaluation of the Harrisburg programs over a three-year period (1992 to 1995), reporting two-year follow-up data for the 1992-93 cohort (N = 191). The major objective was to reduce rates of arrest and rearrest for clients; programs also attempted to reduce major risk factors such as educational failure, dropout, and truancy. Using quasi-experimental comparison groups based on program attendance (control, low, and high), program effects are examined using logistic regression and multivariate analysis of variance. Programs were successful in reducing recidivism: over one-year and two-year follow-up periods, 2 recidivism was lowest for the high-attendance group. Program effects on school outcomes, however, were generally weak. Implications for policy and program development are discussed.
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