Teen Court: Does it Reduce Recidivism?

Abstract

Teen Court is a diversion program designed to intercept the process of sending first-time misdemeanor juvenile offenders though the traditional juvenile justice system. Despite its widespread popularity throughout the United States, very little research has been conducted on Teen Court's effectiveness at reducing recidivism. Those studies that do exist lack rigorous methodologies. The present evaluation uses data from a Teen Court in Maryland and a comparable group of juvenile offenders who went through the Department of Juvenile Services. A logistic regression indicates that Teen Court is positively related to recidivism. Conclusions and recommendations are discussed.