Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago documented the efficacy of the City of Chicago’s Juvenile Intervention and Support Center (JISC).

The JISC is a pre-court diversion program that provides services and supports to “station adjusted” (i.e., informally handled) youthful offenders after they have come into contact with the Chicago Police Department but before they have been formally arrested and referred to the Cook County Juvenile Probation Department.

The City officials who conceived the JISC hoped that it would serve as a “firewall” between at-risk youth and the juvenile justice system, offering services, opportunities, and social supports to keep youth from re-offending and to prevent them from becoming further involved in juvenile court and juvenile probation.

Chapin Hall researchers worked with the leadership and staff of the JISC to conduct an “evaluability assessment” of the JISC in order to determine its suitability for evaluation and to work with staff to enact any procedural modifications that may be needed to facilitate future evaluation activities. Next, the research team conducted a process evaluation to document the activities of the JISC in detail, including direct observations of its procedures.

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Project Staff

Jeffrey Butts, PI
Ada Skyles, Co-PI
Elissa Gitlow
Jan DeCoursey
Brianna English

Funding

$90,000. MacArthur Foundation

Publication

Butts, Jeffrey A. (2011). Process Evaluation of the Chicago Juvenile Intervention and Support Center. New York, NY: Research and Evaluation Center, John Jay College of Criminal Justice.