Category: 1997-2005 Urban

The MacArthur Research Roundtable on Estimating the Costs and Benefits of the Separate Juvenile Justice System examined the feasibility of a cost-benefit analysis of the nation’s separate system of juvenile laws and juvenile courts.

Researchers from the Urban Institute’s Program on Youth Justice investigated methods available for evaluating drug courts for young offenders. The goal of the project was to develop a new conceptual framework for such evaluations. The framework was designed to focus the data-collection and analysis strategies used by state and local jurisdictions as they seek to measure the effectiveness of juvenile drug courts.

The Urban Institute’s Program on Youth Justice assisted the District of Columbia in creating a process to anticipate future demand for secure bed space for young offenders.

Researchers from the Urban Institute investigated the factors that contribute to the demand for juvenile detention and corrections bed space and developed an internet-based forecasting tool that state and local agencies could use to create their own forecasts of future demand.

The Evaluation of Teen Courts (ETC) Project  investigated how teen courts respond to young offenders and measured the effect of teen court sanctions and services on recidivism.

Researchers from the Urban Institute reviewed trends in youth gun violence, policy responses to gun violence, and the growing variety of data resources for research on the effects of gun laws. The project’s final report was designed to inform discussions about these issues and to aid in the development of future research efforts.