Indicator 51: Youth Success After Leaving Juvenile Justice System

 

Why This Is Important

Families, young people, and the professionals and volunteers who work in the juvenile
justice system all hope that young people who enter that system do not become repeat
offenders (recidivists). Committing a repeat offense increases the odds that youth will also
experience other negative outcomes and injure the quality of life in their community.

 

 

Where We Stand

The definition used to determine the recidivism rate for the Maine Department of
Corrections Juvenile Services was “any individual recording a second adjudication date
in the state of Maine’s juvenile court system for offenses committed before the age of 18”.

The percentage of youth who were re-adjudicated within one year of their first offense was
about the same for each of the six youth cohorts (20% for youth first adjudicated in 1998;
20% for those first adjudicated in 1999; 19% for those first adjudicated in 2000, and 17%
for those first adjudicated in 2001, 19% for those first adjudicated in 2002, and 17% for
those first adjudicated in 2003). At three years, recidivism rates are consistent across the four cohorts with available data.

The 1998-2003 MDOC reports on youth recidivism also provide other basic information
on youth who were first adjudicated in those years. In 2003, 77% of juveniles adjudicated
in 2003 were male, 75% were between the ages of 15-17, and 94% were white. The
number of females adjudicated for the first time started to decline in 2001 and continued to
decline through 2003. The number of females first adjudicated in 2003 represented a 24%
decline from 2000. In addition, the number of juveniles aged 13 and under adjudicated for
the first time decreased 43% between 1998 and 2003. In contrast, there was a 40% increase
in the number of 15, 16, and 17 year olds adjudicated for the first time during these six years.

 

Data Sources and Context

The data comes from the 2002-2003 Recidivism Report, the latest in a series of juvenile
recidivism reports developed by the Maine Statistical Analysis Center at the Muskie
School of Public Service for MDOC Division of Juvenile Services. The report provides a
detailed profile of juvenile offenders and adjudicated crimes in Maine between January 1,
2002 and December 31, 2003. The Juvenile Recidivism Reports are available on-line at: http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/justiceresearch/.