Performance Details

Department of Health and Social Services - Juvenile Justice

Mission

Hold juvenile offenders accountable for their behavior, promote the safety and restoration of victims and communities, and assist offenders and their families in developing skills to prevent crime.

Core Services

    Arrow GraphicMission Results

    		 Core Services
    A: Improve the ability to hold juvenile offenders accountable for their behavior.  Details >
    • TARGET #1: Reduce percentage of juveniles who reoffend following release from institutional treatment facilities.
    • TARGET #2: Reduce percentage of juveniles who reoffend following completion of formal court-ordered probation supervision.
    		 

    Performance Detail


    A: Result - Improve the ability to hold juvenile offenders accountable for their behavior.
        
    Target #1: Reduce percentage of juveniles who reoffend following release from institutional treatment facilities.


    Juvenile Institution Recidivism - Release Years
    Fiscal Year YTD Total
    FY 2009
    71%
    FY 2008
    63%
    FY 2007
    61%

    Analysis of results and challenges: This measure examines recidivism for youth who have been committed to and released from the Division’s four juvenile treatment facilities. These youth typically have the most intensive needs among juvenile offenders, and have been institutionalized because they demonstrated particularly violent behavior or failed to meet requirements of probation supervision or less-restrictive placements.

    This year the Division significantly changed its definition for juvenile recidivism to better align with an emerging national definition. The national Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators is leading this effort, which is intended to enable better state-by-state comparisons of recidivism rates and ultimately lead to improved strategies to reduce reoffending by juveniles. Under the previous definition of recidivism, the Division counted as reoffenses those offenses committed within 12 months of release and that resulted in a new juvenile conviction or adjudication. Under the new definition, the Division counts as reoffenses those offenses that occur within 24 months of release and that resulted in a new juvenile adjudication or conviction. In an effort to better align with recidivism studies for adult offenders in Alaska, the Division also has included certain misdemeanor-level traffic, alcohol, and other offenses in this year’s recidivism analysis that were not included in previous-year studies. A consequence of these changes is that more juveniles will qualify as recidivists than would have qualified under the previous definition used by the Division. For example, under the previous definition, 44% of juveniles released from treatment facilities in FY2009 qualified as recidivists; under the new definition, 71.1% of those released from treatment facilities in FY2009 qualified as recidivists. To enable comparisons between FY2009 and prior-year releases the Division also applied the new definition to juveniles released in FY2007 and FY2008. The resulting recidivism rates for each year suggest that the recidivism rate has increased over these years for this population. However, the small numbers of youth released make it difficult to be certain whether this increase represents an actual trend.

    Data is not yet available from the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators on how recidivism rates under the new definition compare across states. The data from Alaska, however, demonstrate that the Division must continue to focus particular attention on effective strategies for Alaska Native youth. These youth are disproportionately represented both among the total number of institutionalized youth and those who reoffend following treatment. The Division has launched several initiatives that are anticipated to result in improved outcomes in future years.

    Note: For juveniles to be counted as recidivists in the data above, adjudication and conviction information on offenses that were committed 24 months after release from institutional treatment must have been entered in the Division’s Juvenile Offender Management Information System or the Alaska Public Safety Information Network by August 15, 2012. Non-criminal motor vehicle, Fish & Game, tobacco, and alcohol violations are not counted as reoffenses. Adjudication and convictions received outside Alaska also are excluded from this analysis.

        
    Target #2: Reduce percentage of juveniles who reoffend following completion of formal court-ordered probation supervision.


    Juvenile Probation Recidivism - Release Years
    Fiscal Year YTD Total
    FY 2009
    39%
    FY 2008
    40%
    FY 2007
    40%

    Analysis of results and challenges: This measure examines reoffense rates for juveniles who received probation supervision while either remaining at home or in a nonsecure custodial placement. These youths typically have committed less serious offenses and have demonstrated less chronic criminal behavior than youth who have been institutionalized. Recidivism rates for institutionalized youth are analyzed in a separate performance measure (above). The two groups are considered separately because of the distinctively different levels of risk and need presented, and the different types of interventions and programming received.

    This year the Division significantly changed its definition for juvenile recidivism for this population to align with an emerging national definition. The national Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators is leading this effort, which is intended to enable better state-by-state comparisons of recidivism rates and ultimately lead to improved strategies to reduce reoffending by juveniles. Under the previous definition of recidivism, the Division counted as reoffenses those offenses that juveniles committed within 12 months of release from probation and that resulted in a new juvenile conviction or adjudication. Under the new definition, the Division counts as reoffenses those offenses that occur within 24 months of release from probation and that resulted in a new juvenile adjudication or conviction. In an effort to better align with recidivism studies for adult offenders in Alaska, the Division also has included certain misdemeanor-level traffic, alcohol, and other offenses in this year’s recidivism analysis that were not included in previous-year studies. A consequence of these changes is that more juveniles will potentially qualify as recidivists than would have qualified under the previous definition used by the Division. For example, under the previous definition, 23.0% of juveniles released from probation supervision in FY2009 qualified as recidivists; under the new definition, 39.2% of those released from probation supervision in FY2009 qualified as recidivists. To enable comparisons between FY2009 and prior-year releases the Division also applied the new definition to juveniles released in FY2007 and FY2008. The resulting recidivism rates for each year suggest the number of juveniles who reoffend following release from probation supervision has not increased over these years.

    Data is not yet available from the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators on how recidivism rates under the new definition compare across states. The data from Alaska, however, demonstrate that the Division must continue to focus particular attention on effective strategies for Alaska Native youth. These youth are disproportionately represented both among the total number of youth on probation and those who reoffend following completion of supervision. The Division has launched several initiatives that are anticipated to result in improved outcomes in future years.

    Note: For juveniles to be counted as recidivists in the data above, adjudication and conviction information on offenses that were committed 24 months after release from probation supervision must have been entered in the Division’s Juvenile Offender Management Information System or the Alaska Public Safety Information Network by August 15, 2012. This analysis also excludes youth who were ordered to an Alaska treatment institution any time prior to their supervision end date, as these youth are included in the analysis for our institutional recidivism performance measure, above. Non-criminal motor vehicle, Fish & Game, tobacco, and alcohol violations are not counted as reoffenses. Adjudication and convictions received outside Alaska also are excluded from this analysis.

     

    Current as of November 19, 2012