Saturday, August 21, 1999
Juvenile center's efforts paying off
Study: Butler facility rates second in Ohio
BY DAVID ECK
Enquirer Contributor
Efforts at the Butler County Juvenile Rehabilitation Center seem to be paying off and contributing to lower recidivism problems among juvenile offenders in Ohio, according to a new study.
The Butler County center, which serves felony juvenile offenders from Butler, Clermont, Clinton and Warren counties, was among two top-rated Ohio centers in the study.
Youths who completed the best-rated programs were half as likely to be repeat offenders as those who completed the lowest-rated programs, the review found.
The study by the University of Cincinnati for the Ohio Department of Youth Services (ODYS) used the Correctional Program Assessment Inven tory (CPAI) as part of a review of the nine locally controlled juvenile centers set up over the last seven years as part of the state's Community Correctional Facility system.
The CPAI is a group of measurements in areas such as program implementation, program characteristics and staff characteristics.
The ODYS funded the $65,000 study, said Ed Latessa, principal investigator for the study and head of UC's criminal justice division.
“What (were) these programs doing with these kids and how well the kids did as a result. It's really the first study of its kind anywhere that measures program quality,” Mr. Latessa said.
Of the programs studied, the Butler County center and Hocking Valley Community Residential Center in Nelsonville were the top rated. Hocking Valley got a 76.9 score, while Butler County scored 72.3 out of a possible 100. The average score was 54.4.
“The real value of this study is that it demonstrates that there is a very strong relationship between program quality and how well the youths did after they completed the programs,” Mr. Latessa said. “Program quality is a significant factor.”
The study's authors recommended that the Community Correctional Facilities program be continued and expanded. The Butler and Hocking facilities should be the models for new program development, Mr. Latessa said.
“I think it's a compliment to the staff in that facility,” said Rob Clevenger, director of court services for Butler County. “This is a very important job that these people do.”
The Butler County center has 36 juveniles in the the secure part of the program and about five in a halfway house, Mr. Clevenger said. There is a staff of about 35, and the juveniles' average age is 16.
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