Returning Home: A Look at Aftercare Services Provided to Delinquent Youth
Issue Reports & Briefs
January 29, 2000
Most people learn about the juvenile justice system from the media – reading newspapers, watching the evening news. These stories generally focus on sensational cases involving a child from a high profile family or a gruesome but infrequent homicide. Unfortunately, it is these handful of cases a year that politicians cite when calling for tougher penalties for juve- niles, contributing to the myths that a new gener-ation of super predator youth is coming of age and that juvenile crime rates are rising.
While these atypical cases are frightening and disturbing, they do not reflect the situation of the majority of 2,200 children who enter the State juvenile justice system each year. Sadly, the Governor and the New York State Legislature have responded to these cases and others like them across the country with a mixture of fear and ignorance, proposing juvenile justice reform bills that increase the number of youth placed in State- run facilities and lengthen placement, without significantly improving the services offered in the facilities or the provision of aftercare services. These unusual cases are not suitable examples to cite when drafting legislation, creating appropriate punishments or developing new programs to address the high recidivism rates of youth moving in and out of the juvenile justice system.
Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York (CCC) believes that identifying the gaps in the juve- nile justice system that effect all youth will lead to a more appropriate discussion among policymakers and lawmakers needed to improve the juvenile jus- tice system. To this end, we solicited recommenda- tions from experts in the juvenile justice field to identify the key components they believed would significantly reduce juvenile crime and issues
which require examination and activism. A broad range of perspectives were represented by the poli- cymakers, prosecutors and defense attorneys, advocates, detention facility administrators, Family Court judges, community-based organizations, and elected and appointed officials who were inter- viewed. Based on these discussions, CCC deter- mined that the provision of quality aftercare services to juvenile delinquents who return home after a period of incarceration is the one area that all agreed was most likely to keep youth from return- ing to the juvenile justice system.
Recognizing this consensus, Citizens’ Committee for Children undertook a study to determine (1) which juvenile delinquents are offered aftercare services after residential placement, and (2) whether the services provided to these youth who return to New York City facilitate a successful transition into community life. Although the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) offers different day placement options for youth who are released from State-run facilities, we targeted the Juvenile Aftercare Services program, which serves the majority of youth being condition- ally released to the community. We also included in our research aftercare services provided to youth who are released from residential facilities that contract with OCFS. The State does not require aftercare or follow-up services for juvenile delin- quents placed in contract residential facilities.
Based on CCC’s findings, we made a series of recommendations, highlights of which are listed below:
- AFTERCARE COUNSELORS’ CASELOADS ARE TOO HIGH AND SHOULD BE REDUCED.
- OCFS SHOULD DEVELOP A YOUTH’S SERVICE PLAN BEFORE THE YOUTH IS RELEASED FROM A FACILITY.
- THE NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION SHOULD HAVE A SCHOOL PLACEMENT ARRANGED FOR EVERY YOUTH AT LEAST ONE MONTH PRIOR TO THE YOUTH’S RELE-ASETO AFTERCARE.
- AFTERCARE COUNSELORS SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO A BROADER ARRAY OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES FOR YOUTH RELEASED TO AFTERCARE.
- OCFS SHOULD EXPAND THE NUMBER OF FAMILY ADVOCATES TO WORK WITH FAMILIES BEFORE AND AFTER THEIR CHILDREN RETURN HOME FROM JUVENILE FACILITIES.
Note: This publication was published in 2000. Language used in CCC products continues to evolve over time. Words used when this was published could be out of date and/or incorrectly frame an issue area when compared to today's standards.
