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Adolescent Diversion Project (ADP) (vs. simple release)

Juvenile Justice
  Literature review updated June 2019.
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The Adolescent Diversion Project (ADP) is a diversion program developed by researchers at Michigan State University. Diversion programs provide an alternative to formal sanctions in the juvenile justice system, aim to mitigate potential negative consequences associated with the juvenile justice system (e.g., stigmatizing youth as deviant), and maintain a youth’s pro-social ties in the community. In ADP, diverted youth are matched with a volunteer caseworker who provides tailored community-based services that focus on skill building (e.g., strengthening family relationships, improving school involvement, garnering employment, or enrolling in extracurricular activities). Caseworkers spend an average of seven hours a week with their youth over 18 weeks.

This analysis compares the outcomes of ADP youth who were diverted following arrest to youth who are released into parental custody following an arrest and are not formally processed by the juvenile court system. The comparison group youth do not receive any programming following release. In the studies included that report demographic information, 33% of participants were youth of color and 16% were female.

Studies that compare ADP youth to youth formally processed in the juvenile justice system are excluded from this analysis and analyzed separately.

Key Terms

Court-involved youth: Youth who are processed through the juvenile justice system but who are not ordered to a period of confinement in a residential or correctional facility. This includes populations of arrested youth, diverted youth, charged youth, adjudicated youth, and youth on probation or formal supervision.

Youth in state institutions: Youth who are confined in a residential or correctional facility when they participate in the program.

Youth post-release: Youth who are returning to the community following a period of confinement in a residential or correctional facility and who participate in the program after release to the community.
 
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META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic in order to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the types of program impacts that were measured in the research literature (for example, crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information.

Adjusted effect sizes are used to calculate the benefits from our benefit cost model. WSIPP may adjust effect sizes based on methodological characteristics of the study. For example, we may adjust effect sizes when a study has a weak research design or when the program developer is involved in the research. The magnitude of these adjustments varies depending on the topic area.

WSIPP may also adjust the second ES measurement. Research shows the magnitude of some effect sizes decrease over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. We also report the unadjusted effect size to show the effect sizes before any adjustments have been made. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured No. of effect sizes Treatment N Adjusted effect size(ES) and standard error(SE) Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
ES SE Age ES p-value
Crime
Any criminal conviction according to court records, sometimes measured through charges, arrests, incarceration, or self-report.
 14 3 49 -1.542 0.374 15 -1.542 0.001

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Davidson, W.S., Seidman, E., Rappaport, J., Berck, P.L., Rapp, N.A., Rhodes, W., & Herring, J. (1977). Diversion program for juvenile offenders. Social Work Research and Abstracts, 13 (2), 40-49.