Robert Barnoski - March 2004

The 1997 Washington State Legislature enacted the Community Juvenile Accountability Act (CJAA) to test the use of “research-based” programs to reduce juvenile offender recidivism. The act required the use of a risk assessment to assign youth to these programs. The Washington Association of Juvenile Court Administrators worked with the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (Institute) to develop the Washington State Juvenile Court Assessment (WSJCA). The assessment was implemented in 1999 as a two-stage process. The first stage is a pre-screen assessment completed for all youth placed on probation. The second stage, a full assessment, is required for youth assessed as moderate or high risk on the pre-screen. This report examines the validity of the pre-screen and full assessment.

Elizabeth Drake, Robert Barnoski - June 2006

The Chemical Dependency Disposition Alternative (CDDA) was created by the 1997 Washington State Legislature as a sentencing option for juvenile offenders. The goal was to reduce recidivism by providing treatment for chemically dependent or substance abusing youth. This report assesses the feasibility of conducting a retrospective outcome evaluation to compare the recidivism rates of a CDDA group to similar youth who did not receive CDDA. We investigated two potential comparison groups: substance abusing youth adjudicated before CDDA started, and substance abusing youth receiving no treatment after CDDA started. The Institute found that an appropriate comparison group could not be identified. Thus, it was not possible to evaluate the impact of CDDA on recidivism.

Elizabeth Drake, Robert Barnoski - June 2006

The Chemical Dependency Disposition Alternative (CDDA) was created by the 1997 Washington State Legislature as a sentencing option for juvenile offenders. The goal was to reduce recidivism by providing treatment for chemically dependent or substance abusing youth. The Institute was directed by the 1997 Legislature to evaluate CDDA to determine its impacts on recidivism. The Institute surveyed the courts to determine how to identify both the CDDA and the CDDA comparison groups. After the initial phase of data collection, the Institute found that an appropriate comparison group could not be identified. Thus, it was not possible to evaluate the impact of CDDA on recidivism or conduct a cost-benefit analysis. However, the survey revealed variations in the implementation of CDDA across the state.

Robert Barnoski - February 2007

The 2006 Washington State Legislature created the Promoting Academic Success (PAS) program to provide remediation for 10th-grade students who do not meet standard in one or more content areas of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).

The Legislature also directed the Institute to evaluate the effectiveness of remedial programs funded through PAS. This report describes the results of the survey administered to the summer 2006 PAS instructors about their instruction. The survey was conducted to obtain data describing the different remedial strategies offered in the classes. A subsequent report will analyze the relationship between the survey data and WASL retest results.

Elizabeth Drake, Robert Barnoski - March 2009

The 1999 Offender Accountability Act (OAA) affects how the Department of Corrections (DOC) supervises convicted felony offenders in the community. The Institute was directed by the legislature to evaluate the OAA. The OAA requires DOC to supervise offenders according to their risk for future offending, which is estimated using instruments that classify offenders into groups with similar characteristics.

The Institute developed a "static risk" instrument, which DOC began using as part of its Risk Level Classification (RLC) system in 2008. This new system replaced DOC's previous Risk Management Identification (RMI) system, which had been in use since the OAA was implemented. Comparing recidivism rates of offenders classified under the new RLC and the old RMI systems, this report finds the new system to have better predictive accuracy than the prior system.

Elizabeth Drake, Robert Barnoski, Steve Aos - April 2009

The 2003 Washington State Legislature passed ESSB 5990, which increased “earned early release time” for certain types of offenders. The bill authorizes the Washington State Department of Corrections to release certain eligible offenders earlier if they have demonstrated good behavior in prison.

The Institute was directed by the Legislature to evaluate the effect of the 2003 law. Our overall recidivism findings remain consistent with those in the original November 2008 report; we strengthened the cost-benefit analysis for this revised version and find that the law generates benefits of $1.88 per dollar of cost.

Marna Miller, Tali Klima, Corey Nunlist - February 2010

In 2008, the Legislature directed the Institute to study the truancy provisions of the 1995 "Becca Bill." The bill changed several aspects of the compulsory school attendance laws in Washington. In particular, the bill requires that school districts file truancy petitions in juvenile court when students accumulate a specified number of unexcused absences.

From a policy standpoint, it is of interest to know whether the Becca truancy laws have had a causal impact on key student outcomes, such as graduation rates.

Unfortunately, despite our best attempt to analyze this question with rigorous statistical methods, we cannot provide a scientific answer as to whether the law is having a positive, negative, or no effect on student outcomes. Sometimes research can provide answers to central questions, and sometimes it cannot; this is a case of the latter.

The 1995 Becca laws were implemented statewide and a random assignment study—the type of study offering the best scientific evidence—was never possible or envisioned. In addition, the historical data available for our study do not allow us to measure a vital aspect of the Becca laws: the number of unexcused absences from school. Without this information, it is impossible to employ appropriate statistical methods to study the question of the Becca Bill’s effectiveness.

We do know from our analysis that students who receive truancy petitions are at very high risk of academic failure as well as future criminal involvement. For example, of all students in Washington during the 2002–03 school year, only 20 percent of students with petitions graduated from high school by 2008, compared with 77 percent of their non-petitioned peers. Similarly, 20 percent of the students with petitions were subsequently convicted of a crime in Washington compared to 4 percent of students without petitions.

Our inability to analyze the effectiveness of the Becca Bill stems from that fact that, even before their truancy filing, petitioned students were already at much higher risk for negative outcomes. For example, prior to receiving the truancy filing, petitioned youth had a GPA of just 1.3, compared with a GPA of 2.7 for non-petitioned students. And, prior to the filing, 31 percent of the petitioned students had previously been convicted of a crime compared with 8 percent of non petitioned students.

Given these differences, and without additional information, it is not possible to identify an appropriate comparison group with which to judge—in a scientifically rigorous way—whether the Becca Bill has had the effects the Legislature intended.

Elizabeth Drake - December 2010

During the last 15 years, the Washington State Legislature has taken a number of steps to develop an “evidence-based” juvenile justice system. The central concept has been to identify and implement strategies shown—through rigorous research—to reduce crime cost-effectively. In 2009, the Legislature turned its attention to the mechanism through which Washington’s 33 juvenile courts receive state dollars. The Institute was directed to report on the administration of the new funding mechanism. We also summarize key policy reforms over the past 15 years that have established an emphasis on providing evidence-based programs in Washington’s juvenile justice system.

Sheila Donnelly, Roxanne Lieb - December 1993

Washington State's 1990 Community Protection Act requires released sex offenders to register with the sheriff in their county of residence within 24 hours of release. In addition, the Act expressly authorizes law enforcement agencies to notify the public when a sex offender with a high risk of reoffense settles in the community. This law, called "community notification," was the first of its kind in the country. In March 1993, the Institute surveyed sheriffs in all 39 counties and the chiefs of police in the ten largest cities regarding their use of the community notification law.

Donna Schram, Cheryl Milloy - October 1995

The Community Protection Act was implemented in Washington State in March 1990. One of the provisions of the Act, known as the community notification law, authorizes local law enforcement agencies to disseminate information to the public regarding convicted sex offenders who reside in the community. Washington State's community notification law was the first of its kind in the nation. Several other states have now enacted similar laws. This report provides the first examination of how the community notification law has been implemented in Washington State, who has been affected by it, and its impact on recidivism among sex offenders who were subjects of the law.