Project Back-on-Track (OJJDP Model Program Guide)

Office of Justice Programs, Innovation - Partnerships – Safer Neighborhoods

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Serving Children, Families and Communities

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Project Back-on-Track

Intervention:

Project Back-on-Track was an afterschool diversion program designed to help divert youths in early stages of delinquency from committing future crimes. It used a multifaceted approach that targeted factors contributing to delinquent behavior. Program youths participated in a 4-week cycle of treatment consisting of group and family therapies, parent groups, educational sessions, community service projects, and empathy-building exercises. These youths attended the program 2 hours a day for 4 days a week, allowing 32 hours of contact with the program per cycle. Parents attended the program 15 hours per cycle.

The great majority of youths (93 percent) were referred to the program by the District State Attorney’s Office. Referrals were based on a youth’s being an early career offender and living in the local juvenile justice district. The program accepted violent offenders (domestic assault, aggravated assault, sexual assault), drug offenders, and property offenders.

Evaluation Methodology:

Study 1
The evaluation by Myers and colleagues (2000) used a quasi-experimental design with a nonequivalent control group and a 1-year follow-up. The study participants were the first 30 youths who were referred to and completed the afterschool diversion program. These youths, ages 9–17 (with 19 of them female, 11 male; 19 African American, 10 white, and 1 Hispanic), were enrolled between July 1997 and July 1998. Most study youths (16 of them) were first-time juvenile offenders. The repeat offenders (the other 14) had committed a mean of 1.57 offenses before committing the referral offense. The comparison group (n=30) was created by matching age, sex, race, and delinquency stage. Both groups were assessed for recidivism rates and psychopathology.

Evaluation Outcome:

Study 1
The evaluation indicated that Project Back-on-Track completers were significantly less likely than the matched controls to have committed subsequent criminal offenses within 12 months following their participation in the program. In addition, they had significantly fewer subsequent criminal charges at 9- and 12-month follow-up intervals than the controls. Finally, by decreasing the frequency of criminal recidivism, it was estimated that the program resulted in a savings of $1,800 per youth enrolled after 1 year.

Other Information:

References:

Myers, Wade C., Paul R.S. Burton, Paula D. Sanders, Kimberly M. Donat, Jane Cheney, Timothy M. Fitzpatrick, and Linda Monaco. 2000. “Project Back-on-Track at 1 Year: A Delinquency Treatment Program for Early-Career Juvenile Offenders.” Journal of American Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 39(9):1127–34.

Program Specification:

Current Rating:

Promising

Expected Date of Re-Review:

Spring 2013

Program Type:

Afterschool/Recreation

Diversion

Ethnicity:

African American

Hispanic or Latino (of any race)

White

Gender:

Both

Age:

9 - 17

Special Populations:

First-Time Offenders

Less Serious Offender

Serious Offenders

Target Settings:

Urban

Problem Behaviors:

Aggression/Violence

Delinquency

Gang Activity

Risk & Protective Factors:

Risk

Protective

Additional Information:

Status:

Program is NOT in operation at this time.

Performance Measures:

Suggested OJJDP Performance Measures for the Program Types(s):

Delinquency Prevention
Afterschool/Recreation
Logic Model: PDF
Performance Matrix:PDF

Contact Information:

Program Developer:
Wade C. Myers, M.D.
Brown University, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
593 Eddy Street, APC 978
Providence, RI 02903
Email: Click Here