A Comprehensive Community Justice Model: An Evaluation of the Baltimore Community Justice Initiative
By Dana Kralstein
A report documenting the efforts of the Baltimore Community Justice Initiative, which attempted to incorporate a broad array of justice system and community-based organizations in an ambitious effort to spread principles and practices of community justice. Led by the University of Maryland School of Law, the initiative had three principal components: (1) a broad effort at cross-agency collaboration to promote community justice in two Baltimore neighborhoods, (2) a school conflict resolution program, and (3) a youth advocacy program.The evaluation discusses the assets of the initiative and the challenges it encountered while building a large, sustainable infrastructure and network within the City of Baltimore for current and future collaboration around community justice issues.
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Children's Exposure to Intimate Partner Sexual Assault
By Kathryn Ford
An introduction to the important and neglected issue of children's exposure to intimate partner sexual assault involving their parents. Includes legal history, case examples, recommendations for how to work with adult victims and exposed children, and questions for future research. Published in Family & Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly, 1(2), Fall 2008.
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A Pilot Program on Youth Engagement: Lessons from Youth ECHO
By Rachel Swaner and Elise White
A report documenting the program planning, curriculum, and evaluation findings from the first cohort of Youth ECHO (Expanding Community Horizons by Organizing), a youth organizing program in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The purpose of Youth ECHO is to engage teenage popular opinion leaders in designing a marketing campaign to change perceptions of youth crime among their peers. The authors conclude, among other findings, that participants were more committed to the program when they were given decision-making power on program content and structure and when they felt they were working at a job rather than participating in an after-school program.
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Annual Report: 2008
Highlights of the Center for Court Innovation's accomplishments in 2008.
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Neighborhood Knowledge: Community Prosecution in Washington D.C.
By Robert V. Wolf
A comprehensive description of the origins of the community prosecution program in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. The paper also highlights problem-solving strategies deployed by the office in the initial years of the program.
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The Drug Court Model and Chronic Misdemeanants: Impact Evaluation of the Queens Misdemeanor Treatment Court
By Melissa Labriola
An impact evaluation of the Queens Misdemeanor Treatment Court, a drug court targeting chronic misdemeanor offenders in Queens, New York. Overall, the evaluation finds that the Court significantly reduced the probability, prevalence, and timing of re-arrests over a three-year tracking period. Regarding sentencing outcomes on the initial case, participants in the drug court were significantly less likely to be sentenced to jail but, because those who failed the drug court received longer sentences, participants averaged more total days in jail than the comparison group.
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Embracing Failure: Lessons for Court Managers
By Greg Berman and Aubrey Fox
Excerpts of interviews with leading policymakers and practitioners about the role failure plays in criminal justice innovation. Published in The Court Manager, Vol. 23, No. 4, 2008.
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'A New Way of Doing Business': A Conversation about the Statewide Coordination of Problem-Solving Courts
By Robert V. Wolf
To guide governments as they think about how to coordinate problem-solving courts on a statewide basis, the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Center for Court Innovation brought together 18 policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in April 2008 for a roundtable on the topic. This paper summarizes their discussion.
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Evaluating the Mentors in Violence Prevention Program
By Amanda Cissner
This combined process and impact evaluation supports the effectiveness of a gender violence prevention program adapted for college students, known as Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP). In an earlier evaluation, the program was found to produce significant positive changes in attitudes and predicted behaviors among high school age youth. This study, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, examines the replication of the MVP program with college fraternity and sorority members at Syracuse University.
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Children Come First: A Process Evaluation of the Nassau County Model Custody Part
By Samantha Moore and Michelle Zeitler
This report presents a process evaluation of the Children Come First (CCF) Program, a problem-solving matrimonial court designed to provide a more effective and child-centered response to high conflict divorce cases involving custody issues. The study documents the program's planning, implementation, structure, and lessons learned and includes a multi-method analysis incorporating observation, interviews, and an examination of case processing data.
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Testing the Impact of the Midtown Community Court: Updating Outcomes a Decade Later
By Dana Kralstein, Justin Hakuta, and Vishtasp Soroushian
This study examines the impact of the Midtown Community Court, as compared with Manhattan's traditional centralized criminal court, on case processing and sentencing outcomes. The study finds that Midtown makes greater use of alternative sanctions, less use of jail, and less use of sentences such as time served that do not involve any ongoing obligations. However, the study also finds that practice has changed in the centralized court, which has itself become relatively more likely to use alternative sanctions than in the 1990s, when the original evaluation of the Midtown Community Court was conducted.
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The Perceptions of Self-Represented Tenants in a Community-Based Housing Court
By Rashida Abuwala and Donald Farole, Jr.
An article presenting the major findings of the Center's comparison of tenant perceptions at the Harlem Community Justice Center and the centralized Manhattan housing court. The article focuses on those findings related specifically to court fairness, which found that Harlem's tenants had more positive perceptions than those processed in the centralized court. Published in Court Review, Volume 44, Issue 1/2 (2008).
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Evaluation of the Suffolk County Juvenile Treatment Court: Process and Impact Findings
By Dana Kralstein
A comprehensive evaluation of the Suffolk County (New York) Juvenile Treatment Court, including the results of systematic courtroom observations, participant focus groups, and an impact study testing effects on recidivism. The results showed above-average retention and graduation rates, but little impact on recidivism. The report also provides a thorough account of Suffolk's juvenile model, how it differs from adult drug courts, and what the previous literature (including 19 earlier studies) finds regarding the effectiveness of the juvenile model.
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Journal of Court Innovation - Second Issue
The Fall 2008 issue focuses on efforts to improve the
jury system with articles on the comprehensibility of new jury instructions, how the internet has affected the jury trial and more.
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Annual Report: 2007
Highlights of the Center for Court Innovation's accomplishments in 2007.
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The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in New York City: Executive Summary
By Richard Curtis, Meredith Dank, Kirk Dombrowski, Bilal Khan, Melissa Labriola, Amy Muslim, Michael Rempel, and Karen Terry
Few crimes are more abhorrent than the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), yet few are more challenging for communities to address. This Executive Summary highlights major findings from a two-volume study exploring the problem of CSEC and evaluating a coordinated effort to find solutions in New York City.
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The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in New York City: Volume One: The CSEC Population in New York City: Size, Characteristics, and Needs
By Richard Curtis, Meredith Dank, Kirk Dombrowski, Bilal Khan, and Karen Terry
A multi-method study to estimate the size, characteristics, needs, and geographic spread of New York City's CSEC population. Using Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS), a method that has previously been successful in recruiting hard-to-reach populations, the study involved interviews with 249 youth ages 18 years or younger who were participating in CSEC-related activities. Through application of RDS statistical techniques and official city arrest data, the research team estimates that there are currently 3,946 CSEC victims citywide.
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The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in New York City: Volume Two: Formative Evaluation: The New York City Demonstration
By Melissa Labriola, Amy Muslim, and Michael Rempel
An evaluation of New York City's ambitious initiative to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). The evaluation documents achievements, obstacles, and lessons learned for other jurisdictions in four key areas: (1) coordination among CSEC stakeholders citywide; (2) prosecution of exploiters, (3) programs for victims, and (4) prevention initiatives in group homes and schools.
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Youth Culture in Red Hook, Brooklyn: Using Ethnographic Research to Enhance Youth Program Planning
By Elise White
A study that explores the advantages of employing ethnographic research as a central strategy of youth program development. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 23 African American and Latino Brooklyn teenagers, this paper explores these young people’s social worlds, presents key findings, and describes how findings might productively be used in program design.
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Increasing the Voice of Youth: Strategies for New York City Teens Influencing Public Policy
By Shane Correia and Rachel Swaner
A study to determine the most effective ways for New York City teenagers to influence public policy, revealing "how to" advocacy strategies as well as factors related to the structure of youth civic engagement programs. The findings can be used to enhance the credibility of youth with policymakers and to help increase their voice in policymaking.
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