Keywords
juvenile recidivism; aftercare programs; youth rehabilitation; juvenile justice system; legal policy; criminal justice reform
Abstract
The current study examined if aftercare and reentry programs helped to reduce recidivism among youth who have been involved in the juvenile system, and specifically, youth released from residential placement facilities. Different components of aftercare programs were also examined, such as the inclusion of mentoring or family support, how many services were offered, and if the program followed the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model. Through completing a systematic review of studies published since 2008, five studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. All five studies found that the youth who received services through aftercare programs were less likely to reoffend than youth who were not involved in aftercare. Programs that offered services both before and after release from residential facilities and focused on mentoring and involving families had the lowest levels of recidivism. Still, there were some differences between studies, especially in how they measured recidivism or how long youth were tracked after release. In addition, not all studies included control groups, which limits the methodological rigor of the research and reduces the confidence we can place in their findings. Despite these limitations, the findings show how important it is to provide youth the right kind of support when they are coming back into the community from being involved in the juvenile justice system. While more research is needed to determine what “works best” for youth with different lived experiences, and how to make these programs impactful in the long-term, findings from this systematic review suggest that personalized and supportive reentry services are effective in reducing juvenile recidivism.
Thesis Completion Year
2025
Thesis Completion Semester
Summer
Thesis Chair
Peck, Jennifer
College
College of Community Innovation and Education
Department
Department of Legal Studies
Thesis Discipline
Legal Studies
Language
English
Access Status
Open Access
Length of Campus Access
None
Campus Location
UCF Online
STARS Citation
Girven, Lynda, "Reentry Realities: Examining the Role of Aftercare Programs in Supporting Justice-Involved Youth" (2025). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 370.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hut2024/370
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Juvenile Law Commons, Law and Society Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons
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